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15 - Embodiment and Embodied Design

from Part III - Grounding Technology in the Learning Sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

By
Dor Abrahamson  and
Robb Lindgren
Edited by
R. Keith Sawyer
R. Keith Sawyer
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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Summary

This chapter reviews research showing that much learning involves physical movement and gesture – thinking and learning are embodied in the physical world and involve interactions with physical objects. Even abstract subjects such as math are better learned when the body is enlisted in the learning activity. Students often have trouble with STEM content because of pedagogy that removes the body from the learning experience. In fact, in many cases expert knowledge itself is embodied, more than is generally realized, and deeper learning requires embodied design. Embodied learning leads to deeper knowledge because the learner has to coordinate two cognitive and motor knowledge; manipulating symbolic notation is often quite similar to moving objects in space. The chapter discusses how to overcome challenges in designing activities, materials, and scaffolding.

Keywords

movementgesturesensorimotorstructured reflectionartifacts
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences , pp. 301 - 320
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

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