We all use a hand, eye, and body movements while talking. But, do you know your hand gestures or movement play an important role in effective communication? Yes, by using gestures and hand movements we all can learn and remember better! In fact, our hand gestures can also indicate if we are ready to learn new things. In this blog, we will explain how gestures can help you learn and perform better academically and otherwise. Let’s explore.
How Do Hand Gestures Help Us Convey Our Thoughts Better?
We all make use of free movements, called gestures while talking. These are termed co-speech gestures. These gestures appear in sync with our speech and are often related to what we are talking about. Consider an example. If you are talking about attending a piano class, quite naturally, you start moving your fingers from right to left or vice versa to show what playing the piano is like. Such gestures are called iconic gestures. Hand movements create pictures to describe objects or actions because they create a picture – such as a big or small object.
Several studies performed by psychologists and investigators have revealed that gestures have power to convey complex and abstract ideas. In fact, they can be used to enhance memory and help teachers assess and solve problems. At KPS, we have used hand gestures as a powerful tool to enhance problem-solving skills of our students and help them understand the concepts better.
The first useful thing to know is how gestures are categorized. The first main category of gestures is used to represent 3D models. These representational gestures can be categorized further:
Types Of Gestures
Before we discuss how gestures can be used effectively, it is important to discuss types of gestures and identify the best ones.
- Deictic gestures – They are used to indicate the imagined objects such as pointing to imagined atoms in a molecule.
- Iconic gestures – They help you describe actions and motion, such as electrons being transferred in a chemical reaction.
- Metaphoric gestures – They indicate abstract ideas, such as energy levels.
- Beats – You can even use gestures like bullet points or items in a flow diagram to indicate sequence. These gestures are termed beats.
How Gestures Are Useful In Problem-Solving?
Gesturing helps us minimize the cognitive burden. If you use hand to model a situation, the students can keep better control of the items taught. Some examples are: depicting the motion of ions in the electrolysis process, describing the structure of polymers, explaining displacement reactions, etc. This indicates gesturing allows students to keep a track of complex chemical, mathematical interactions.
Read More: Building Vocabulary At School
How Gestures Enhance Understanding?
If a teacher pays attention to use of gestures by students, they can even correlate and assess their level of understanding of the ‘concept.’ For example, if a teacher asks a student to explain how electrons move in a chemical reaction, though they might not be using the correct words, they are on the point of ‘getting’ it if they use correct hand gestures or body signs.
Using Gestures As A Powerful Classroom Tool 
Educators can use gesturing as a powerful tool in the classroom. It helps teachers to describe, assess and help students recall information or taught concepts. The best part about using gestures is that no one requires training to use gestures- it comes to most of us naturally! All teachers and students have to do are to use gestures more efficiently in the classroom settings to convey their understanding and assessment to the other party. If you are able to ‘draw’ the attention of students or teachers to your gestures while explaining a concept, half the job is done- already!
At Khaitan Public School- one of the best CBSE schools in Sahibabad ghaziabad, we use the minutest of clues that can help us impart the best teaching experience to children. Experiential learning, cognitive learning, and gesture movement to convey the level of understanding among students is one of the most commonly used techniques by our teachers. Not just this, we are using the best possible amalgamation of traditional and modern techniques to make learning totally enjoyable for everyone.
If you want to know how we can make learning more fun for your child, get in touch with us today!
