Entrance Slip: Embodied Learning

I think embodied learning is important in math classes if we want our students to actually understand the concepts on a deeper level. The way math is presented in school is often more as a series of steps you can follow to obtain the right answer. Without a deeper understanding of why this process worked and why this result is useful, the right answer is meaningless. I think there is some truth to the phrase "seeing is believing" in that it becomes much easier to understand something we can observe. This is why visual "proofs" can be useful even if they are not rigorous. They give us some intuition about why something is true.

I think we probably use a certain amount of embodied learning without even realizing it. We use gestures when we speak, we use pictures and diagrams, we use real world examples. All these things help take math off of the page and into reality. Embodied ways of learning seem to be more natural for mathematics that is more concrete. As the material becomes more abstract, embodied ways of learning may not be as natural. However, as the article demonstrates, it is still possible to embody abstract mathematical concepts, even if it isn't as natural.

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