Observing or Performing Actions? Understanding Circular Motion via Two Types of Learning Activities

Abstract

Decades of research support the benefits of movement for cognitive development however this link remains unexploited in educational practice. For this reason, embodied cognition serves as the theoretical underpinnings of this study proposing that thoughts and actions are influenced by sensory experience. Fifty-eight 6th-grade students were divided into two groups: The first group participated in activities designed for full-body movement and the second observed the haptic manipulation of materials by an educator. The study thus utilized a two-group design and was conducted in phases: pretest, intervention, immediate posttest and delayed posttest. The entire process was recorded to assess students’ understanding and the multimodal text thereby created included both spoken word and bodily expressions such as posture and gestures, enabling us to closely follow the progress of every participant. The range of responses was then narrowed down to adequate and inadequate, followed by statistical processing of the data. The results showed that both execution and observation effectively contributed to the improved performance of students immediately after the interventions. Nevertheless, students who participated in bodily-based activities showed an additional advantage four months later. While this study focused solely on circular motion, the idea to investigate physical engagement and its impact on students’ understanding could be extended to other content, and the long-term effectiveness of bodily-based learning ought to encourage a redesign of the official curriculum.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0802/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

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