Implications of Embodied Cognition & Enactivism for Instructional Design

AECT - Doug HoltonOct 30, 2010 1
AECT 2010AECT 2010
Implications of Embodied Cognition &
Enactivism for Instructional Design
http://www.slideshare.net/edtechdev
Doug Holton
doug.holton@usu.edu
Instructional Technology
& Learning Sciences
http://itls.usu.edu/

Theory & Design TechniquesTheory & Design Techniques
1. Behaviorism
2. Cognitive Psy
3. Situated Cog
4. Social Psy
Feedback
Teaching Machines
Problem-Based Learning
Worked Examples
Collaborative Learning
CAI

Implications of Embodied Cog?Implications of Embodied Cog?
5. Embodied Cognition ???
Psychological Theory Instructional Design
Techniques
Activity Theory
Phenomenology
See also:
Acting with Technology-Bonnie Nardi
ETRD, Technics & Praxis – Don Ihde

Embodied Cog as SupplementEmbodied Cog as Supplement
Not pushing embodied cognition &
enactivism as a replacement for other
theories or frameworks.
That has caused problems before: cognitive
psy threw the 'baby out with the bathwater' (
Byrne, 1994) in rejecting/minimizing the
roles of the environment & the body, which
later led to them being re-integrated via
situated & embodied cognition.
Embodied cognition as a source for more
tools for instructional designers' toolboxes.

What are Embodied CognitionWhat are Embodied Cognition
& Enactivism& Enactivism
The idea that our cognitive processes are
grounded in sensory behavior and motor
actions.
The mind and body and world are
inseparable (Qing Li, 2010).

Embodied Cognition ExamplesEmbodied Cognition Examples
•
Hill looks steeper wearing a backpack
•
Holding a warm drink, people rate others as
more warm and friendly than w/cold drink
•
Faster to respond 'yes' when pushing lever,
faster to respond 'no' when pulling it
•
Right handed people view things more
positively on the right side and vice versa
•
More likely to recall positive experiences
when moving marbles up into box than
when moving them down

Haptic AdvantageHaptic Advantage
•
Faster and more accurate mental
transformations when performing an action
congruent with the imagined transformation,
and vice versa
•
Pulley & gear systems – pulling a rope
blindfolded or imagining pulling a rope helps
people mentally animate the behavior
•
We are better at judging the volume of
shapes from haptic than from visual info
•
Haptics assist Piagetian conservation tasks

Other Embodiment ExamplesOther Embodiment Examples
•
Hundreds more published examples >20 yrs
•
You can probably come up with your own –
pacing when working on a paper, gesturing
when giving a presentation, etc.
•
Eventually you get to a point where it is hard
to think of examples that are not embodied or
do not involve embodiment in some manner
•
philosophy, colors, math abstractions
(Lakoff, Johnson, Noe, Nunez...)

Summary of Embodied CogSummary of Embodied Cog
For a summary see:
Embodiment and
Cognitive Science
Raymond Gibbs,
2006
and see:
http://embodiedcog.
wikispaces.com/

Shorter intro to Embodied CogShorter intro to Embodied Cog
http://bit.ly/Q4U5B

Applying to Instructional DesignApplying to Instructional Design
•
What's missing are comprehensive
applications of embodied cognition to
instruction/education
•
Despite the variety of research on
embodied cognition, virtually all the
examples I mentioned have little or no
application to instruction. We're not going
to:
•
give different exam response sheets for
left and right handed students
•
serve students warm drinks
•
give teachers warm apple pies instead
of cold apples

Applications to EducationApplications to Education
•
Children 'act out' a story w/figurines leads to
better reading comprehension (Arthur Glenberg)
•
Improved math learning when teachers attend to
the gestures they and their students use
(Susan Goldin-Meadow)
•
Better understand molecular structures when
allowed to haptically manipulate 3D models
(Gail Jones)
•
Minogue & Jones (2006). Haptics in Education
•
Wolff-Michael Roth – Gestures
•
Hasn't been a more general review or book

My Own WorkMy Own Work
•
Animated circuit simulation
•
students “wiggle” a joystick/slider
control to change the voltage in a
circuit.
•
use embodied analogies to explain
behav
•
Programming language design
•
incorporate embodied action terms
such as “do” and “say” -no
abstract/symbol
•
use concrete examples and resources
•
Online learning – Andy Anderson heart ex.
•
Use screencasts with gestures &

Gen. Principles of ApplicationGen. Principles of Application
What are some general principles, tips, &
guidelines for applying embodied cognition
to instruction.
And what is enactivism?
One helpful way to understand both is to think
of the analogy to constructivism.

Constructivism-->EnactivismConstructivism-->Enactivism
Enactivism might be considered one flavor
of constructivism, in addition to social
constructivism, radical constructivism...
(see Constructivist Foundations website)
Knowledge isn't a structure you build or an
object that can be passed around or purely
linguistic:
“it is not knowledge-as-object but knowledge-
as-action”
(Begg, 2000)

Adv. of ConstructivismAdv. of Constructivism
There are criticisms of constructivism (next
slide), but pragmatically, what are strengths?
•
More student-centered/learner-centered
•
Active participation is critical
•
Presenting information does not mean a
student learned or understood it
•
Students aren't blank slates or machines to
be programmed
•
Students aren't a homogenous group

Q's about ConstructivismQ's about Constructivism
•
How is knowledge constructed?
•
What is the nature of this knowledge and its
relationship to the world? (epistemology)
•
How do we know what students
understand? (assessment) hard Q for Ernst
Von Glasersfeld
•
Why and when is guidance necessary?
•
Why do students have the “misconceptions”
or alternative conceptions that they do?

EnactivismEnactivism
•
May help us better answer some of these
Q's
•
May provide a better grounding for some
concepts and techniques from
constructivism and learning sciences
•
Humanizes students even more: empathy
•
Pay attention to the whole learning
environment including gestures and the
body (may supplement activity theory)
•
Provide some constraints on learning

Wolff-Michael RothWolff-Michael Roth
“Learning environments that do not support
students’ use of body and gesture can limit
what and how they learn” (Roth & Lawless,
2001).
“What is called teaching, therefore, involves
not only the words and sentences a teacher
utters and writes on the board during a
lesson, but also all the hands/arms gestures,
body movements, and facial expressions a
teacher performs in the classroom” (Pozzer-
Ardenghi & Roth, 2006, p.96)

Potential Implications ofPotential Implications of
Embodied CognitionEmbodied Cognition
Now let's discuss some historical non-
embodied research findings that perhaps
embodied cognition & enactivism could
potentially better explain.
•
Animations vs. Diagrams
•
Microcomputer-based Labs (MBL)
•
Misconceptions / Conceptual Change
•
Contrasting Cases

Animations/Diagrams/SimsAnimations/Diagrams/Sims
Diagrams let us take our time, mentally re-
animate processes. Animations/videos may
be too fast or too slow.
The more realistic/complex the simulation, the
more difficult for the learner to use.
More effective alternative: User-controllable
diagrams or animated, controllable
simulations (Lowe, 2004; Chan & Black,
2006)

Example: Graph InterpretationExample: Graph Interpretation

MBL: Microcomp-Based LabsMBL: Microcomp-Based Labs
Better understand success of MBL approach:
connecting sensors with computers
Ex: Drag a car back and forth along a track,
and the computer graphs its
position/speed/acceleration in real-time
Within 20 minutes, students better
understand how to interpret graphs of
motion. Video not as successful, non-real-
time also hurts perf

Controllable Circuit SimulationControllable Circuit Simulation
•
Move voltage “up” or “down” using a slider
or joystick or steering wheel
•
“Enact” a voltage source: battery (constant
voltage), AC (alternating current)
•
“Wiggle” the voltage and see the effects on
electrical current flow (as represented by a
moving chain of dots → speed=current)
•
Better understand the behavior and
difference between capacitors and
inductors, high/low pass filters...

Applying to Conceptual ChangeApplying to Conceptual Change
“Naive notions like those derived from bodily
metaphors may underpin misconceptions,
such as the quasi-Aristotelian notions that
Alternative Frameworks researchers in
science education have documented
extensively” (Ernst, 2006)

Conceptual ChangeConceptual Change
See Cambridge Handbook of Concept.Change
•
Michelene Chi – conceiving of processes as
objects or substances (like diffusion/current)
•
Andy diSessa – phenomenological
primitives
•
force as mover
•
force as action
•
Are embodied actions central to core p-prims
•
Are actions coordinated, even theory-like
•
Is there an 'embodied physics'

Contrasting CasesContrasting Cases
• Another highly successful
instructional technique
• In the next slides, ask yourself – what
do you notice in the left box?

What do you see in left box?What do you see in left box?

What did you notice?What did you notice?
A Circle
Now try it again
What do you notice in the left box?

A Smaller Circle
You noticed the size now
And perhaps the white color too
Try It Again

A Circle in the Middle
Now the position of the circle
Is more salient

Contrasting CasesContrasting Cases
Why does this strategy work? How does it
work?
Perhaps when we see 2 contrasting cases,
we transform/manipulate one into the other.
For example move or grow the circle.
Similarity as [embodied] transformation
(Hahn et al., 2003)

ConclusionConclusion
Embodied cognition research and enactivism
may serve as a new foundation for research
on the design of learning environments and
instruction.
“Learning environments that do not support
students’ use of body and gesture can limit
what and how they learn” (Roth & Lawless,
2001).
One should not ignore the the embodied
nature of teaching and learning, even in
online learning contexts (McWilliam &

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned
•
Embodying concepts helps for abstract, non-
visualizable, non-physical concepts, as well.
•
There doesn't have to be a one-to-one
spatially isomorphic congruence between the
action and the thing being conceived.
Temporal and causal congruence appear to
be most important (see research on causal
perception).
•
It is not the actions per se we attend to &
learn, but the constraints on our actions
(similar to Vygotsky's internalization concept)

Embodied & SituatedEmbodied & Situated
ApproachesApproaches
•
Embodied and Situated approaches to
learning and instruction appear to
complement each other well
•
Situated learning (games, PBL) help
students answer the why question – why
am I learning/doing this
•
Embodied approaches help students
answer how do I do this, how should I
understand this concept...

Enactivism GotchasEnactivism Gotchas
•
Embodied cog/enactivism is not
behaviorism
•
There are many diverse notions of
embodiment, however, at many levels
•
Embodiment does not simply mean 'make it
hands-on' or 'use avatars' or
'anthropomorphize things' (embodied
interactivity plus constraints on activity)
•
Sometimes limited/constrained interactivity
is more effective than full/unconstrained
activity (Hegarty)

Future PublicationsFuture Publications
Books in Progress:
•
Edited Book – Embodied Cognition &
Education (~12 chapter authors)
•
Non-edited Book – Supporting the
Embodied Learner
Articles/Chapters in Progress:
•
Handbook of AECT chapter with Qing Li -
“Embodied cognition and enactivism”
•
Journal article - “The body in design”
•
Journal article - “The message is the body”

Thank You
Doug Holton
doug.holton@usu.edu
Copies of slides will be at:
http://www.slideshare.net/edtechdev

Implications of Embodied Cognition & Enactivism for Instructional Design

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