Investigating Elementary School Teacher Gestures in Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Authors

  • Nasrun Nasrun Mathematics Education Program, Muhammadiyah University of Makasar
  • M. Syawahid Mathematics Education Program, Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram
  • Irwan Akib Mathematics Education Program, Muhammadiyah University of Makasar

Keywords:

Gesture, Mathematics Teaching, Pointing Gesture, Representation Gesture, Writing Gesture.

Abstract

Gestures was an important in mathematics teaching and learning because it can increase student’s cognitive load. however, many teachers pay little attention to gestures in carrying out learning in class. This study aims to describe and compare the gesture of primary school teacher in mathematics teaching and learning. Qualitative of case study used in this study. Two teachers in “Islam Athirah†of elementary schools consist of one senior teacher and one prospective teacher as research subjects. Data was collected through audiovisual material and interview. The teachers were observed and recorded when performing mathematics teaching and learning. Interview were conducted with ten selected students to find out feedback from learning activity. The finding showed that pointing gesture was frequently used in mathematics teaching and learning. Furthermore, senior teacher better in performing gesture than pre-service teacher. Senior teacher has an excellence in pointing and writing gesture, while pre-service teacher has an excellence in performing representing gesture.

 

References

Alibali, M. W., Heath, D. C., & Myers, H. J. (2001). Effects of visibility between speaker and listener on gesture production: Some gestures are meant to be seen. Journal of Memory and Language, 44(2), 169–188. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2000.2752

Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2012). Embodiment in Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Evidence From Learners’ and Teachers’ Gestures. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21(2), 247–286. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2011.611446

Alibali, M. W., Nathan, M. J., & Fujimori, Y. (2011). Gestures in the classroom: What’s the point? In L. Stein, N. & S. W. Raudenbush (Eds.), Developmental Cognitive Science Goes to School (pp. 219–234). Routledge.

Alibali, M. W., Nathan, M. J., Wolfgram, M. S., Church, R. B., Jacobs, S. A., Johnson Martinez, C., & Knuth, E. J. (2014). How Teachers Link Ideas in Mathematics Instruction Using Speech and Gesture: A Corpus Analysis. Cognition and Instruction, 32(1), 65–100. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2013.858161

Arzarello, F., Paola, D., Robutti, O., & Sabena, C. (2009). Gestures as semiotic resources in the mathematics classroom. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 70(2), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-008-9163-z

Butcher, C., Mylander, C., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (1991). Displaced communication in a self-styled gesture system: Pointing at the nonpresent. Cognitive Development, 6(3), 315–342. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2014(91)90042-C

Chamberlain, B. (2020). Semiotic Resources in the Mathematics Classroom: The Use of Gesture in the Development of Spatial Reasoning. Education Research & Perspectives, 47, 53–73. https://www.erpjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/03_ERPV47_Chamberlain.pdf

Chikiwa, C. (2021). Gestures and the Spoken Language: A Crucial Semiotic and Symbiotic Relationship in Multilingual Mathematics Classes. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(12). https://doi.org/10.29333/EJMSTE/11279

Chue, S., Lee, Y. J., & Tan, K. C. D. (2015). Iconic gestures as undervalued representations during science teaching. Cogent Education, 2(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2015.1021554

Cochet, H., & Vauclair, J. (2014). Deictic gestures and symbolic gestures produced by adults in an experimental context: Hand shapes and hand preferences. Laterality, 19(3), 278–301. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2013.804079

Corts, D. P., & Meyers, K. (2002). Conceptual clusters in figurative language production. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 31(4), 391–408. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019521809019

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (Fourth). Pearson Education.

Goldin-meadow, S., Nusbaum, H., Kelly, S. D., & Wagner, S. (2012). Research Report EXPLAINING MATH : Gesturing Lightens the Load. Psychological Science, 12(6), 516–522.

Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 606–633. https://doi.org/doi:10.1525/ aa.1994.96.3.02a00100

Goodwin, C. (2003). Pointing as situated practice. In S. Kita (Ed.), Pointing: Where language, culture and cognition meet (pp. 217–241). Erlbaum.

Guidetti, M., & Nicoladis, E. (2008). Introduction to special issue: Gestures and communicative development. First Language, 28(2), 107–115. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723708088914

Hord, C., Marita, S., Walsh, J. B., Tomaro, T.-M., Gordon, K., & Saldanha, R. L. (2016). Teacher and Student Use of Gesture and Access to Secondary Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities : An Exploratory Study. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 14(2), 189–206.

Hostetter, A. B., & Alibali, M. W. (2008). Visible embodiment: Gestures as simulated action. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 15(3), 495–514. https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.15.3.495

Hostetter, A. B., & Alibali, M. W. (2010). Language, gesture, action! A test of the Gesture as Simulated Action framework. Journal of Memory and Language, 63(2), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.04.003

Jeannerod, M. (2001). Neural Simulation of Action: A Unifying Mechanism for Motor Cognition. NeuroImage, 14(1), S103–S109. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0832

Keene, K. A., Rasmussen, C., & Stephan, M. (2012). Gestures and a chain of signification: The case of equilibrium solutions. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 24(3), 347–369. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-012-0054-3

Kita, S. (2000). How representational gestures help speaking. In D. McNeill (Ed.), Language and gesture: Window into thought and action (pp. 162–185). Cambridge University Press.

Marrongelle, K. (2007). The function of graphs and gestures in algorithmatization. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 26(3), 211–229. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2007.09.005

McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about thought. University of Chicago Press.

McNeill, D. (2005). Gesture and Thought. University of Chicago Press.

Mildenhall, P., & Sherriff, B. (2018). Using multiple metaphors and multimodalities as a semiotic resource when teaching year 2 students computational strategies. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 30(4), 383–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-017-0212-8

Morford, J. P., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (1997). From Here and Now to There and Then: The Development of Displaced Reference in Homesign and English. Child Development, 68(3), 420–435. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb01949.x

Parrill, F., McKim, A., & Grogan, K. (2019). Gesturing standard deviation: Gestures undergraduate students use in describing their concepts of standard deviation. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 53(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2018.05.003

Rasmussen, C., Stephan, M., & Allen, K. (2004). Classroom mathematical practices and gesturing. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 23(3), 301–323. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2004.06.003

Reynolds, F. J., & Reeve, R. A. (2001). Gesture in collaborative mathematics problem-solving. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 20(4), 447–460. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0732-3123(02)00091-3

Richland, L. E. (2015). Linking Gestures: Cross-Cultural Variation During Instructional Analogies. Cognition and Instruction, 33(4), 295–321. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2015.1091459

Shein, P. P. (2012). Seeing With Two Eyes: A Teacher’s Use of Gestures in Questioning and Revoicing to Engage English Language Learners in the Repair of Mathematical Errors. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 43(2), 182–222. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.43.2.0182

Soto-Johnson, H., & Troup, J. (2014). Reasoning on the complex plane via inscriptions and gesture. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 36, 109–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2014.09.004

Wagner Cook, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2006). The role of gesture in learning: Do children use their hands to change their minds? Journal of Cognition and Development, 7(2), 211–232. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327647jcd0702_4

Weinberg, A., Fukawa-Connelly, T., & Wiesner, E. (2015). Characterizing instructor gestures in a lecture in a proof-based mathematics class. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90(3), 233–258. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9623-1

Williams-Pierce, C., Pier, E. L., Walkington, C., Boncoddo, R., Clinton, V., Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2017). What we say and how we do: Action, gesture, and language in proving. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 48(3), 248–260. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.48.3.0248

Downloads

Published

2023-04-08

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2023): April

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish articles in JTAM (Jurnal Teori dan Aplikasi Matematika) agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright of the article and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a CC-BY-SA or The Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike License.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).