Haptic Experiences Shape Student-Generated Gestures While Learning with Computational Environments

Abstract

In science education, gestures have emerged as a valuable tool for both students to represent their reasoning and educators to assess learners’ developing knowledge. One reason is that gestures afford representing dynamic causal reasoning, a fundamental aspect of understanding various natural phenomena. However, gestures inherently lack feedback mechanisms and are possibly epiphenomenal to learning. We address these limitations by pairing haptic physical models with a computational NetLogo simulation designed to support students in comprehending dynamic interactions within complex systems. In this study, we investigated the impact of haptic learning experiences and computational environments on student-generated gestures. Our findings revealed that haptic learning experiences augment the computational environments by providing students with sensory feedback. This, in turn, leads to a shift in students' gestures, as they transition from representing aggregate patterns, such as quantity and motion, to individual interactions between physical entities and forces.