Children Learn Better When Teachers Use Gesture
Christopher Philip
In a study by Melissa Singer and Susan Goldin-Meadow, University of Chicago, it was found that children benefit from gesture during lessons.
In their study, children aged 8-10 (grade 3 and 4) were recruited and taught a lesson using various tactics. The lessons included an “equalizer strategy” which serves to highly the principle underlying the problem and an “add-subtract strategy” which highlights the procedure for solving the problem. The methods for each strategy were created from observations as students employed the various strategies as they themselves learned.
The next variable was to either use speech or gesture. In the no-gesture condition, the experimenter used no gestures at all during the instruction. In the gesture condition, the experimenter either used gesture that matched the lessons instructions or gestures that illustrated a different strategy from the spoke strategy.
In total, there were six conditions in which the children learned. There were approximately 27 children in each condition.
The results showed that children that were given two problem-solving strategies through speech did significantly worse than those taught just one strategy. This suggests that the two spoken lessons may have overwhelmed the students.
However, this was not the case when gesture was used in more than one way. In this case, the children who received mismatched gesture and speech did far better than those receiving matching gestures and speech. This suggests that these children benefited from the additional source of information, but only if it was delivered nonverbally.
“The fact that children in this group did so well on posttest,” say the researchers in their paper “significantly better than children in all other groups (even those exposed to two spoken strategies), suggests that instruction containing a second strategy can indeed promote learning—as long as that second strategy is produced in gesture and not in speech.”
Therefore, not only did gesture work as a teaching aid, it worked much better when it conveyed different information that the spoken message. However, that being said, gesture, even when it matches the lesson, significantly helped the students learn comared to lessons lacking gesture altogether.
As the authors say “Teachers gesture when they teach, and those gestures do not always convey the same information as the speech they accompany. Gesture thus offers students a second approach to the problem at hand. Our findings make it clear that children can take advantage of the offer—children profit from gesture when it conveys information that differs from the information conveyed in speech.”
Previous research says that offering children a step-by-step algorithm for solving problems tends to prevent children from understanding the real principle behind the problem.
Additionally the equalizer strategy (which highlights the principle behind the problem) and add-subtract strategy (a step-by-step procedure to solving the problem) are not equally as effective. In fact, children taught the equalizer principle which highlights the principle, perform far better.
As demonstrated in this study, when children where only taught the equalizer strategy, they tend to rely on it. However, when taught both strategies, the effect was worse. Interestingly, however, when gesture was added, it shed new light on the problem instead of making things confusing to the students.
In other words, step-by-step procedures or algorithms detract from the lesson but only when it is taught in speech – not when it is taught through gesture.
Say the researchers: “Algorithms presented in gesture provide children with a step-by-step procedure to follow but (unlike algorithms presented in speech) do not encourage
children to rely exclusively on that procedure.”
They say that it may have to do with the fact that gesture is not explicit and the information is less intrusive. Gesture, it seems do not overpower the principles of an effective lesson.
Resources
Singer, Melissa A. and Susan Goldin-Meadow. Children Learn When Their Teacher’s Gestures and Speech Differ. American Psychological Society. 2005. 16(2): 85-89.
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