Embodied Cognition and Mathematics

Tran et al.
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2017) 2:16

DOI 10.1186/s41235-017-0053-8
Cognitive Research: Principles
and Implications
REVIEW ARTICLE Open Access
Support of mathematical thinking through

embodied cognition: Nondigital and digital
approaches
Cathy Tran*, Brandon Smith and Martin Buschkuehl
Abstract
Research on mathematics education has shown that learners’ actions can influence how they think and vice versa.
Much of this work has been rooted in the use of manipulatives, gestures, and body movements. Our article dissects
the mechanisms that underscore the impact of embodied activities and applies this lens to explore how to harness
the affordances of new technology to enhance mathematical thinking. This is especially crucial given the increasing
accessibility of technology—such as digital touch devices, 3D printers, and location sensors—for constructing embodied
experiences. Providing guidance for incorporating those tools, we focus on the role that embodied cognition can play in
communicating mathematical concepts as well as in allowing learners to experiment and evolve their ideas. To inspire
future integration of theory in the development of technologically enhanced embodied mathematics experiences, we
provide examples of how this can be done. Finally, we outline future directions in the areas of design, implementation,
and assessment of embodied learning of mathematics.
Keywords: Mathematics education, Embodied cognition, Manipulatives, Gestures, Body movement
Significance relation between embodied cognition and learning has a

Emerging technology offers novel ways to teach math- long history with decades of research that have influenced
ematical concepts. We explore these new opportunities classroom curricula across domains including science,
for education and start by leveraging decades of research linguistics, and mathematics (Chan & Black, 2006;
on embodied cognition that have given us insight on Glenberg, Gutierrez, Levin, Japuntich, & Kaschak, 2004;
how people learn. Such research provides insight about Lakoff & Núñez, 2000). The implementation of embodi-
the foundation of human perception and how learners ment in these domains is evolving as novel interfaces and
process and integrate knowledge, elements that are technologies are increasingly surrounding us, allowing for
highly relevant to any educational experience, digital or direct manipulation and immersive experiences through
not. Our paper introduces the embodied cognition tools including touch devices, motion sensors, and virtual
research in the context of manipulatives, hand gestures, reality. In this article we argue that these technologies
and whole-body movement so that educators and scien- may provide largely untapped potential to increase learn-
tists can leverage that foundational knowledge to further ing effectiveness via an embodied cognition approach. We
research and develop technologically enhanced embodied focus on the subject of mathematics because adequate
mathematical activities. mathematical knowledge is increasingly important in our
technology-based society and young children’s mathema-
Introduction tical development is an important predictor of their later
Embodied cognition refers to the idea that features of academic achievement and labor market success (Ritchie
human cognition are formed not only by our brains but & Bates, 2013). Further, mathematics naturally connects
also by other aspects of our bodies (Wilson, 2002). The human perception and action, and therefore embodiment
in this domain seems especially helpful in understanding
its abstract, complex nature.
* Correspondence: cathy@tangibleplay.com
MIND Research Institute, Irvine, CA, USA
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Tran et al. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2017) 2:16 Page 2 of 18
As we explore the new opportunities for education that actual perception and interaction with the objects and
these technologies allow, it is a sensible starting point to events in the real world. Perceptual symbols are believed
leverage decades of research on embodied cognition that to be multimodal traces of neural activity that contain at
have given us a window into how people learn. From an least some of the motor information present during
embodied cognition perspective, we will first discuss actual sensorimotor experience (Barsalou, 1999). To give
previous research in the context of manipulatives, hand a concrete example, in related research with individuals
gestures, and whole-body movement because those areas who are skilled versus nonskilled in motor activities
have shown promise of learning effectiveness in mathem- such as dance, skilled ballet dancers who viewed dance
atics education and have been popular topics of research. videos showed greater activations of brain regions that
Based on this background, we present technologically support motor actions than those who were not skilled
enhanced examples of embodied mathematical activities. in ballet (Calvo-Merino, Glaser, Grezes, Passingham, &
Finally, we end with recommendations for future research Haggard, 2005). These neural representations resulting
and development directions related to embodied cogni- from physical interactions can represent a form of
tion, technology, and mathematics learning. “offline” embodied cognition that could transfer the
learning gained from physical actions to nonphysical
Review tasks.
Embodied cognition defined
Embodied cognition is a decades-long branch of re-
search that encompasses a diverse set of theories that Embodied cognition and learning
are based on the idea that human cognition is rooted in Levels of processing
the bidirectional perceptual and physical interactions of Research in education has shown that bodily movements
the body with the world (Gibson, 2014; Wilson, 2002). improve retention of the learned concept by providing
Ways of thinking, such as representations of knowledge additional cues with which to represent and retrieve
and methods of organizing and expressing information, knowledge (Carbonneau, Marley, & Selig, 2013; Chu &
are influenced by the perceptual and motor systems Kita, 2011; Lindgren, 2015). Taking action in response to
including body shape and movement, neural systems information, in addition to simply seeing or hearing it,
engaged in action planning, and systems involved in allows for an integration of modalities for deeper levels
sensation and perception (Glenberg, 2010). Embodied of processing to create a stronger memory trace that
cognition implicates a perception-action cycle in which allows learners to activate multiple avenues for recalling
behavior consists of a succession of adaptive motor re- the memory later on (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). Memories
actions to changes in external (e.g., moveable objects) from movement can prepare learners for future action
and internal (e.g., motivation) environments (Fuster, 2003). and can be retrieved to solve related tasks in different
These actions (e.g., body movements) produce changes in situations that no longer engage physical movement, but
those environments that in turn affect subsequent actions, rather, a mental transformation of those motor processes.
continuing as a circular process through the central ner-
vous system as sensory or internal signals lead to actions
that generate feedback that regulates further actions. Cognitive load
The perception-action cycle that underlies embodied Movement can allow learners to reduce their brain’s
cognition also holds true for visual and symbolic repre- processing power or cognitive load, leaving more re-
sentations of actions. For example, mental imagery is sources for other activities or cognitive processes, which
used to understand the positions of three-dimensional can result in improvements of problem-solving abilities
objects after rotations (e.g., Shepard & Metzler, 1971) (Sweller, 1988). For example, instead of trying to imagine
and actions are simulated during language comprehen- how an object would appear when rotated, learners
sion (e.g., Glenberg & Kaschak, 2002). As we further can reduce this burden of tracking information by
detail in our article, gestures are also an outgrowth of allowing their hands to do it and seeing what happens.
simulated action and perception. While the hand move- Freeing up those mental resources can allow them to
ments are clearly actions, they do not have a direct effect think more deeply about spatial relations and have a better
on the world and are instead representational. Further, understanding of that concept before transitioning to
the embodied cognition view that we adopt also extends spatial reasoning more abstractly. In a similar vein,
the perception-action cycle to neural representations gestures during explanations of math problems also help
that connect previous actions with one’s thinking. Ac- learners to track their thinking and reduce working
cording to the perceptual symbol systems (Barsalou, memory usage so that they can allocate more cognitive
1999), one’s neural representations of events are based effort to problem solving (Goldin-Meadow, Nusbaum,
on brain states that were active in the past during the Kelly, & Wagner, 2001).
Connecting the abstract and the concrete in western cultures (Domahs, Moeller, Huber, Willmes,
Physical movements complement humans’ natural ten- & Nuerk, 2010). A sub-base 5 system manifests itself in
dency for learning because before abstract forms of the representation of numbers that are larger than 5, as
thoughts such as mathematics emerged, problem solving 5 + another number. For example, the number 8 is rep-
in the real world required moving through space and resented as 5 + 3 and not 4 + 4; in other words when the
manipulating actual objects (Wilson, 2002). This natural number 8 is presented with fingers, five digits on one
desire to situate cognition with real contexts is reflected hand and three digits on the other hand are shown.
in the mind-body connections of mathematical concepts Somewhat related, it has been shown that finger repre-
such as embodied numerosity (Moeller et al., 2012) and sentations get internalized especially in the first years of
the use of temporal and spatial metaphors (e.g., “the schooling. This led to the observations of more split-5
number is approaching zero”). Integrating the body into errors than expected by chance (Domahs, Krinzinger, &
the learning experience can, therefore, improve mathem- Willmes, 2008). Split-5 errors describe errors in addition
atical understanding by providing a connection between and subtraction problems that are deviating by +5 or −5
concrete referents and abstract concepts. from the correct solution. These errors originate in situ-
ations where sums are larger than 10. In these situations,
Embodied cognition and mathematics understanding a two-digit result must somehow be represented with
There is ample evidence that different aspects of mathem- only 10 fingers. In order to accomplish this, a full hand
atics are embodied. A prime example is the use of fingers must be reused and a failure to keep track of reused full
to count and solve arithmetic problems (Fischer & hands results in a specific error, called a split-5 error.
Brugger, 2011). It is quite common to observe that Such strong sub-base 5 effects have not been found in
especially young children use their fingers in combination adults which seems to indicate that the relationship of
with mathematical tasks. Such an observation is not sur- finger and number representation is stronger in early
prising given the fact that fingers are typically readily avail- elementary school and then diminishes from that point
able and cover the number range within which children on (Domahs et al., 2008). This notion is further sup-
are usually introduced to counting and arithmetic. This ported by a longitudinal study that investigated the
usage of fingers is a manifestation of embodied cognition correlation between the frequency of finger use and the
and in the case of counting has been labeled embodied accuracy of addition and subtraction problems (Jordan,
numerosity (Moeller et al., 2012). The link between Kaplan, Ramineni, & Locuniak, 2008). The study tracked
numerical representation and finger representation has children starting in kindergarten until the end of second
been established in different studies and experiments. For grade and found that initial correlations were r = 0.60
example, one line of research has been investigating the and declined to r = −0.15 at the last measurement point.
relationship between finger gnosis and mathematical abil- The results of this study indicate that finger use initially
ities. Finger gnosis is the ability to perceive and distinguish provides a natural scaffolding structure for calculation
fingers of one’s own hands without visual guidance. but then the benefits of using fingers fade, likely because
Typical tests to assess finger gnosis require hiding the fingers do not effectively deal with the complexity of
participant’s hand from view while the examiner is lightly later mathematics.
touching one or more fingers. The participant then has to What can be learned from this literature is how inter-
identify which finger or fingers were touched. Several linked at least parts of our bodies and thought processes
studies find that better finger gnosis is related to higher are. But it is also clear that this relationship is not a
levels of numerical competence (Fayol, Barrouillet, & simple one and varies across the lifespan (see also
Marinthe, 1998; Fischer, 2008; Newman, 2016; Noël, 2005; Newman, 2016). There are many other examples that
Penner-Wilger et al., 2007; Poltz, Wyschkon, Höse, von further illustrate embodied cognition, beyond finger usage,
Aster, & Esser, 2015; Wyschkon, Poltz, Höse, von Aster, & in the domain of mathematics. Related to the SNARC
Esser, 2015). However, there is a set of newer studies (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes)1 effect
that demonstrate that even though finger gnosis is a (Dehaene et al., 1993) are the findings that individuals
significant predictor of later mathematical competence, its produce smaller random numbers if their heads or bodies
practical importance as a predictor is nonexistent as it turned to the left and larger numbers if their head or
explains only about 2–4% of variance in 5.5–6.5-year-old bodies turned to the right (Loetscher, Schwarz, Schubiger,
children (Wasner, Nuerk, Martignon, Roesch, & Moeller, & Brugger, 2008; Shaki & Fischer, 2014). Further examples
2016; Wyschkon et al., 2015). can be found in the gestures literature, the manipulatives
The use of fingers is also an impressive example to literature, and the whole-body movement literature. A
illustrate how physical body features influence how indi- more detailed discussion of these domains and their
viduals process numbers. Specifically, as a consequence relationship to embodied cognition is provided in detail in
of finger counting, a sub-base 5 system seems to develop later sections of this article.
Emerging technologies: implications for embodied cognition units. In Fig. 1 we outline four levels of embodiment follow-
Technology is increasingly allowing learners to have a ing the example of Johnson-Glenberg et al. (2014), with
greater degree of direct interaction with their digital level 1 representing the lowest degree of embodiment
environments, to include bodily movement in their in- which is defined through minimal motoric engagement, no
teractions, and to be more immersed in those contexts. gestural congruency, and a nonimmersive experience. In
Touchscreens, for instance, provide affordances for direct contrast, level 4 represents the highest degree of embodi-
tapping, sliding, pinching, and rotating gestures. This allows ment through whole-body movement, gestural congruency
for an increased degree of gestural congruency such that and tangible manipulatives, and a highly immersive experi-
physical movements correctly simulate cognitive processes ence. Between these two extreme endpoints are two further
(Segal, 2011). Building on that, sensors, such as the com- levels which represent moderate degrees of embodiment.
mercially available Nintendo Wii Remote and digital dance Though the bulk of these technologies had been deve-
mats, allow for the tracking of arm and leg movements, loped decades ago, it is only more recently that they
allowing for increased motoric engagement. Technological have entered the mainstream, becoming accessible to
advances of Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect and Leap Motion students and educators to integrate into educational
allow full-body motion detection, adding to the ability to experiences. There is no guarantee, however, that emer-
incorporate natural interactions within the digital learning ging technologies will cue the kinds of body movements
environment. The large displays that are often connected to that have shown promise for effectively teaching math-
those devices also allow for an increased perception of ematics. This leaves it up to researchers, designers, and
immersion. Virtual reality, such as through Google Card- educators to make deliberate efforts to implement novel
board viewers or by means of cameras projecting virtual technologies in ways that trigger movements that sup-
content onto real-world environments (augmented reality), port, rather than hinder, targeted learning outcomes. We
also add layers of context and depth to create more immer- hope to further advance this conversation and provide
sive environments. These types of technology provide op- insights for the research and development of embodied
portunities for incorporating a greater level of embodiment learning experiences. In the following sections we review
into mathematical learning. the available literature about embodied cognition and
To identify the level of embodiment, Johnson-Glenberg, mathematics in the domains of manipulatives, hand ges-
Birchfield, Tolentino, and Koziupa (2014) suggested a tax- tures, and whole-body movements. Additionally, we discuss
onomy which can be represented through the following how technology can be leveraged to enhance mathematical
three components that we already described above: (1) learning experience through embodied cognition and dis-
motoric engagement, (2) gestural congruency, and (3) cuss related design opportunities. Finally, we will discuss
immersion. It is helpful to build upon this taxonomy in future directions in the areas of design, implementation,
thinking about the use of technologies in enhancing em- and assessment of embodied learning of mathematics.
bodied learning experiences for mathematics. These three
components vary along continuous dimensions which Manipulatives
together define the degree of embodiment. However, given Theoretical background
that the resulting three-dimensional space would be too Manipulatives are objects that students interact with to
complex in order to be practically useful, Johnson-Glenberg learn, and these objects could be concrete or digital as
et al. (2014) proposed to reduce this space into categorical long as students can slide, flip, and turn the visual
Fig. 1 Taxonomy for the degree of embodiment in technology after Johnson-Glenberg et al. (2014). Embodiment can vary along three dimensions:
motoric engagement, gestrual congruency, and immersion. Although it can be assumed that the three dimension follow a continuum, it makes practical
sense to reduce the resulting complex three-dimensional space into categorical units that are labeled level 1 through level 4. Level 1 is
assumed to represent the smallest degree of embodiment and level 4 the largest degree of embodiment
representation as if it were a real three-dimensional object at play have resulted in findings that during a testing ses-
(Moyer, Bolyard, & Spikell, 2002). Several complementary sion, students who learned through generating their own
theoretical assumptions provide insight as to how manip- solutions rather than being given solutions to reproduce
ulatives impact learning. First is the thought that manipu- and practice not only performed about 10% better but also
latives support the development of abstract reasoning for showed lower activation in their left angular gyrus and
younger children who have greater dependency on physi- precentral cortex/Brodmann area 6 (Karlsson Wirebring
cally interacting with their environment to extract mean- et al., 2015). This supports the possibility that students
ing (Montessori, 1964; Piaget, 1962). Those who are too who generated their own solution had an easier time
young, however, may struggle with the concept that an ob- accessing their memory of a solution method and needed
ject can stand for an item while simultaneously represent- to engage working memory processes at test to a relatively
ing a mathematical concept (Uttal, O’Doherty, Newland, lower degree than those who did not generate their own
Hand, & DeLoache, 2009). Supporting this notion, a re- solutions.
cent meta-analysis showed that children ages 7–11 years
benefitted most from concrete manipulatives whereas ages Effectiveness of manipulatives
3–6 years found little benefits from using manipulatives. The question of whether or not manipulatives are effective
Concrete manipulatives have also been found to be less though does not have a clear-cut answer. A recent meta-
beneficial for older students, a finding that can be partly analysis of 55 studies (Carbonneau et al., 2013) showed
explained by their increased ability to reason abstractly that instruction that used manipulatives, compared with
(Carbonneau et al., 2013). abstract symbolic instruction, produced a moderate- to
A second theory is that manipulatives provide the large-sized effect when students were measured on reten-
learner with an opportunity to enact the concept for im- tion and small effects when higher level outcomes, such as
proved encoding. In particular, the levels of processing problem solving, transfer, and justification, were consid-
notion (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) supports that teaching ered. An analysis of moderators showed that a host of
information in multiple ways, such as visually and sym- factors mattered such as age and the associated develop-
bolically, results in learners being able to activate those mental status of the child, perceptual richness of the ma-
different modes when retrieving the knowledge. In the terial, level of instructional guidance, and mathematical
context of manipulatives, in learning how to solve an topic. Specifically, studies conducted with children aged
addition problem of 5 + 7 with blocks, students are able 7–11 years old resulted in higher effect sizes (d = 0.81)
to code their understanding both with the symbolic code than studies with children 3–6 years old (d = −0.09) or
of 5 + 7 as well as the visual and kinesthetic code of in- children older than 12 years (d = 0.31). Lower percep-
teractions with the blocks. When later asked to do simi- tual richness (e.g., plain blocks) yielded higher effect
lar addition problems, students have access to multiple sizes (d = 0.77) than higher perceptual richness (e.g., toy
codes and the retrieval of one could activate the other, pizzas; d = 0.28). Higher effect sizes were found for the
resulting in improved learning outcomes. This building, mathematical topics of fractions (d = 0.93), algebra (d =
strengthening, and connecting of various representations of 0.84), and place value (d = 0.70) than for geometry (d =
mathematical ideas enhances mathematical understanding. 0.57) and arithmetic (d = 0.39). Finally, high instructional
Finally, manipulatives work by affording opportunities guidance (d = 0.90) for the manipulatives resulted in
for learners to discover mathematical concepts through greater learning benefits than low instructional guidance
their own exploration. Generating an answer compared to (d = 0.19).
just reading it has large positive effects on long-term The amount of perceptual richness and the structure
retention of that material, an effect known as the gener- of the manipulative both have an effect on learners’ out-
ation effect (Bertsch, Pesta, Wiscott, & McDaniel, 2007; comes. Martin and Schwartz (2005), for example, taught
Slamecka & Graf, 1978). These effects are thought to children about fractions using either pie wedges or tiles.
occur because the processes during generation of know- Findings showed that those who used tiles were better
ledge, compared with being given the knowledge, are in able to transfer their fraction addition skills to other ma-
greater alignment with those used to produce answers nipulatives than those who used pie wedges. The hy-
during testing (for details on the related transfer- pothesized mechanism that underlies these findings is
appropriate processing framework, refer to Morris, that the pie wedges’ structure already gave the learner a
Bransford, and Franks (1977)). It is also cognitively part-of-wholes-interpretation so they did not learn how
more effortful to generate a solution by yourself, which in to make and interpret such groupings and whole struc-
turn might induce more active processing and strengthen tures by themselves (Martin & Schwartz, 2005). There-
the knowledge in memory (Bertsch et al., 2007; Pyc & fore, while pie wedges can initially help students with
Rawson, 2009). Recent neuroscience research building on problem solving in that specific context, the added
this work to provide more insight about the mechanisms structure added perceptual richness that prevented them
from being able to transfer that knowledge to other physical, concrete manipulatives are better to learn with at
types of problems. In another study that looked at per- the beginning, but that digital manipulatives are better for
ceptual richness, fourth- and sixth-grade students were transferability. So, if learners can transition from concrete
either given perceptually rich bills and coins (i.e., looking to digital, they may get the benefit of both. As a scaffolding
similarly to real-world bills and coins) or given bland technique, younger students can start with concrete
bills and coins (e.g., white paper with black text indicat- manipulatives before using digital ones. Our later case illus-
ing the numerical value) to help them solve problems tration in this manipulatives section illustrates one way this
involving money (McNeil, Uttal, Jarvin, & Sternberg, could be approached.
2009). Those in the perceptually rich group made the
most errors, findings that could be supported by the Constrain options of what can be moved to isolate
explanation that the presence of the perceptually rich variables
bills and coins may have been disadvantageous because The ability to control which elements learners can and
it is harder for children to use salient objects to repre- cannot move can be leveraged to design more effective
sent abstract concepts (see also Uttal, Scudder, & embodied learning experiences. As an example of this,
DeLoache, 1997). There is a trade-off between the two we turn to the possibility of constraining options of what
types of manipulatives because younger students who can be moved in ways that encourage learners to use dif-
have not learned the relevant school-based algorithms ferent strategies. Related to this, a study by Manches,
may need the help of bills and coins to solve the prob- O’Malley, and Benford (2010) sought to test whether dif-
lems whereas older students who have more domain ferences in manipulation behaviors predicted 5-to-7-year-
knowledge may not gain any benefit from perceptually old children’s problem-solving strategies in a numerical
rich bills and coins (McNeil et al., 2009). partitioning task. The children were asked to provide all
The level of instructional guidance also has a significant the ways that a certain amount can be combined (e.g., the
impact on the benefits of the use of manipulatives number of ways that 9 can be recombined are 9 and 0, 0
(Carbonneau et al., 2013). A meta-analysis of 108 and 9, 8 and 1, 7 and 2, and so forth). Researchers found
studies that compared different types of instructional ap- that children provided significantly more unique solutions
proaches found that unassisted discovery resulted in poor in the manipulative condition with small plastic blocks as
learning outcomes relative to providing instructional sup- opposed to the condition with paper and a writing instru-
port (Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, & Tenenbaum, 2011), find- ment. These differences could be explained by the affor-
ings that align with an earlier review that indicated that dance of the block condition which allowed the children
guided discovery was more effective than pure discovery to move multiple blocks at a time which was not possible
in helping students learn and transfer (Mayer, 2004). In in the paper condition. This has implications for strategy
particular, findings suggest that unassisted discovery does use and mathematical understanding because, for ex-
not benefit learners, whereas feedback, worked examples, ample, reversing combinations (e.g., 5 and 2 into 2 and 5)
scaffolding, and elicited explanations do (Alfieri et al., is much easier to perform when manipulating multiple
2011). Explanations for this include the possibilities that objects at once than by subsequently manipulating one
more guided tasks lower the demands on working object after another. As a digital application of this, stu-
memory and executive functioning abilities to allow dents could be first constrained to moving one block at a
learners to direct those efforts to problem-solving pro- time on a touchscreen and then be given the opportunity
cesses (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006). to move two blocks at a time to develop their strategies
and mathematical understanding.
Leveraging technology for improving embodied learning
using manipulatives Use emerging technologies to create physical manipulations
Connect the concrete with the abstract through better on demand
scaffolding of knowledge The use of technology for educational purposes often in-
Digital manipulatives can allow students to make the con- duces a mental image of students interacting directly
nection between concrete objects and more abstract objects with digital devices. Viewing technology as a general
to gain a better symbolic, conceptual understanding of the tool, however, allows us to put it to work in different
mathematical concept. A challenge of the concreteness and ways. The power of 3D printing technology, for instance,
perceptual richness of some physical manipulatives, how- can be leveraged to create a customized and personal-
ever, is that it makes it difficult to transfer knowledge and ized manipulative that is not available or feasible to get
generalize to other contexts. Students may not recognize, otherwise. Manipulatives are generally associated with
for example, that a circle with one fifth shaded, the decimal early learning to help students to formalize some of the
representation of 0.2, and the fraction representation 1/5 all early school mathematics ideas. But, with the emergence
represent the same mathematical value. It is possible that of 3D printing and their digital design platforms, one
could also use technology to create nonstandard manipu- Students interact with the game by selecting a card with
latives to convey more complex mathematical concepts the correct number of spokes to replicate the yellow circle
beyond the early learning that the vast majority of manip- with the goal of creating the shape on the left (Fig. 3). The
ulatives typically target (Carbonneau et al., 2013). game moves from visual to symbolic as students describe
The manipulative shown in Fig. 2, for example, was the exponential pattern using visual cards, then repeated
designed as an on-grade-level tactile manipulative for multiplication, then exponential notation (Fig. 4). By de-
high school mathematics. termining which card will replicate the circles, students
Originally designed specifically for commercially avail- are to create the graphic on the left. Students are asked to
able consumer 3D printers, this manipulative is intended connect exponential notation with the graphic by generat-
for learning to graph quadratic functions. Commonly writing the pattern and not just the total number of circles.
ten in the form y = ax2 + bx + c, students generally study Though such a task can theoretically be accomplished
the effects of changing a or c. However, it can be challen- with physical manipulatives, it would be logistically ex-
ging to understand how the linear coefficient (b-value) pensive and taxing, requiring the purchasing and space
influences the graph of a parabola. Because of this, stu- for spreading out thousands of objects in the classroom,
dents are not exposed to how this coefficient behaves in a ample time, and a great degree of patience from stu-
graphing context. This manipulative allows students dents. For further enhancing the embodied experience
to change the b-value and see how it affects the of exponential growth, one could conceive of virtual
graph of a parabola. A video of this manipulative in reality tools allowing students to feel exponential growth
action can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/ of objects all around them.
watch?v=PmrzcR4H6xw.
A case illustration of Gyro JiJi
As a case illustration, we exemplify a way that technol-
Understanding very small or very large temporal and ogy can be used to connect the concrete with the ab-
spatial dimensions stract through better scaffolding of knowledge. One of
Digital manipulatives allow for understanding very small the issues with learning with manipulatives is that if the
or very large scales such as the mathematical concept of manipulative is too concrete and too rich perceptually,
exponential growth. For instance, in a game called Circle students likely struggle to generalize that knowledge to
Exponents (Fig. 3), students arrange circles into clusters other cases. However, especially for younger children,
and see them exponentially grow. The software can starting with an abstract example may be too challenging
zoom out to allow students to keep track of an exponen- to grasp and learn. Technology has the potential to scaf-
tial growing pattern, something unfeasible in a tactile fold and link the concrete and abstract in ways that help
environment. Additionally, students are able to see the students build those connections.
circles organized into patterns that reinforce the math- As an example, we highlight a spatial thinking game
ematical concepts. that we enhanced through technology to provide a deeper
Fig. 2 Panel a shows a parabola with a positive b-value; Panel b shows a parabola with a negative b-value
Fig. 3 Panel a shows the screen resulting from a student selecting which card to apply to the circle in the large rectangle. Panel b shows the
effect of applying the card to start generating the pattern on the left. Panel c shows the multiplicative effect of repeated use of the card
embodied learning experience in reference to the embodi- watching the animation, the learner is able to create the
ment taxonomy outlined earlier (Fig. 1) (Johnson-Glenberg desired movement with a bluetooth-enabled gyroscopic
et al., 2014). The game called Upright JiJi (Fig. 5) focuses device (Fig. 6).
on spatial-temporal reasoning in a three-dimensional As learners rotate the gyroscope in different ways, they
state by allowing students to rotate a penguin (named interact with a combined physical and digital manipula-
JiJi) 90° along the x-, y-, and z-axes. The aim is to turn tive that translates their rotational hand movements into
the penguin to an upright position by thinking ahead, the rotations needed to rotate the penguin into an up-
selecting a series of rotations on a touch device, and then right position.
watching those answers unfold as the penguin rotates on
the screen (Fig. 5). Hand gestures
Leveraging technology to enhance this game, we devel- Theoretical background
oped an embodied experience for learners to connect Though gestures can take many forms, in this section
with this relatively abstract concept through gestures by we focus on hand gestures that often have been linked
putting the penguin into the palms of the student’s hand to mathematical thinking in the representative gestures
to allow rotations to behave naturally as a real-time literature (Alibali & Nathan, 2012) as well as the gestural
event. Rather than selecting the desired rotation and congruency and interface design literature (Hostetter &
Alibali, 2008; Segal, 2011). Representative gestures in-
clude pointing gestures to indicate objects or locations
(e.g., pointing to a cube in order to refer to that cube),
iconic gestures to illustrate concrete objects or actions
(e.g., tracing a triangle in the air to mean triangle), and
metaphoric gestures that resemble something concrete
in order to represent something abstract (e.g., cupping
hands as if to “hold” an idea). Gestural congruency refers
to the alignment of the type of gestures used, such as on
a touchscreen (e.g., tapping, sliding), with the mental
model of the concept being taught.
Hand movements made with intention are often
taken as evidence that the body is involved in thinking.
Embodied cognition theories (Black, Segal, Vitale, &
Fadjo, 2012; Wilson, 2002) purport that conceptual
Fig. 4 Students connect the pattern with exponential notation by
knowledge results in the activation of both perceptual
writing an expression that models the pattern on the left
and motor information, and thus, gestures influence
Fig. 5 Panel a is a puzzle of Upright JiJi requiring three 90° rotations to orient the penguin in an upright position. Panel b depicts a solution that
was entered before the penguin begins the selected rotations
learners’ construction of mental representations in math- Goldin-Meadow et al., 2001). One mechanism by which
ematically relevant domains including spatial problem this occurs, as demonstrated by a study that looked at
solving (Chu & Kita, 2011), mathematical equivalence memory and gesturing, is that gesturing while explain-
(Perry, Breckinridge Church, & Goldin-Meadow, 1988), ing math problems enables speakers to maintain more
and counting (Alibali & DiRusso, 1999). The theoretical unrelated information in memory than they can when
argument that gestures are linked with mathematical un- they do not gesture (Cook et al., 2012; Goldin-Meadow
derstanding is that those movements are reflective of a et al., 2001). This representational format is thought to
learning cycle in which perceptual encoding of math prob- free cognitive resources that can then be used to en-
lems guide actions, and the consequences of those actions code new information in a more lasting format.
then guide what is perceived (Goldin-Meadow & Beilock,
2010; Hostetter & Alibali, 2008). This bidirectional, recip- Effectiveness of gestures
rocal relation between perception and action occurs Gestures have been shown to improve learning by help-
because representative gestures, such as pointing to the ing learners process existing ideas with less cognitive
two sides of a mathematical equation, can be explained by load. Since hands are already commonly used to ma-
the learners’ perceptual encoding that there are two nipulate objects, gestures provide additional feedback
equivalent sides. Further, actions can also guide percep- and visual cues by simulating how an object would move
tional encoding. For instance, instructional gestures, such if the hand were holding it. For example, gestures allow
as asking students who are solving mental rotation prob- for the tracking of an object in the mind as it is getting
lems to use their hands to represent how they would mentally rotated, improving spatial visualization (Chu &
move the pieces to form certain shapes, changes their Kita, 2011). In a series of experiments with allowed-to-
perceptions, resulting in better performance on the task gesture and prohibited-to-gesture groups of young
(Goldin-Meadow & Beilock, 2010). adults, Chu and Kita (2011) found that people who have
Gestures also impact learning through reducing difficulty in solving spatial visualization problems spon-
cognitive load (Cook, Yip, & Goldin-Meadow, 2012; taneously produce gestures to help them, and that the
use of gestures is related to improved performance. As
participants solved more problems, frequency in gestures
decreased. It is thought that the spatial computation
supported by gestures becomes internalized, and the
gesture frequency decreases. This in part provides an ex-
planation as to why the benefit of gestures persisted
even in subsequent spatial visualization problems in
which gesture was prohibited.
Gestures are also involved in creating and shaping new
ideas by introducing new ways of thinking through
movement. In one line of related work with elementary
school students, one group was told to gesture while
solving algebraic equivalence problems (e.g., 5 + 4 = 3 +
4 + ____) by putting their fingers in a “V” formation
Fig. 6 A student playing Gyro JiJi by rotating a gyroscope that is when referencing the addends of an equation whereas
wirelessly connected to a computer that generates feedback on the
another group was not told to gesture (Broaders, Cook,
screen
Mitchell, & Goldin-Meadow, 2007). Findings showed
that the gesture group solved more equivalence problems perform a specific type of gesture could mentally prime
correctly in the post-instruction test compared to peers them to solve the problem in a particular way. For ex-
who were instructed not to gesture. In a similar vein, in a ample, a study focused on children’s performance in arith-
study of 4 and 5-year-olds who were taught about sym- metic and numerical estimation provided interfaces for
metry either through a lesson that included pointing ges- gestures that were congruent or incongruent for those
tures or a comparable one that did not, those in the mathematical models (Segal, Black, & Tversky, 2010). In
gesture group correctly answered more than twice as particular arithmetic is a discrete task and should be sup-
many post-instruction questions when asked to judge six ported by discrete rather than continuous actions whereas
items as symmetrical or asymmetrical (Valenzeno, Alibali, estimation is a continuous task and should be supported
& Klatzky, 2003). These studies point towards an un- by continuous rather than discrete actions. If action sup-
tapped potential for prompting cued body movement to ports cognition, performance should be better with a ges-
improve learning. tural interface designed such that the actions map
Gestures have been shown to be effective in helping conceptually to the desired cognition. As such, tapping
learners to retain knowledge long term. Research dem- with a finger on a virtual block or clicking with a mouse
onstrates that learners should be more likely to grasp a on a virtual block to count and add are gestures that are
concept if told to produce gestures instantiating that congruent with the discrete representation of counting. In
concept during learning than if told to verbally articulate contrast, sliding the finger vertically over a series of blocks
the concept without using gestures. In a study with or dragging a mouse across a series of blocks to count
third- and fourth-grade students, three conditions for them are continuous movements that are not congruent
solving mathematical problems were compared: partici- with the discrete procedure of counting. In a 2 × 2 study
pants were either to produce gestures that displayed a with those four conditions, Segal and her colleagues
strategy for solving the problem, to produce spoken (Segal et al., 2010) found that students who did arithmetic
words reflecting the same problem-solving strategy, or with a tapping gesture performed better than those who
to do both (Cook, Mitchell, & Goldin-Meadow, 2008). did it with a sliding gesture. Also as expected, students
Although all groups improved comparably, from pretest who did numerical estimation with a sliding gesture per-
to immediate posttest, what is particularly interesting is formed better than those who did the task with a tapping
that in a follow-up a month later, those in one of the gesture. Later in this section we provide an example of
conditions with gesture retained more knowledge than applying this recommendation of cueing gestures that
those in the speech-only condition. In explaining these are congruent with the mental representations of the
results, the research team presented three hypotheses: (1) mathematical concept in the context of the mathematical
gesture offers a representational format that requires rela- understanding of slope.
tively little effort to produce, thereby freeing resources
that can then be used to encode new information in a Promote the development of effective strategies
more lasting format, (2) gesturing directly facilitates en- In work that shows that teaching students gestures can
coding in long-term memory through producing stronger help them to adopt new problem-solving strategies, as
and more robust memory traces than expressing informa- detailed earlier, Goldin-Meadow, Cook, and Mitchell
tion in speech because of the larger motor movements (2009) used an abstract gesture to help 9- to 10-year-old
involved or because of the potential for action-based, bod- children solve mathematical-equivalence problems such
ily encoding, and (3) gestures that indicate objects and as 4 + 3 + 6 = __ + 6. Children were taught to spread out
locations in reality may make it easier for learners to link two fingers to make V-point gesture with the two finger-
developing mental representations to relevant parts of the tips each pointing to the first two numbers (the 4 and
external environment to reduce processing demands. the 3 in this instance) and then have a finger on the
other hand pointing at the blank on the other side of the
Leveraging technology to improve the benefits of gestures equation. The purpose of these movements was to help
Cue gestures that are congruent with the mental the children see that the problems can be solved by
representations of the mathematical concept grouping and adding the two numbers on the left side of
The use of congruent gestures helps to construct better the equation that do not appear on the right side and
mental representations and mental operations to solve then putting the sum in the blank. Children who were
mathematical problems, which has implications for the asked to produce these hand movements during a math
ways that digital interfaces can be designed. Hostetter lesson were able to extract the grouping strategy despite
and Alibali’s (2008) Theory of Gestures as Simulated Ac- the fact that they were never explicitly told what the
tion suggests that gestures emerge from perceptual and movements represented. Future design and development
motor simulations that underlie embodied language and work could explore ways to leverage technology to en-
mental imagery. This suggests that asking learners to courage gestures that contribute to effective strategy use.
A case illustration of Tap Tempo student controls both horizontal and vertical movement
In this case illustration, we provide an example of lever- simultaneously. A slope of 1 means “same speed in
aging technology to provide gestural congruency to pro- horizontal and vertical.” A slope of 2 means you move
vide students with another level of understanding of the your left hand (vertically) twice as fast as your right
concept of slope. Typical approaches teach slope as a hand (horizontally). This affordance made possible by
formula to memorize and be applied to a static graph. multitouch screens is not possible to implement with a
Students look at two points and simply remember which computer mouse as input device.
to subtract and where to put the answers. Students have
well-documented misconceptions when learning about Whole-body movement
slope of lines (Leinhardt, Zaslavsky, & Stein, 1990), Theoretical background
resulting in them missing the connection between their Another domain that has been repeatedly linked to em-
calculations and the concept of a slope. Often, students bodied cognition in mathematics is full-body movement.
learn the formula and practice calculating with it to the Critically, by whole-body movement, we do not refer to
point that the formula abstracts away the understanding exercise or workouts that strengthen muscles and the car-
and hides what slope really means. diovascular system, but instead focus on bodily activities
To address this issue, a game called Tap Tempo was de- that are closely related to mathematical content with a
signed to experience the difference in slope as a tapping negligible fitness component. Similar to the domains of
tempo, providing the embodied experience of slope as a manipulatives and gestures that we covered before, the
literal rate over time. Tapping influences the vertical idea is that sensorimotor information, that is processed
movement such that faster tapping creates more steepness and accumulated during a body movement, facilitates
and, by having embodied control of this mathematical mathematical learning (Fischer, Moeller, Bientzle, Cress, &
process, students can internalize that slope is about a ver- Nuerk, 2011). The Theory of Event Coding (TEC) has
tical change over a specific horizontal distance (Fig. 7). been used as a theoretical foundation to explain how body
This allows students to experience the embodiment movements as an embodied experience can impact learn-
that a linear path has a constant slope and connect that ing (Hommel, 2009, 2015; Hommel, Müsseler, Aschersle-
with the understanding that a line is the only type of ben, & Prinz, 2001). This theory proposes, for example,
function for which a constant cadence along the x-axis that stored and strongly interlinked information about
corresponds to a constant cadence along the y-axis. As a concrete objects in the world include not only perceptual
form of gestural congruency in this game, lines with dif- features, such as color, shape, size, and smell, but also
ferent slopes can be embodied with a faster or slower action-related properties such as chewing and swallowing.
tapping tempo. Critically, if an object is processed, all of its features – per-
Further, another common error is that students sub- ceptual and action-related in nature – are activated. Dur-
tract values inconsistently while calculating the slope, ing later retrieval, the activation of one feature (i.e., color)
sometimes making errors with mixing up the order of y’s then facilitates the activation of associated features (i.e.,
compared to x’s and sometimes computing subtraction size). Moreover, the activated features (i.e., color and size)
of x’s against y’s and not getting slope at all. In a touch also facilitate the perception of other objects and actions
environment, the game can be designed such that the that have similar features. But this may also work the
other way around, that is, the activation of features of a
planned action facilitates the perception of objects and
carrying out other actions that share features with this
planned action. Although TEC serves reasonably well as a
theoretical starting point to explain embodied cognition,
its original conception did not have embodied cognition
in mind. However, that extension is straightforward, not
only in regard to body movements, but in regard to em-
bodied cognition in general (Hommel, 2015).
Effectiveness of whole-body movement activities

Most of the currently available intervention studies on the
impact of whole-body movements on mathematical learn-
ing focused on magnitude representation involving a
number line. The main motivation to focus on magni-
Fig. 7 A puzzle of Tap Tempo that can be solved by tapping the
tude representation in young children is the finding
button to move vertically over time
that early mathematical competence predicts future
arithmetic performance (Booth & Siegler, 2008) and later performance was tested in the experimental condition
achievement (Duncan et al., 2007). To our knowledge, and a control condition. The control condition also in-
there is currently only a limited set of intervention studies volved a walking component that was not related to
available that incorporated whole-body movement into mathematical content such that participants were
the training part. Since this corpus of literature is so small, instructed to walk to a tablet computer and estimate the
we are going to review the individual studies in more de- position of a given number on a virtual number line
tail than we did with the literature in the previous sections using a touch interface. This procedure ensured that
where the available published research is considerably neither the walking component nor the presentation of a
more substantial. number line represented confounding variables. The
Fischer et al. (2011) conducted a study with the aim to children were trained over three sessions in both condi-
improve number magnitude through an embodied inter- tions. The authors reported that both groups reliably
vention. They analyzed data of 5–6-year-old children improved in a number line task but that the improve-
who formed the experimental group and at the same ments in the experimental and control conditions were
time also served as a control group in a cross-over not significantly different from each other. Neither were
design. In the experimental condition, children had to there effects found in symbolic and nonsymbolic num-
decide whether a presented number was smaller or big- ber comparison tasks nor in tasks that measured place-
ger than a presented target number using a digital dance value understanding. However, the authors found differ-
mat. If the number was bigger than the target, they had ential training effects in favor of the experimental group
to move their whole body by stepping to the right; in two out of three measures of mental addition.
otherwise they had to step to the left. With the goal to An issue of the two intervention studies reported so
further increase the effectiveness of the intervention, a far is that they are not very scalable because the training
spatial number line was also presented in the experi- sessions had to be conducted in a one-on-one setting.
mental condition. In the control condition, the same This inherently limits the potential reach of these em-
task was performed on a computer with a touch inter- bodied training approaches in the classroom. In order to
face without presenting a spatial number line. Identical overcome this problem, Fischer, Moeller, Huber, Cress,
number sets were used in both conditions. In each train- and Nuerk (2015) conducted a pilot study in which they
ing condition, children trained for three sessions that used an interactive whiteboard as a means to train num-
lasted between 10 and 20 min. All six training sessions ber magnitude in an embodied way. The authors argue
were held within 6 weeks. The authors reported that that whiteboards are readily available in classrooms and
after the digital dance mat condition, children performed are also big enough in order to implement embodied
better in a traditional spatial number line estimation task training of number magnitude with them. In their inter-
and also in an untrained verbal counting task. No effects vention, second-grade students had to mark given num-
were found in object counting, knowledge of digits and bers on a number line drawn on a whiteboard. Critically,
number words, and simple addition and subtraction the whiteboard was big enough so that children had to
problems. We note that the design of this study does walk a few steps in order to reach the position at which
not allow for disentangling the potential effects of the they marked the number on the number line. The whole
dance mat component and the potential effects of the intervention including pretest and posttest assessments
presentation of the number line, both of which were was conducted in just one session. Two control condi-
only present in the experimental but not the control tions were implemented, one in which children had to
condition. discriminate colors on the whiteboard (media-matched
The participants in the above described intervention control group) and another control condition in which
study (Fischer et al., 2011) had to indicate the position participants performed a number line estimation task on
of a number on a number line by making a categorical a computer tablet (task-matched control group). The au-
response on a digital dance mat. Since the number line thors reported that the experimental group performed
is assumed to be continuous, however, it makes sense to better in a number line estimation task than the two
implement a continuous oriented intervention, which is control groups but there were no other differential
what Link, Moeller, Huber, Fischer, and Nuerk (2013) group effects in a mental addition task, a number com-
did. In their study, they trained first-grade students on a parison task, and a task in which children had to select
number line task that required participants to walk to a the closest number to a given reference number.
position on the line that corresponded to a given num- In the study by Ruiter, Loyens, and Paas (2015), the au-
ber. The response of the participants, that is, the pos- thors compared two-digit number building training in an
ition where they stood on the number line, was tracked embodied condition with a control condition that did not
with a Microsoft Xbox Kinect device. Again a cross-over involve mathematics-related whole-body movement. The
design was operationalized in which all participants’ first-grade students were instructed to build numbers
using “blocks” of 10s, 5s, and 1s. So, for example the num- domain. The current evidence of efficacy is based on
ber 27 had to be built of 2 × 10, 1 × 5, and 2 × 1. In the relatively small sample sizes per study – with the excep-
embodied condition, the participants were instructed to tion of Ruiter et al. (2015) – and only one to three train-
build the numbers by taking steps along a ruler on the ing sessions per condition. It is conceivable that longer
floor. Large steps corresponded to the 10s, medium steps interventions would result in more pronounced effects,
to the 5s, and small steps to the 1s. In the nonembodied assuming that more training leads to better learning.
condition, participants had to build the numbers verbally, The reviewed studies demonstrate that participants got
without taking steps, followed by indicating on a ruler better in the condition of interest but this improvement
where the number that they just built was located. After a was not always superior than the improvement in the
brief intervention of constructing 10 numbers, results re- control condition. Additionally, there is inconsistent
vealed that the embodied condition outperformed the support that participants also improve in tasks that were
nonembodied condition on two tasks that required building not part of the intervention such as verbal counting and
numbers using Lego blocks, in a similar way as the num- mental arithmetic. With that it seems that other ap-
bers were constructed during the intervention. It should be proaches, such as playing linear number games (Ramani,
noted that this study implemented a posttest-only design, Jaeggi, Daubert, & Buschkuehl, 2017; Ramani & Siegler,
that is, participants were not tested on the criterion task 2008; Ramani, Siegler, & Hitti, 2012), are currently more
before the intervention and, therefore, it is uncertain effective as they not only lead to improvements in the
whether the groups were comparable at baseline. trained task but also consistently result in improve-
Finally, in a recently published study, Dackermann, ments in untrained mathematics-related tasks. How-
Fischer, Huber, Nuerk, and Moeller (2016) trained chil- ever, there are large procedural differences between the
dren to segment spatial distances into equal intervals linear number line board game studies and the whole-
with the hypothesis that a better understanding of the body movement studies such as group versus one-on-
concept of equidistant spacing would lead to a better one administration and number of training sessions to
understanding of number magnitude. The theoretical name only a few, that do not allow a straightforward com-
motivation for this training approach is based on the ob- parison of the two intervention approaches. In sum, the
servation that children frequently overestimate the pos- available whole-body movement studies that aim to
ition of small numbers on the number line such as by enhance mathematics learning are inconsistent and a clear
placing the number 10 where number 40 would be advantage of the embodied approach is not yet fully
(Siegler & Booth, 2004). In a cross-over design, 22 second established.
graders took part in the embodied training as well as the
control training. In the embodied condition, children
started to walk at the beginning of a number line that Leveraging technology for designing whole-body movement
was taped to the floor and were instructed to choose activities
their stride length so that it segmented the number line The basic idea of whole-body movement as an embodied
into a requested number of pieces. Every step defined activity is that it has a positive impact on cognition by
one segment. Their steps were tracked by a Microsoft allowing a student to learn a certain mathematical concept
Xbox Kinect device which was necessary for performance better than without movement. Here, we were only inter-
measurement and generating performance feedback that ested in movement that is closely related to mathematical
was presented via video after each trial. In the control content and not in movement for the sake of fitness or
condition, children had to segment a number line shown motivation. In the following we want to explore in what
on a tablet computer into equidistant pieces using a touch way we can use emerging technology as a superior tool to
interface. It should be noted that the control condition increase the efficiency of mathematical learning. It is
also included a full-body movement component that was worth mentioning at this point, that this area of research
unrelated to any math activity, i.e., it involved walking to is relatively young and with the exception of one study
the tablet computer in order to segment the number line. (Ruiter et al., 2015) is already characterized through the
The authors report that in the embodied condition involvement of a set of different modern technological de-
children were better in segmenting a number line com- vices such as the Microsoft Xbox Kinect, digital dance
pared to the control condition. However, no condition mats, and interactive whiteboards. However, as we also
differences were found for number line estimates and later discuss in more detail, there are other technologies
arithmetic performance. that to the best of our knowledge have not yet been imple-
The reviewed intervention literature that focuses on mented in mathematical intervention studies, such as
whole-body movement as an embodied way to improve pedometers, Global Positioning System (GPS) trackers,
numerosity is small and more work is needed to evaluate and floor-projected imagery that changes as a function of
the potential of an embodied training approach in this where participants stand.
Whole-body movement as a thought process that can be distance by multiplying the counted number of steps
reflected upon with their average stride length. In order to get a
Body movements can be tracked through technology. more objective measurement of the real distance to
If such movements are executed to embody a math- the target, they were provided with a laser-based dis-
ematical principle then such tracking allows us to tance measurement tool which again allowed a com-
study the mathematical thinking processes that an in- parison with their calculated distance. This activity
dividual is going through. As a consequence, we can was then repeated with different targets that were lo-
present the learner with immediate, real-time feed- cated in varying distances from the starting point. In
back (e.g., Kim, Min, Kim, & Lee, 2014 for an ex- this environment the main goal was to train number
ample for yoga postures) or study the exhibited sense through practicing estimation skills, but other
actions and underlying processes at a later point in mathematical aspects, such as calculating averages
time such as implemented by the reviewed study of and comparing expected numbers with real measure-
Dackermann et al. (2016) who provided delayed feedback ments, were also part of the exercise. Here, technol-
via video to their participants. The tracking of movements ogy takes a more subtle role, and movement becomes
as an expression of mathematical thought processes is a vehicle of mathematical intent. In this way, the
possible without interrupting the thought processes of a power of technology is elevated due to its ability to
learner. In contrast, tracking thought processes in a more facilitate without it being distracting.
traditional setting often requires learners to deliberately In a somewhat related activity that is also on dis-
put their own thinking into words by writing them down play in different variants in mathematics museums,
or saying them out loud as they are problem solving. The such as the The National Museum of Mathematics
problems of the latter approach are that it is more intru- (MoMath) in New York City (USA), students are
sive and that a learner might fail to mention an important asked to interpret functions of graphs through move-
step in the train of thoughts or the description of thoughts ment. A common approach is to define the x-axis as
is lacking detail. Further, real-time feedback on thought time. Often, graphs are perceived to be static, but
processes is very challenging to implement in traditional there is mathematical foundation for them to be ac-
settings. On the other hand, one has to keep in mind that tive. For example, one way to interpret the mathemat-
body movements are not a direct expression of thoughts; ical idea of parameterizing a curve, may it be linear
however, if implemented carefully, they might provide in- or nonlinear, is acting it out over time. This creates
sights into ongoing thoughts that are not possible to ac- an opportunity for students to act out functions while
cess otherwise. Finally, recorded body movements can technological devices are visualizing the movement on
serve as an excellent source to reflect on the understand- a monitor; for example, through data acquisition of a
ing of the mathematical problem at hand and allows for pressure-sensitive floor mat. To interact with the
the discussion and comparison of mathematical solving technology, students stand on a mat several yards
approaches of different individuals. long. As they move forward or backwards on the
mat, their position is interpreted in the context of the
A case illustration of whole-body movement graph on the monitor. Walking forward on the plat-
An explicit goal of the following case illustration was form, towards the monitor, is interpreted as move-
to create an embodied activity that made efficient use ment upwards on the graph. Taking steps back on the
of technology that would enhance learning without platform models a vertical decrease. Visitors start at a
putting the technology itself in the focus of attention. fixed middle point and must step forward or back-
In this activity, students first measured their average wards to stay as accurate to a given graph as possible.
stride length and were then asked how far away they In such an environment, the slope of the graph
thought a certain object in the environment was, for becomes synonymous with speed along the y-axis.
example, a wall. Students were then instructed to give When a graph reaches a point where it becomes a
an estimate before pacing out the distance. Next, stu- horizontal line (slope = 0), individuals may interpret
dents walked the distance to the target and counted that as a temporary break where they can stand still.
the number of steps. In order to improve their own Obviously, environments such as this evoke a high
measurement accuracy, they were asked to walk back degree of physical movement, and the movement is
to the point from where they initially started and cal- intentionally suggested by the graph.
culate the average of their two measurements. While
the students did that, a pedometer that was given to Discussion
them beforehand, also measured their steps and We reviewed the influence of manipulatives, hand gestures,
allowed a comparison with their own measurement. and whole-body movements on mathematical learning in
In a next step, students could then calculate the the context of emerging technologies, and we discussed the
potential to increase the impact that embodied interven- Guidance for designing optimal embodied experiences
tions have in these domains. We find that the embodiment Cue movements that align with the mental model of the
across all three reviewed domains can benefit mathematical mathematical concept
learning, likely by providing an additional representation of With the link between movement and thought, one of
the mathematical conception to strengthen encoding, by the opportunities that we have for design is that we can
reducing cognitive load to provide more processing power guide movements to influence thoughts in ways that im-
to deeply think and problem solve, and by inspiring the prove mathematical cognition. This can be done on
use of strategies and modes of thinking other than what touch interfaces through cuing appropriate gestures,
nonembodied approaches evoke. At the same time, how- such as discussed earlier (see also Richland, 2015), tap-
ever, it also becomes clear that the research on embodied ping for discrete arithmetic operations, sliding for esti-
cognition and mathematics is still quite young, in some mation problems, and tapping at different rates to
domains more so than others. The available body of re- experience different steepness levels of slope.
search on manipulatives as well as hand gestures is more
comprehensive than the work on whole-body movement. Make movements visible and give opportunities for
Across the domains of manipulatives and whole body reflection
movements, most of the work in mathematics under- A challenge to using body movements as a foundation
standing has been conducted with younger children and, or even as a metaphor for activating new learning oppor-
therefore, it is unclear what effects can be expected with tunities is that individuals may not remember the details
an older population, such as college students, who are of the movements that they engaged in. For learners to
learning more sophisticated mathematics. Focusing on the reflect on their movements and the mathematical con-
research on the effectiveness of manipulatives, it seems cepts that those movements enact, there needs to be a
that manipulatives are generally beneficial; however, re- way for them to observe and reflect on these move-
sults are strongly moderated by the contexts in which they ments. To address this challenge, technology may allow
are used and, in particular, the amount of instructional a playback feature or provide real-time metrics that
guidance and the perceptual richness of the material. Fi- allow learners to observe what their body is doing with
nally, it is an open question as to whether the different respect to the important features of the target learning
levels of embodiment, in the sense of the taxonomy sug- domain.
gested by Johnson-Glenberg et al. (2014; Fig. 1), have a
corresponding impact on the learning success, so that Remember that less can be more
level 1 embodiment would lead to less learning success Technology is a tool. If treated as the focus, technology
than level-4 embodiment, with level-2 and -3 embodiment actually adds more distraction to the environment and
being between the two extremes. may not result in better learning. Using technology does
In providing guidance for how we can leverage technol- not have to be flashy and can be incorporated in subtle
ogy to design embodied experiences for mathematical un- ways. This is what our case example does in which stu-
derstanding, the examples that we provided are intended to dents are instructed to estimate distances and compare
illustrate the possibilities and the constraints involved, but their estimates with their own real-world measurements
we acknowledge that there are other design approaches and using pedometers and laser-based measuring tools. Not
technologies that can be used. For example, we did not dis- only does the “less is more” adage help with cost, it also
cuss “social” technologies, such as collaborative work (e.g., helps with learning. If the technology is too perceptually
Falloon, 2015; Plass et al., 2013), nor a more detailed ana- rich, it will distract from the learning content, as found
lysis of augmented and virtual reality (e.g., Espejo-Trung, in the case of certain manipulatives. Ideally, the technology
Elian, & Luz, 2015, for an example in dentistry). Future re- blends perfectly into the activity, so that you are not blinded
search and reviews certainly have much ground to cover in by it but you are able to fully focus on the content.
those areas, but there is still quite a bit that we can take
away from and build on with what is currently known and Implementation opportunities and challenges
what our reflections across three areas of embodied cogni- Logistical constraints and opportunities for scalability
tion and mathematics have revealed. The effectiveness of Technology can help to make some things more scalable
the case illustrations that we provided also has not been such as the use of manipulatives. When it is digital, one
formally assessed which constitutes another necessary area does not have to buy several copies of objects, set them
for future exploration. In guiding the application of em- up, and clean them up. The falling price of technology
bodied cognition to the design of mathematical tools, we also helps with scaling technologically enhanced experi-
discuss thematic considerations for the design, implementa- ences. However, there are also aspects of embodied
tion, and assessment in the space of technology, embodied learning that are not as easily scalable. With whole-body
cognition, and mathematics education. movements, for instance, it is hardly feasible to have 20
or more digital dance mats or Microsoft Xbox Kinects Keep a record of the process of movements and get
in the classroom given the cost, required space, and meaningful insight from it
supervision needed to implement this. Technology provides the opportunity for educators to
Further, 3D printing allows for the creating and shar- keep track of student movements during the embodied
ing manipulatives using free software and open-source learning process. For instance, certain types of move-
devices. As 3D printers become increasingly affordable ment patterns with digital manipulatives can illustrate
and available in schools, custom manipulatives will be- that students have particular misconceptions. Further,
come more scalable. Consequently, schools with 3D being able to track students’ mathematical thinking
printers could receive digital files and print the manipu- process allows for different types of assessment ques-
latives as needed. They could print in any size that suits tions that look at those processes, rather than simply
their needs or even with the colors or materials that best their final answers, as part of learning assessments. For
fit their desires. This puts customized and personalized example, students could be asked to embody their
manipulatives into the classroom quickly and at low cost. schema of multiplication without physically indicating
the operation directly. This could highlight schemas in a
Assessment considerations for measuring learning way that paper and pencil could not. A student may start
Just because students are moving does not mean that they small and move as if to get larger as a way to embody
are learning “multiplication makes things bigger.” And, if several dif-
Learners may manipulate physical objects seemingly ferent movements were recorded and students were to
meaningfully, but that does not necessarily mean that look at recordings of students acting out, they could be
the abstract concepts that these objects aim to convey asked to classify which ones are embodying multiplica-
are understood. In an example illustrating that, working tion. This could provide insight about student cognition
with Cuisenaire rods, Holt (1982, pp. 138–139) said that in a way that is missed without the merge of technology
he and his fellow teacher “were excited about the rods and movement.
because we could see strong connections between the
world of rods and the world of numbers. We therefore
Conclusion
assumed that children, looking at the rods and doing
New technology offers many opportunities to improve
things with them, could see how the world of numbers
instructional methods for embodied learning of math-
and numerical operations worked. The trouble with this
ematics. Throughout this process, it is crucial to not get
theory is that [my colleague] and I already knew how
carried away with the tool itself because it is not
the numbers worked. We could say, ‘Oh, the rods be-
whether the tool is used or not, but rather the way the
haved just the way numbers do’. But, if we hadn’t known
tool is being used, that impacts education. There are
how numbers behaved, would looking at the rods enable
advantages to embodied learning and leveraging technol-
us to find out? Maybe so, maybe not.”
ogy, such as the opportunities to track movements for
assessment and to scale experiences that would be logis-
Track not just learning outcomes but also readiness to learn
tically difficult, for cost and space issues, to provide to
Research has shown that embodied learning can provide
students otherwise. However, it is important to remem-
indicators of students’ readiness to learn. For example,
ber that an embodied learning experience is not neces-
in research on gestures, those who produce gesture-
sarily ideal for teaching all mathematical concepts to all
speech mismatches have been shown to be more ready
students, but it might be desirable for some concepts
to learn (Goldin-Meadow & Wagner, 2005). Their re-
and some students. It is up to future research to dissect
search suggest that what gestures provide is particularly
those individual and contextual differences and to fur-
useful when speakers are at the cognitive brink of learn-
ther discover how to integrate technology to improve
ing something new because during those moments, ges-
the effectiveness of embodied learning for mathematics.
tures can reveal thoughts that learners cannot express
verbally. Further, research with third- and fourth-grade
children in mathematics found that mismatches in chil- Endnotes
1
dren’s gestures and speech were related to types of strat- Dehaene, Bossini, and Giraux (1993) were the first to
egies that adults used for instruction (Goldin-Meadow & describe the SNARC effect which describes a spatial-
Singer, 2003); in particular, adults offered instruction numerical association, probably reflecting how numbers
that contained more variability, with more different are spatially oriented in one’s mind. In short, it was
types of strategies, to children who produced mis- found that participants responded faster to smaller num-
matches than to children who did not. An open question bers with their left hand and also made fewer errors.
for assessment then is how to use digital technology to With their right hand, they responded faster to larger
track readiness to learn in a scalable manner. numbers and also made fewer errors.
Acknowledgements Dehaene, S., Bossini, S., & Giraux, P. (1993). The mental representation of parity
The authors would like to thank Susanne Jaeggi for her helpful comments and number magnitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122(3),
on an earlier version of this manuscript. 371. http://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.122.3.371.
Domahs, F., Krinzinger, H., & Willmes, K. (2008). Mind the gap between both
Authors’ contributions hands: Evidence for internal finger-based number representations in
All authors read and approved the final manuscript. children’s mental calculation. Cortex, 44(4), 359–367. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cortex.2007.08.001.
Authors' information Domahs, F., Moeller, K., Huber, S., Willmes, K., & Nuerk, H.-C. (2010). Embodied
Cathy Tran is now at Tangible Play, Inc. numerosity: implicit hand-based representations influence symbolic number
processing across cultures. Cognition, 116(2), 251–266. http://doi.org/10.1016/
Competing interests j.cognition.2010.05.007.
All authors are employed at the MIND Research Institute, a nonprofit Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov,
organization whose interest is related to this work. P., …Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental
Psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446. http://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428
Espejo-Trung, L. C., Elian, S. N., & Luz, M. A. A. C. (2015). Development and
Consent for publication
application of a new learning object for teaching operative dentistry using
Written informed consent was obtained from the individuals or their parent/
augmented reality. Journal of Dental Education, 79(11), 1356–1362.
next of kin for the publication of any accompanying images.
Falloon, G. (2015). What’s the difference? Learning collaboratively using iPads in
Received: 3 August 2016 Accepted: 18 January 2017 conventional classrooms. Computers & Education, 84, 62–77. http://doi.org/10.
1016/j.compedu.2015.01.010.
Fayol, M., Barrouillet, P., & Marinthe, C. (1998). Predicting arithmetical achievement
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