Learning in embodied activity framework: a sociocultural framework for embodied cognition

Abstract

This paper proposes the Learning in Embodied Activity Framework (LEAF) which aims to synthesize across individual and sociocultural theories of learning to provide a more robust account of how the body plays a role in collaborative learning, particularly when students are learning about a collective phenomenon where coordination between and across students is important to their learning. To demonstrate the uses and limits of LEAF, we apply it to data from several iterations of the Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP) project. This project involved first and second-grade students using an embodied, mixed-reality simulation to learn about the particulate nature of matter. We use data from this project to demonstrate the ways in which students’ embodied actions serve as a resource in understanding their embodied activity both individually and collectively. We demonstrate how both dimensions provide insight into student cognition and learning. Supported by this analysis, we present LEAF as a useful tool to help researchers, designers, and instructors thoughtfully design collective activities.