Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
Prior research has shown that gestures that co-occur with speech can improve understanding of abstract concepts by embodying the underlying meaning of those concepts, thereby making them more accessible to the listener. The present study examined the effect of gesture on undergraduate students’ learning of a complex statistical concept (analysis of variance; ANOVA). Students in three classes watched a brief video in which the speaker explained the conceptual background of ANOVA while using gesture and students in three other classes saw a similar video with the same speech, but no gesture. Students who saw the gesture learned significantly more, as measured by the increase in scores between a pre-test and a post-test. These results suggest that teachers can enhance students’ learning through the strategic use of gesture.
Version
The article available for download here is the publisher version. Locate the version of record using the DOI below.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41235-016-0036-1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications
Volume Number
2
Issue Number
2
First Page
1
Last Page
6
Recommended Citation
Rueckert, L., Church, R.B., Avila, A., Trejo, T. (2017). Gesture enhances learning of a complex statistical concept. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2(2), 1-6. doi: 10.1186/s41235-016-0036-1. Retrieved from http://neiudc.neiu.edu/psyc-pub/17.