Movement and Understanding

While reading the Winn article (2003)I couldn’t help but think about the term symbiotic relationship to describe how learning occurs. Over the course of the term, we have inquired into the various frameworks to describe how educators can better prepare themselves to understand how students learn best. As Winn suggests, learning does not occur exclusively in the brain, but rather is the process of engaging the whole body (2003). I love this thought because it reminds me of how learning has evolved over the course of history, no longer must students sit in lecture style  seating to understanding what the expert at the front of the room has to say. Learning involves inquiring with our body and minds to understand connections and applications into real-world instances. According to Winn, “A student’s Umwelt is the environment as the student sees and knows it–a limited view of the real world, ever changing as the student explores it and comes to understand it” (p.12) When educators provide students with opportunities to experience with all their senses new experiences students are more engaged and motivated to involve themselves in learning what they are curious about. Therefore, educators may study various frameworks independently but when we understand learning to be a consolidation of how the brain and body are involved in learning do we come to understand this framework.

Roschelle et al. article “Handheld tools that ‘Informate’ assessment of student learning in Science” article they bring up a good discussion about the inconsistency of how assessment is defined across educators. The importance of providing current formative feedback for students is critical in the cycle of learning, so that students can revisit misconceptions and re-learn concepts. By using handheld technology students will be better able to access and incorporate feedback into their learning rather than waiting until the summative assignment is returned, only to find out it is too late to demonstrate their understanding authentically.

Finally, Novack’s article “From action to abstraction:Using the hands to learn math” we learn that utilizing gestures in learning outperforms actions in the classroom. By involving the body into the learning process we see that students are better able to retain information and make valuable connections that provide longevity in their understanding. The connection between Winn’s article and Novack’s research are exciting and hopefully more teachers are aware of the research in the benefits to get kids moving in order to understand better.

My questions for this week include the following:

• Assessment: How do educators ensure that through the use of handheld devices students are actually reading feedback in a timely manner that is user friendly?
• What support systems exist for educators to collaborate with physical education teachers to teach mathematical and science concepts for students in a K-12 system?

References

• Roschelle, J; Penuel, W.; Yarnall, L; Shechtman, N; Tatar, D. (2005). Handheld tools that ‘Informate’ assessment of student learning in science: A requirements analysis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21(3), pp. 190-203.
• Novack, M. A., Congdon, E. L., Hemani-Lopez, N., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2014). From action to abstraction: Using the hands to learn math. Psychological Science, 25(4), 903-910.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3984351/
• Winn, W. (2003). Learning in artificial environments: Embodiment, embeddedness, and dynamic adaptation. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 1(1), 87-114.