Using Hand Gestures.

We all know that person who cannot speak without using gestures.  The gestures may be nothing more than hands moving in the air but the movement is there.

According to something I recently read, hand gestures in math help people learn.

One study done by Michigan State showed a video to 184  elementary students.  In the video, the instructor showed the property of equality such as 7 + 2 + 9 = 7 +   so both sides are equal.


The video was set up so the problem was shown next to the instructor.  In about half the videos, she used hand gestures as she explained it.  She used the left hand when discussing the left hand side of the equation and her right hand when explaining the right hand side of the equation.  In the other half, she just spoke.

When they tested the students, those who had watched the videos with gestures did better on solving the problems than those without hand gestures immediately after and performed even better 24 hours later. 

It is thought that the gestures help students understand the structure of the problem.  It helps them see that no matter what numbers are on each side, the results are the same.  The gesture of underlining the problem with your hand helps translate the concept from the numbers to the general idea which is what helps students learn better.

In addition, it is believed that students remember the gestures because when you watch someone else perform an action, it stimulates the areas in your brain that performs the action.  Something that helps create better understanding.

Another study indicates that if students learn to use gestures, it helps them learn the material better.  There have been previous studies which show people who spontaneously use gestures as they learn new material tend to remember it better in general. 

This was supported by a study of 3rd and 4th graders who were divided up into three groups.  The first group explained out loud their thinking and everything they were doing.  The second group explained and used gestures while the third group used gestures only without speaking.

All three groups performed equally well when asked to do math immediately after learning the material but the big difference showed up 4 weeks later when students were retested.  At this point the group who spoke and used gestures remembered 92% of what they had learned.  The group who used only gestures remembered 80% but the group who used only speech remembered 33%.

This particular idea is still being researched as they are trying to figure out why using gestures work so well in helping students learn the material better.  I'll keep following this one topic and see.

Let me know what you think about this topic, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.