One of the most important questions educational research can ask is how children learn. If we know how they process and retain information, we can adapt our approach to teaching accordingly.
Developing our understanding of learning, memory, and how to carefully consider pupils’ cognitive load, and then applying this understanding in the classroom, has the potential to improve outcomes for all children.
One approach explored in the EEF’s Cognitive Science Approaches in the Classroom evidence review is embodied learning. This refers to strategies that engage and make use of movement and the body to support effective learning.
It is thought that by designing tasks and activities that appeal to young pupils in a multisensory way, teachers may be able to make new information more easily comprehensible and memorable. Whilst the evidence around embodied learning is limited, some studies do show promise that approaches involving the body in physical enactment can improve pupil learning in mathematics.
