Kinesthetic learning

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Kinesthetic learning (American English), kinaesthetic learning (British English), or tactile learning is learning that involves physical activity. As cited by Favre (2009), Dunn and Dunn define kinesthetic learners as students who prefer whole-body movement to process new and difficult information. [1] However, scientific studies do not support the claim that using kinesthetic modality improves learning in students identified as kinesthetic learning as their preferred learning style.

Contents

History

Kinesthetic intelligence, which was originally coupled with tactile abilities, was defined and discussed in Howard Gardner's Frames Of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983. In this book, Gardner describes activities such as dancing and performing surgeries as requiring great kinesthetic intelligence: using the body to create (or do) something.

Margaret H'Doubler wrote and spoke about kinesthetic learning during the 1940s, defining kinesthetic learning as the human body's ability to express itself through movement and dance.

Viktor Lowenfeld used the term in his textbook for art educators, Creative and Mental Growth.

The VARK model

Neil Fleming, a New Zealand teacher and educational theorist, designed the VARK model (visual, aural or auditory, read/write and kinesthetic). [2] According to Fleming's model, kinesthetic learners are similar to tactile learners in that they like hands-on experiential learning. They excel in concrete learning such as on-the-job training, work experience, internships, simulations and so forth (Kte'pi, 2016). [2]

The Fleming VAK/VARK model (one of the most common and widely used categorizations of the various types of learning styles) [3] categorized learning styles as follows:

Skill memory also fits into the category of kinesthetic learning, as it is what happens when somebody is learning kinesthetically. Skill memories are difficult to convey except by direct demonstration, may be acquired without awareness, and require several repetitions. [4]

Classification

Rita Dunn contends that kinesthetic and tactile learning are the same style. [5] Galeet BenZion asserts that kinesthetic and tactile learning are separate learning styles, with different characteristics. She defined kinesthetic learning as the process that results in new knowledge (or understanding) with the involvement of the learner's body movement. This movement is performed to establish new knowledge or extend existing knowledge. Kinesthetic learning is at its best, BenZion found, when the learner uses language (their own words) in order to define, explain, resolve and sort out how their body's movement reflects the concept explored. One example is a student using movement to work out the sum of 1/2 plus 3/4 via movement, then explaining how their motions in space reflect the mathematical process leading to the correct answer. [6]

In addition, Denig (2004) in his article 'Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles: Two Complementary Dimensions', presented Dunn and Dunn's Learning Styles Model, which addresses 21 elements that affect students' learning. These elements are broken down into five stimuli: environmental, emotional, sociological, physiological and psychological variables. Under this model, physiological stimuli consist of four elements, one of which is perceptual. Perceptual depicts the auditory, visual, tactual and kinesthetic styles whereby learners learn more effectively. This gives meaning to the concept that kinesthetic learners learn best through whole-body activities and experiences while tactual learners learn best through manipulation of items with their hands. [7]

Tactile learning utilizes students' sense of touch to explore and understand their surroundings, emphasizing sensory experiences for cognitive growth, allowing direct interaction and manipulation. [8]

Kinesthetic memory

Depending upon memory systems the kinesthetic learners respond differently. The different kinds of learners mainly include whole body learners, hands-on learners, doodlers, students learning through emotional experiences. The learning and the memory is generally short term. To achieve a long-term memory different techniques can be used depending on the learning style. Mind mapping, story mapping, webbing, drawing can be used to enhance the learning of a doodler. For the hands-on learner, role play, clay, building and math manipulative can be used. The whole book body learner can learn better through role-playing, body mapping, puzzles and use of computer technology which allows for certain movement while learning. Students can be engaged in group activities and activities which involve bodily movement such as dance, drama, sports can be used to nurture their learning. The following strategies can be used to facilitate kinesthetic memory through procedural motor pathway such as:

The kinesthetic learners who have memories associated with emotions learning can be facilitated through dance, debate, drama, role-play, and charades. This kind of learning leads to a long-term memory since it is associated with emotions such as excitement, curiosity, anger, disappointment and success. [9]

Kinds of skill memory

Perceptual-motor skills are skills learned by movement patterns guided by sensory inputs. [4] There are closed skills and open skills. Closed skills are skills learned such as dance. A ballerina learns a specific set of moves and doesn't stray from the exact routine, which is why it is called a closed skill; there is one option. Open skills are skills that require more flexibility in learning such as team sports. A person learning how to play football learns multiple drills, strategies, and practices scrimmages in order to learn how to work in multiple types of environments. Because no football game is the same, and a person can't know going into a game the exact steps the other team is going to take, open skills are required to become successful. Cognitive skills also are a part of kinesthetic learning, perceptual learning, and skill memories. Some people learn better in an environment that is more hands-on, and this builds their cognitive skills as well. Cognitive skills are skills which require individuals to solve problems or apply strategies rather than to move their bodies based on what they perceive. [4] Solving a puzzle would be an example of a cognitive skill.

Management strategies

Learners with kinesthetic preferences believe that they learn through active movements and experiences. Activities such as playing, puppetry, drama, acting and designing ensures involvement of the learners. [10]

Some strategies that purportedly motivate students who prefer this learning involve unmotivated students during activities:

Some strategies are claimed to be effective in managing hyper motivated students are:

Kinesthetic learners in the classroom

Subjects can be taught to cater for kinesthetic learners. Through a strength-based and learner-centered approach, educators should engage kinesthetic students in activities that require movements because they learn by doing. Activities could include role-plays, drama, dance, races and competitions, field trips and projects.

Favre (2009) stated that instructional strategies should include movement in a game-like format. Favre suggested designing kinesthetic games. For example, "game boards such as Tic-Tac-Toe affixed to the classroom floor and hopscotch template painted on the playground tarmac or sidewalks around the school" (p. 32). Favre also suggested that instructors can use "commercial games such as Twister, Jeopardy and Nerf basketball and create game cards that align with their lesson objectives" (pp. 32–33). [1]

Reese & Dunn (2007) in their research of college freshmen learning styles provided recommended that "to ensure success for kinesthetic learners, classes should provide active experiences for planning or carrying out objectives, such as visits, project, role playing, simulations and floor or wall games" (p. 108). [1]

Dena Lister highlights the improvements that were found in classroom performance of sixth-grade learning-support students. Lister writes, "The LSS students also produced significantly the first Learning-Style treatment, suggesting that this particular Learning-Style instructional approach, rather than Traditional teaching, was a more effective instructional strategy for these students." [12]

AJ Richards points out it can be very helpful for physics instructors to develop and employ pedagogical techniques that help students to visualize and to reason productively about these concepts. A particularly effective strategy uses kinesthetic learning activities. [13]

Signs of a kinesthetic learner

Skylar Anderson points out signs that may lead one to believing they are a kinesthetic learner. For example, in his work he states the following signs: your knee is bouncing constantly. You regularly kick a soccer ball, or toss a baseball, or spin a basketball on your finger while having a conversation. You crack your fingers while preparing for, or doing, an activity. You talk using your hands as a complement to your speech. You pace when you really need to cram information for a test. You mime things to boost your memory. You have gotten in trouble more than twice for tapping your pencil on your desk or clicking your pen in the same class period. You think best when you're exercising. You remember your notes best when you've written them down with your hand rather than typing them out. You touch everything you pass in a store without thinking about it. [14]

Brain substrates involved

There are three parts of the brain that are the most important to kinesthetic and skill learning. The basal ganglia, cerebral cortex, and the cerebellum all play equally important roles in the ability to learn new skills and master them. [15]

The basal ganglia are a collection of ganglia (clusters of neurons) that lie at the base of the forebrain. [4] The basal ganglia receive information from other parts of the brain such as the hippocampus and cortical areas that send messages about the outside world. Most of these messages are sensory, meaning what a person is physically feeling. The basal ganglia then interpret this information and sends it on a path to the thalamus and the brain stem which both play large factors in physical movement. Therefore, the basal ganglia are the beginning of the process for somebody who is learning-by-doing to respond viscerally to the stimuli around them. It is important once a skill is learned to practice it. This can change how basal ganglia circuits participate in the performance of that skill and that synaptic plasticity is a basic neural mechanism enabling such changes. [4] The more a person practices, the more plasticity they develop.

The cerebral cortex is the brain tissue covering the top and sides of the brain in most vertebrates. It is involved in storing and processing of sensory inputs and motor outputs. [4] In the human brain, the cerebral cortex is actually a sheet of neural tissue about 1/8th inch thick. The sheet is folded so that it can fit inside the skull. [15] The neural circuits in this area of the brain expand with practice of an activity, just like the synaptic plasticity grows with practice. Clarification of some of the mechanisms of learning by neuroscience has been advanced, in part, by the advent of non-invasive imaging technologies, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). These technologies have allowed researchers to observe human learning processes directly. [16] Through these types of technologies, we are now able to see and study what happens in the process of learning. In different tests performed the brain being imaged showed a greater blood flow and activation to that area of the brain being stimulated through different activities such as finger tapping in a specific sequence. It has been revealed that the process at the beginning of learning a new skill happens quickly, and later on slows down to almost a plateau. This process can also be referred to as The Law of Learning. The slower learning showed in the FMRI that in the cerebral cortex this was when the long term learning was occurring, suggesting that the structural changes in the cortex reflect the enhancement of skill memories during later stages of training. [4] When a person studies a skill for a longer duration of time, but in a shorter amount of time they will learn quickly, but also only retain the information into their short-term memory. Just like studying for an exam; if a student tries to learn everything the night before, it will not stick in the long run. If a person studies a skill for a shorter duration of time, but more frequently and long-term, their brain will retain this information much longer as it is stored in the long-term memory. Functional and structural studies of the brain have revealed a vast interconnectivity between diverse regions of the cerebral cortex. For example, large numbers of axons interconnect the posterior sensory areas serving vision, audition, and touch with anterior motor regions. Constant communication between sensation and movement makes sense, because to execute smooth movement through the environment, movement must be continuously integrated with knowledge about one's surroundings obtained via sensory perception. [15] The cerebral cortex plays a role in allowing humans to do this.

The cerebellum is critical to the ability for a human or animal to be able to regulate movement. This area of the brain wraps around the brain stem and is very densely packed with neurons and neural connections. [15] This part of the brain is involved in timing as well as movement. It assists in predicting events, especially in the formation, execution, and timing of conditioned responses. [4] The cerebellum plays a very important role in all forms of kinesthetic learning and motor function. For a ballerina, it is important to be able to control their movements and time it exactly right for their routine. For a football player it is important to be able to regulate movement when running throwing, and being able to have control over where the ball goes as well as the timing of it.

And all three of these important systems in the brain function together as a team, one not being more important than the other. They work together to allow for responding to sensory events, timing, controlling physical actions, and more. However, it is important to remember that unless a person is actively practicing, these parts of the brain won't help them get to their full potential. Alterations in the brain that occur during learning seem to make the nerve cells more efficient or powerful. Studies have shown that animals raised in complex environments have a greater volume of capillaries per nerve cell—and therefore a greater supply of blood to the brain—than the caged animals, regardless of whether the caged animal lived alone or with companions. Overall, these studies depict an orchestrated pattern of increased capacity in the brain that depends on experience. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brain</span> Organ that controls the nervous system in vertebrates and most invertebrates

The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. In vertebrates, a small part of the brain called the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. The brain is the largest cluster of neurons in the body and is typically located in the head, usually near organs for special senses such as vision, hearing and olfaction. It is the most energy-consuming organ of the body, and the most specialized, responsible for endocrine regulation, sensory perception, motor control, and the development of intelligence.

Visual thinking, also called visual or spatial learning or picture thinking, is the phenomenon of thinking through visual processing. Visual thinking has been described as seeing words as a series of pictures. It is common in approximately 60–65% of the general population. "Real picture thinkers", those who use visual thinking almost to the exclusion of other kinds of thinking, make up a smaller percentage of the population. Research by child development theorist Linda Kreger Silverman suggests that less than 30% of the population strongly uses visual/spatial thinking, another 45% uses both visual/spatial thinking and thinking in the form of words, and 25% thinks exclusively in words. According to Kreger Silverman, of the 30% of the general population who use visual/spatial thinking, only a small percentage would use this style over and above all other forms of thinking, and can be said to be true "picture thinkers".

A motor skill is a function that involves specific movements of the body's muscles to perform a certain task. These tasks could include walking, running, or riding a bike. In order to perform this skill, the body's nervous system, muscles, and brain have to all work together. The goal of motor skill is to optimize the ability to perform the skill at the rate of success, precision, and to reduce the energy consumption required for performance. Performance is an act of executing a motor skill or task. Continuous practice of a specific motor skill will result in a greatly improved performance, which leads to motor learning. Motor learning is a relatively permanent change in the ability to perform a skill as a result of continuous practice or experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trigeminal nerve</span> Cranial nerve responsible for the faces senses and motor functions

In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve (lit. triplet nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing; it is the most complex of the cranial nerves. Its name (trigeminal, from Latin tri- 'three', and -geminus 'twin') derives from each of the two nerves (one on each side of the pons) having three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve (V1), the maxillary nerve (V2), and the mandibular nerve (V3). The ophthalmic and maxillary nerves are purely sensory, whereas the mandibular nerve supplies motor as well as sensory (or "cutaneous") functions. Adding to the complexity of this nerve is that autonomic nerve fibers as well as special sensory fibers (taste) are contained within it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerebrum</span> Large part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex

The cerebrum, telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex, as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. In the human brain, the cerebrum is the uppermost region of the central nervous system. The cerebrum develops prenatally from the forebrain (prosencephalon). In mammals, the dorsal telencephalon, or pallium, develops into the cerebral cortex, and the ventral telencephalon, or subpallium, becomes the basal ganglia. The cerebrum is also divided into approximately symmetric left and right cerebral hemispheres.

Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, the brain creates a long-term muscle memory for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed with little to no conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Muscle memory is found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding bikes, driving motor vehicles, playing ball sports, typing on keyboards, entering PINs, playing musical instruments, poker, martial arts, swimming, dancing, and drawing.

Learning styles refer to a range of theories that aim to account for differences in individuals' learning. Although there is ample evidence that individuals express personal preferences on how they prefer to receive information, few studies have found validity in using learning styles in education. Many theories share the proposition that humans can be classified according to their "style" of learning, but differ on how the proposed styles should be defined, categorized and assessed. A common concept is that individuals differ in how they learn.

Visual learning is a learning style among the learning styles of Neil Fleming's VARK model in which information is presented to a learner in a visual format. Visual learners can utilize graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and other forms of visual stimulation to effectively interpret information. The Fleming VARK model also includes Kinesthetic Learning and Auditory learning. There is no evidence that providing visual materials to students identified as having a visual style improves learning.

Sensory processing is the process that organizes and distinguishes sensation from one's own body and the environment, thus making it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. Specifically, it deals with how the brain processes multiple sensory modality inputs, such as proprioception, vision, auditory system, tactile, olfactory, vestibular system, interoception, and taste into usable functional outputs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobes of the brain</span> Parts of the cerebrum

The lobes of the brain are the major identifiable zones of the human cerebral cortex, and they comprise the surface of each hemisphere of the cerebrum. The two hemispheres are roughly symmetrical in structure, and are connected by the corpus callosum. They traditionally have been divided into four lobes, but are today considered as having six lobes each. The lobes are large areas that are anatomically distinguishable, and are also functionally distinct to some degree. Each lobe of the brain has numerous ridges, or gyri, and furrows, the sulci that constitute further subzones of the cortex. The expression "lobes of the brain" usually refers only to those of the cerebrum, not to the distinct areas of the cerebellum.

Psychomotor learning is the relationship between cognitive functions and physical movement. Psychomotor learning is demonstrated by physical skills such as movement, coordination, manipulation, dexterity, grace, strength, speed—actions which demonstrate the fine or gross motor skills, such as use of precision instruments or tools, and walking. Sports and dance are the richest realms of gross psychomotor skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somatosensory system</span> Nerve system for sensing touch, temperature, body position, and pain

Touch is perceiving the environment using skin. Specialized receptors in the skin send signals to the brain indicating light and soft pressure, hot and cold, body position and pain. It is a subset of the sensory nervous system, which also includes the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and vestibular senses.

The neuroanatomy of memory encompasses a wide variety of anatomical structures in the brain.

Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory which aids the performance of particular types of tasks without conscious awareness of these previous experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blocq's disease</span> Loss of memory of specialized movements causing the inability to maintain an upright posture

Blocq's disease was first considered by Paul Blocq (1860–1896), who described this phenomenon as the loss of memory of specialized movements causing the inability to maintain an upright posture, despite normal function of the legs in the bed. The patient is able to stand up, but as soon as the feet are on the ground, the patient cannot hold himself upright nor walk; however when lying down, the subject conserved the integrity of muscular force and the precision of movements of the lower limbs. The motivation of this study came when a fellow student Georges Marinesco (1864) and Paul published a case of parkinsonian tremor (1893) due to a tumor located in the substantia nigra.

Amorphosynthesis, also called a hemi-sensory deficit, is a neuropsychological condition in which a patient experiences unilateral inattention to sensory input. This phenomenon is frequently associated with damage to the right cerebral hemisphere resulting in severe sensory deficits that are observed on the contralesional (left) side of the body. A right-sided deficit is less commonly observed and the effects are reported to be temporary and minor. Evidence suggests that the right cerebral hemisphere has a dominant role in attention and awareness to somatic sensations through ipsilateral and contralateral stimulation. In contrast, the left cerebral hemisphere is activated only by contralateral stimuli. Thus, the left and right cerebral hemispheres exhibit redundant processing to the right-side of the body and a lesion to the left cerebral hemisphere can be compensated by the ipsiversive processes of the right cerebral hemisphere. For this reason, right-sided amorphosynthesis is less often observed and is generally associated with bilateral lesions.

Educational Therapy is a form of therapy used to treat individuals with learning differences, disabilities, and challenges. This form of therapy offers a wide range of intensive interventions that are designed to resolve learners' learning problems. These interventions are individualized and unique to the specific learner.

Haptic memory is the form of sensory memory specific to touch stimuli. Haptic memory is used regularly when assessing the necessary forces for gripping and interacting with familiar objects. It may also influence one's interactions with novel objects of an apparently similar size and density. Similar to visual iconic memory, traces of haptically acquired information are short lived and prone to decay after approximately two seconds. Haptic memory is best for stimuli applied to areas of the skin that are more sensitive to touch. Haptics involves at least two subsystems; cutaneous, or everything skin related, and kinesthetic, or joint angle and the relative location of body. Haptics generally involves active, manual examination and is quite capable of processing physical traits of objects and surfaces.

Melodic Learning is a multimodal learning method that uses the defining elements of singing to facilitate the capture, storage and retrieval of information. Widely recognized examples of Melodic Learning include using the alphabet song to learn the alphabet and This Old Man to learn counting.

Multisensory learning is the assumption that individuals learn better if they are taught using more than one sense (modality). The senses usually employed in multisensory learning are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile – VAKT. Other senses might include smell, taste and balance.

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