Using iconic hand gestures in teaching a year 8 science lesson

Advances in embodied learning and the use of gesture has gained greater interest amongst educators and researchers in recent years. The emerging evidence supporting the use of physical enactment rather than just auditory modes of instruction remains unresolved. This paper investigates the pedagogical methods used by a science teacher instructing a year 8 science class. One class was taught via the practitioner's usual and standard methods. The second class were taught similarly but were exposed to a set of scripted iconic hand gestures. The study utilised the theoretical underpinnings of Evolutionary Educational Psychology and recent insights of Cognitive Load Theory to measure student cognitive load on learning and achievement. The research findings suggest students who were exposed to teaching using iconic hand gestures scored more highly on achievement and rated the test items as relatively less difficult compared to those taught using traditional methods.