Research Avenues Supporting Embodied Cognition in Learning and Instruction

Research Avenues Supporting Embodied Cognition in Learning and Instruction

Castro-Alonso, Juan C. (University of Birmingham)
Ayres, Paul (University of New South Wales)
Zhang, S. (TU Delft Statistics; Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
de Koning, Björn B. (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
Paas, Fred (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam; University of Wollongong)

2024

Research on embodied cognition acknowledges that cognitive processing is tightly coupled with bodily activities and the environment. An important implication for education is that learning can be enhanced when the brain, body, and environment mutually influence each other, such as when making or observing human actions, especially those involving hand gestures and manipulation of objects. In this narrative review article, we describe the evidence from six research avenues that can help explain why embodied cognition can enhance learning and instruction. Through the exploration of these six interconnected research pathways, we aim to make a significant contribution by proposing innovative directions for learning and instruction research, all rooted in the principles of embodied cognition. We establish a direct link between the six research pathways and embodied phenomena, both in the contexts of making and observing human movements. When making human movements, the research avenues explaining the learning benefits due to these movements are physical activity, generative learning, and offloaded cognition. When observing human movements, the avenues researching these phenomena are specialized processor and signaling. Lastly, the research avenue social cognition is integral to both making and observing human movements. With originality in focus, we also include research that has not been traditionally associated with embodied cognition or embodiment. This article offers comprehensive discussions, substantiated with evidence and influencing features, for each of these research avenues. We conclude by outlining the implications of these findings for instruction and charting potential directions for future investigation.

Embodied cognition
Embodiment and education
Gesture and gesturing
Human body action and hand movement
Object manipulation and model

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cb912bca-7368-44cd-ae61-a8784be11712

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09847-4

1040-726X

Educational Psychology Review, 36 (1)

Institutional Repository

review

© 2024 Juan C. Castro-Alonso, Paul Ayres, S. Zhang, Björn B. de Koning, Fred Paas