Student Gestures Aid Penetrative Thinking

Abstract

ABSTRACTPenetrative thinking, or the ability to visualize and reason about the interior structure of an object based on what is visible on the surface, is critical for success in many science disciplines, especially the geosciences, where inferences about the Earth must be made from what can be seen on the surface. A growing body of research has shown that spatial thinking skills are related to achievement in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines; thus, improving such skills may enhance STEM learning. In the current study, we examined whether using gestures, embodied representations of three-dimensional (3D) spatial relationships, facilitates penetrative thinking. Participants in the gesture group used their hands to explain how they would build 3D versions of geologic block diagrams from flat layers of Play-Doh. Participants in the gesture-prohibited group were asked to explain verbally, without using their hands, how they would build 3D versions of geologic block diagrams. Participants in the gesture group showed improvement on the Geologic Block Cross-Sectioning Test (GBCT), an objective measure of penetrative thinking, while participants in the gesture-prohibited group did not. These results suggest that gesturing facilitates penetrative thinking, and we discuss them in the context of integrating gesture into science classrooms.