Want to teach better? New study says use your hands
Sixth grade dual language teacher Luz Valasquez leads a math class on polyhedrons. A new study out this week finds that students who receive instruction with hand gestures perform better on tests. Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCCOne key to more effective teaching could be as simple as talking with your hands, according to a new study from the University of Iowa and Michigan State University.
The study released yesterday in the educational psychology journal "Child Development" tested third and fourth grade math students in Michigan. It found that students taught with hand gestures performed better on tests of the material both immediately after the lesson and 24 hours later.
For the study, the students were split into two groups. Half were shown a video of an instructor's lecture where he did not use his hands. The other half of the students received the same information, but the instructor also used hand gestures.
Exactly why gestures help students learn better is still a mystery. The study authors said one possibility could