Embodiment Principle
Introduction
The Embodiment Principle in Multimedia Learning suggests that learning is more effective when concepts are linked to relevant actions, such as hand gestures or object manipulations. This principle is based on the idea that thinking is grounded in our experiences interacting with the world, and that our motor system is involved in a range of cognitive tasks. Students learn by enacting the movements performed by the pedagogical agent or human instructor perform them [1]. The principle recognises the importance of sensorimotor support in learning over conventional symbolic representation as more appropriate means for learning and cognition. The idea is that by connecting concepts to physical actions, through embodied cognition it can help reduce cognitive load and increase generative processing, which is the process of selecting, organizing, and integrating information.
The instructional message for keeping the embodied principle in mind is giving onscreen characters human-like gestures [2]
’Mechanisms of embodied instruction’’’
There are two mechanisms in embodied instruction [3] that propose effective learning: Reduced cognitive load Increased generative processing
’’’Reduced cognitive load’’’
Embodied instruction reduces cognitive load by allowing students to offload information onto their bodies (through actions, movements and gestures), or the world (manipulative objects). It thus, extends the capacity of the working memory [4]
The reduction in cognitive load allows learners in spending more time in generative processing
’’’Increased generative processing’’’
Embodied instruction supports generative processing by mapping new ideas to analogous actions. Thus it allows learners more time to organize and integrate new information with their prior knowledge through analogous action.
Evidence
Example
Implications
'Reference
- ↑ Mayer, R. E., & DaPra, C. S. (2012). An embodiment effect in computer-based learning with animated pedagogical agents. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(3), 239–252
- ↑ Fiorella, L. (2021). The Embodiment Principle in Multimedia Learning. In R. Mayer & L. Fiorella (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 286-295). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108894333.030
- ↑ Novack, M., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2015). Learning from gesture: How our hands change our minds. Educational Psychology Review, 27(3), 405–412.
- ↑ Sepp, S., Howard, S. J., Tindall-Ford, S., Agostinho, S., & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive load theory and human movement: Towards an integrated model of working memory. Educational Psychology Review, 31, 293–317.