“When students are taught with approaches that match their strengths, they demonstrate statistically higher achievement.”[i]

  Kinesthetic learning is significant to our practice as teachers due to the positive implications it can have on our students. I have seen through my research and own experiences how different learning styles, such as visual and auditory learners, have excelled through hands-on learning because kinesthetic learning can incorporate all three simultaneously. I see an enormous benefit for new educators to adapt their teaching styles/methods to engage all learners in all subject areas. Students who struggle to sit still in class, engage with other students constructively, communicate his/her ideas, or stay on task during a lesson will excel if we can create a learning environment that challenges their creativity and addresses their strengths. As educators we can build higher student engagement in theory-based lessons through interactive pedagogies.[ii]

My research found on PBL (problem based learning) encourages students to be responsible for their own learning. This form of learning also encourages creativity, promotes critical thinking, and enhances problem-solving skills.[iii] Kinesthetic learners make up 15% of the student population, giving me further evidence that hands-on learning in my Home Economics (HE) classrooms should be prevalent in my practice. [iv] The “spider web” model, introduced by Ward and Lee, structures curricular that involve problems, activities, and projects that encourage students to develop their own viewpoints.[v] This model lends itself well to inquiry-based activities and projects where students develop skills based upon their own interests, and encourages them to take ownership of their own learning experiences. This PBL model shifts the idea of a traditional educator’s role, teaching his or her expert knowledge to an educator as a facilitator of learning.[vi] The positive outcomes that will surface among students though this form of learning are extremely beneficial. Variation in activities will allow students room to grow and learn in a multitude of ways, from one another and themselves.

Lastly, this research is important to me because I believe there is a strong correlation between hands-on learning and the therapeutic benefits it can have for individuals with learning disabilities such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), autism, dyslexia, or mental illnesses. Every student should have ample opportunity to succeed in all subject areas, mental illness or learning/physical disability aside. It is my goal in HE classes to help improve the environment of my classroom by investing in all my students equally.

[i] Gage, R. (1996). Excuse me, you’re cramping my styles: Kinesthetics for the classroom. The English Journal. 84(8), 53.

[ii] Mobley, K, and Fisher, S. (2014). Ditching the desks: Kinesthetic learning in college classrooms. Routledge. 105(6), 301-309. doi:10.1080/00377996.2014.951471

[iii] Ward, J. D., & Lee, C. L. (2004). Teaching strategies for FCS: Student achievement in problem-based instruction. Journal Of Family & Consumer Sciences. 96(1), 73-76.

[iv] Gage.. 53

[v] Ward, J. D., & Lee, C. L.. 1

[vi] Ward, J. D., & Lee, C. L.. 1