Grounded and embodied mathematical cognition: Promoting mathematical insight and proof using action and language

Nathan, Mitchell J.; Walkington, Candace

doi:10.1186/s41235-016-0040-5

Cited by 56 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Nathan and Walkington ( 2017 ) 4 propose a theory which they term a grounded and embodied theory of mathematical cognition (GEMC). They focus on the transduction of sensorimotor actions into cognitive states.…”

Section: Building Embodied Analogiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodied cognition and STEM learning: overview of a topical collection in CR:PI

Weisberg

Newcombe

2017

Cogn. Research

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Embodied learning approaches emphasize the use of action to support pedagogical goals. A specific version of embodied learning posits an action-to-abstraction transition supported by gesture, sketching, and analogical mapping. These tools seem to have special promise for bolstering learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, but existing efforts need further theoretical and empirical development. The topical collection in Cognitive Research: Principles includes articles aiming to formalize and test the effectiveness of embodied learning in STEM. The collection provides guideposts, staking out the terrain that should be surveyed before larger-scale efforts are undertaken. This introduction provides a broader context concerning mechanisms that can support embodied learning and make it especially well suited to the STEM disciplines.Keywords: Embodied cognition, STEM learning, Gesture, Education, Analogy, Action Recent cognitive theory, under the umbrella term embodied cognition, has emphasized the role that the body and environment play in cognitive processing (e.g., Barsalou, 1999;2008;Clark, 1999;2001;Shapiro, 2011). While there are several "flavors" of embodied cognitive theory, all challenge the conception of human cognition as amodal and abstract, uncoupled from the concrete world. Considering the role of the body in human cognitive function has led to basic insights in cognitive science regarding the role of embodied tools: gesture, action, and analogical mapping. These embodied tools could be leveraged to improve learning in several ways. An embodied framework for cognition provides an opportunity for science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to include embodied learning tools to enhance pedagogy. STEM education initiatives may particularly benefit from incorporating embodied cognitive principles because STEM disciplines rely on representation systems that require sensory encoding (e.g., visualizations of data and information including maps, blueprints, graphs, charts), and are nevertheless dependent on highly abstract, formalized symbol systems (e.g., those used in math or chemistry). Students need a "way in" to linking sensory representations with abstractions.The purpose of this topical collection is to bring together theoretical discussions of how embodiment can inform educational practices in the STEM disciplines with empirical examinations of whether or not such practices actually work. While much research remains to be done, we hope that this collection provides a theoretical and empirical framework on which a more embodied pedagogy can be built. In this overview, we begin with a brief primer on what we mean (and do not mean) by embodied cognitive theory, and then develop several themes that we see in this literature.

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Section: Building Embodied Analogiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodied cognition and STEM learning: overview of a topical collection in CR:PI

Weisberg

Newcombe

2017

Cogn. Research

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“…The convergence of these advances paves the way for a new class of cyberlearning technologies that afford learners the opportunity to use their bodies to create and manipulate digital representations of their emerging ideas and receive real‐time feedback. The recent Cyberlearning Community Report (Roschelle, Martin, Ahn, & Schank, ) describes the significant promise of creating “digital performance spaces,” and there have been recent studies demonstrating the benefits of using mixed reality and augmented reality to create immersive learning environments that blend digital and physical elements (Enyedy, Danish, Delacruz, & Kumar, ; Johnson‐Glenberg, Birchfield, Tolentino, & Koziupa, ; Lindgren, Tscholl, Wang, & Johnson, ; Nathan & Walkington, ).…”

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An Embodied Cyberlearning Platform for Gestural Interaction with Cross‐Cutting Science Concepts

Lindgren

Morphew

Kang

et al. 2019

Mind Brain and Education

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Research from brain science and the learning sciences support the notion that human cognition is grounded in our sensorimotor engagement with the physical world and that processes of learning can be shaped by our movements and actions. Increasing recognition that effective educational interventions can be seeded with embodied actions is paralleled by recent and rapid advances in sensing and motion capture technologies. These advances allow for a new wave of cyberlearning environments that permit learners to use their bodies to create and manipulate digital representations of core ideas in a variety of learning domains. Drawing on the research literature on embodied cognition and design principles for creating effective embodied educational simulations, we present the design of a cyberlearning platform called ELASTIC3S. We describe the design rationale and preliminary data from a small empirical study of the ELASTIC3S platform that address the potential for enhancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and engagement through embodied interaction.

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“…Rigorous randomized controlled trials and research-based intervention studies need to be conducted to better understand not only what works, but how the interventions work, and who they work best for. Several research teams over the past 5 years have made exciting advances in this direction by using effective cognitive science principles to create scalable classroom interventions, such as worked examples, comparison, scaffolding and feedback, explicit problem solving, embodied and perceptual learning, and using innovative technology (Barner et al, in press;Booth et al, 2017;Durkin, Star, & Rittle-Johnson, 2017;Fyfe, DeCaro, & Rittle-Johnson, 2015;Kellman, Massey, & Son, 2010;Nathan & Walkington, 2017;. There is much more to be done in this area, but promising findings from classroom studies suggest that many of these interventions may not only improve mathematics learning at various stages of development, but test core cognitive theories in an applied context to help reveal plausible mechanisms by which various factors lead to increased mathematical understanding.…”

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confidence: 99%

Book review of “Development of mathematical cognition: Neural substrates and genetic influences” (2016) edited by D. B. Berch, D. C. Geary, & K. M. Koepke

Ottmar

2018

J. Numer. Cogn.

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and Koepke introduce readers to the most current research on mathematics cognition from a neural, genetic, and behavioral perspective. With a number of new science-based technologies and methodological innovations having been developed recently, there have been significant advances in neuroscience and genetics research related to numerical cognition over the past twenty years. Given the rapid increases in knowledge generated from these advances, there is a major need to merge neural, behavioral, and genetic approaches and knowledge. This book provides readers with a strong synthesis of the most cutting-edge findings and approaches to understanding both typical and atypical mathematics development and cognition. Throughout the 12 chapters of the book, the authors, all highly acclaimed in the field, introduce us to the most current findings and debates related to various aspects of mathematical cognition.The book begins with a foreword by Butterworth, where he describes that, in order to address poor numeracy, we first need to understand how each child's unique "starter kit", or individualized cognitive, neural, and genetic components, construct and drive the development of numerical understanding across the lifespan from birth through adulthood (Piazza, 2010). He poses several key questions to readers such as "How do we understand numbers?", "How do these processes vary between individuals over across development?", and "How can we improve numerical understanding?". Next, the editors preface the book by introducing key theoretical debates and knowledge that have guided the past twenty years of research in mathematical cognition and development. In Chapter 1, they then describe how recent developments in neuroimaging and behavioral genetics can be used to inform our understanding of cognitive development both theoretically and empirically.

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Grounded and embodied mathematical cognition: Promoting mathematical insight and proof using action and language

Cited by 56 publications

References 67 publications

Embodied cognition and STEM learning: overview of a topical collection in CR:PI

Embodied cognition and STEM learning: overview of a topical collection in CR:PI

An Embodied Cyberlearning Platform for Gestural Interaction with Cross‐Cutting Science Concepts

Book review of “Development of mathematical cognition: Neural substrates and genetic influences” (2016) edited by D. B. Berch, D. C. Geary, & K. M. Koepke

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