This week, the two most interesting articles I read were Mirror Worlds and Deepening students’ scientific inquiry skills during a science museum field trip. While I found some elements of the field trips article problematic because it took for granted that teachers were too overworked to fully plan for a field trip to a museum that would meet their curricular outcomes, I found its focus on developing inquiry while on site interesting. In my personal experience, field trips are carefully planned with pre-visits to the site. The site is then used to seek answers previously asked or to spark inquiry that will be brought back into the classroom for later learning. In this article, Gutwill focuses on teaching students skills for inquiry through a shift from scientific knowing to scientific questioning.
Gautam, on the other hand, focused on “mirror worlds” in which the entire field trip is virtual and learners meet and collaborate with others in an online environment without ever leaving the classroom. Immersive education provides learners with the feeling of “being there” even when physical presence is not possible (Gautam, 2018) and there is a digital representation of real-world objects. This version of embodied instruction provides an exciting possibility, as described by Gautam et. al. because it allows users to collaborate in a common environment via remote locations, represented as avatars. It opens up possibilities for rich socio-cognitive learning amongst peers without expense and hassle of traveling to onsite learning environment.
For me, the learning this week was in separating embodied learning from situated learning. Situated cognition, Gautam writes, is best achieved when knowledge is situated in authentic contexts. The focus being on developing learning that is useful and not learning for the sake of learning. For the learning to be effective in this instance, the learner must feel present in the environment in order to construct their understanding. For this to happen there must be immediacy (synchronous interactions) and intimacy (ability to interact with others via proximity, eye-contact, etc.). This leads me to question the difference in cognitive benefits between learning onsite and learning via virtual environments. I would welcome your thoughts and further readings.
- What do you think is the impact of “virtual field trips” for students who may already be disconnected from their immediate environment? If students are able to experience in-situ experiences in exotic places but are not familiar with what is around them, how does this impact their understanding?
- I had a conversation this week with a colleague regarding a project for the upcoming year that I would distinctly categorize as inquiry due to the open-ended nature of it and the fact that we are beginning with a question. The colleague, however, cautioned that we should not call it inquiry when introducing it to the staff because inquiry had such negative connotations, which shocked me a little. In your context, how is inquiry a used for your learners to understand learning contexts both on virtual and lived field trips?
- How might you tweak a lesson you have recently taught in maths or sciences to integrate embodied learning?
Gautam, A., Williams, D., Terry, K., Robinson, K., & Newbill, P. (2018). Mirror worlds: Examining the affordances of a next generation immersive learning environment. New York: Springer
Gutwill, J. P., & Allen, S. (2011). Deepening students’ scientific inquiry skills during a science museum field trip. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21(1), 130-181.
Hi Tracy
Great Questions!
Question # 3: “How might you tweak a lesson you have recently taught in maths or sciences to integrate embodied learning”?
Science and math are two disciplines that have abstract concepts that are not visible to every student and this causes frustration because students cannot understand; I see this with my students, especially with my math group. The role that cognitive processing plays is crucial in these subjects and I believe that embodied learning would help with the processing of abstract concepts. For the past few weeks, we have been working on multiplication and the whole group is having trouble grasping the concept. I have integrated PhET simulations into my lessons and the students love this because it is fun and they get to use movement as a way for learning. With PhET, students are able to slide, flip, rotate, pinch; this non-verbal gesture is great for visual representation and bodily movement and engages different sensory motors that enhances the learning experience for students. I didn’t really think of gestures before but it makes sense as “gestures may be a way to ground abstract instructional information in the physical world that are communicated through sensorimotor representations and stimulates cognitive processes”. There are many different types of representative gestures that include: “pointing gestures to indicate objects or locations (e.g., pointing to a cube in order to refer to that cube), iconic gestures to illustrate concrete objects or actions (e.g., tracing a triangle in the air to mean triangle), and metaphoric gestures that resemble something concrete in order to represent something abstract (e.g., cupping hands as if to “hold” an idea). Gestural congruency refers to the alignment of the type of gestures used, such as on a touchscreen (e.g., tapping, sliding), with the mental model of the concept being taught” (Tran & Smith, 2017). Although many of my students already use gestures (students using their hands), I think I would encourage this more and encourage other types of gestures as well as it can improve spatial visualization which enhances mathematical thinking. I think that embodied learning does have a place in math and science lessons
References:
Tran, C., & Smith, B. (2017). Support of mathematical thinking through embodied cognition: Nondigital and digital approaches. Cognitive Research, 2(1), 16-25.
Weisberg, S., & Newcombe, N. (2017). Embodied cognition and STEM learning. Cognitive Research, 2(1), 38-42.
You make an interesting point about meaningful gestures related to the learning. I think that it’s essential when students are exploring concepts of mathematics that they are able to hold items in their hand and physically manipulate them in a way that interaction with a touch screen does not allow. Students come to use less prepared for learning science and maths because they lack that physical interaction with the world. For example, as a child, one of my chores was to do the dishes, where water play allows the learner to explore the properties of liquids, but my own children do not currently help with washing the dishes as the way that task has changed for my family: we load the dishwasher. For this reason, even my own children go to school with less first-hand understanding of the properties of water than a generation ago. For this reason, I think STEM learning opportunities provided by makerspaces, where learners may physically interact with learning tools are essential. It’s in the interaction where students are able to construct their understanding.
Hi Tracy!
I don’t mean this in a devil’s advocate or antagonistic way but it is difficult to communicate via text message. How do we authentically incorporate embodied learning? What does it look like? Beyond the surface level, what does embodied learning truly look like?
Good question, Allison. And I think a “devil’s advocate” is always a little bit of a good thing to make a person really dig into what they hold to be true. In all honesty, I am struggling with how technology separates us from our environments and I am not sure “embodied learning” via technology is a good thing. On Friday I had a very powerful teaching experience where my grade 3 students had the opportunity to work with a Blackfoot elder and listened to him tell stories about the connection of our community to the land where we are situated. My students, who I think are brilliant, talented, and creative, struggled to name even a single animal from our region that would leave a track in the snow. When Elder Saa’kokoto said in his story that a hunter was following an animal by its tracks in the snow up to the mountains they were unable to name Canadian animal that walked leaving paw prints in the snow… Cheeta, bird, giraffe… these children are incredibly connected to stories but they get their stories from books and movies and are disconnected from the land. So, at the moment I am utterly unconvinced that embodied learning via digital tools is a positive move forward in education. Students need to disconnect and get outside. I am not sure, at the moment, how to move forward with the deep schism I feel has been opened for me in my teaching.