(By Mercilina Hardy)
How many times have you noticed yourself using your hands while you teach? For example, you’re trying to explain to your students that a lighter ball will go up and a heavier ball will go down when on a scale, so you bring one hand up and the other down. Many people use their hands when they try to explain something, but some don’t use them enough. Paying attention to your hand gestures may be a good way to improve your teaching skills.
Researchers wanted to see if there was a connection between hand gestures in learning, so they conducted a study to see how important they are to student absorption of information.
Hand Gestures And Learning
The new study published in Child Development supports the theory that hand gestures are important in teaching. They help students learn more because it reinforces what they hear. Researchers conducted an experiment with secondary school students, and they found participants who received instruction verbally with hand gestures performed better on a test having to do with the concept taught. They also found that the knowledge was easily transferred to new contexts, which shows that it’s not just regurgitating what was taught, but it was learned and that knowledge can be applied in ways.
Why Are Hand Gestures Important?
One of the researchers, Susan Wagner Cook, did a similar experiment in 2007. In that one, she found that students were three times more likely to learn algebra concepts when they used gestures to explain them.
If you think about it, using gestures reinforces what you hear, which then improves learning. If you hear someone say something, but then see that person explain what you just heard with movement you have two ways to remember it. You can think back to what was said, and you can think back to what was done. If you can’t remember one of them, you can most likely remember the other.
What Does This Mean For Teachers?
Gesturing can be a very beneficial tool that is completely free and easily employed in classrooms. And I think it can have long lasting effects. – Kimberly Fenn, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University.
You can improve your teaching and students’ academic performance by using your hands and if you’re brave enough, your body too. Be animated while you teach. Use your hands, arms, and body to explain concepts. Don’t be afraid to be silly because that silliness may just be what sticks with your students as they are taking a test and trying to remember what you said about carrying the decimal point.
Teachers should strive to make a lasting impression on their students. If you use this information about hand gestures in your teaching, you may just tap into your students’ mind a little further giving them knowledge they won’t only use on the test you give at the end of the week, but for many years into their careers someday.
