Analogy and Gesture for Mental Visualization of DNA Structure

Srivastava, Anveshna; Ramadas, Jayashree

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4192-8_17

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…It has been previously determined that gestures could serve as a link between the external representations that students viewed and internal representations that they created for themselves ( Srivastava and Ramadas, 2013 ). In our analysis in Part III, we found that there were changes in student gestures following engagement with an external representation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Undergraduate Biochemistry Students’ Gesture Production Through an Embodied Framework

Randa,

Wang,

Poolos

et al. 2024

LSE

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Undergraduate Biochemistry Students’ Gesture Production Through an Embodied Framework

Randa,

Wang,

Poolos

et al. 2024

LSE

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“…Furthermore, the medium's inherent visual nature makes it an appealing approach for instruction in diverse fields with a shared reliance on spatial concepts and imagery-such as anatomy, 3 molecular biology, 4 and even elementary astronomy. 5 Conventionally, anatomy education has utilized a wide range of resources, such as lectures, two-dimensional (2D) diagrams, three-dimensional (3D) physical models and donor dissections and prosections.…”

Section: Introduction and Backg Roundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the gestural medium operates in an analogue and gradient format, it can encode fine‐grained visuospatial information. Furthermore, the medium's inherent visual nature makes it an appealing approach for instruction in diverse fields with a shared reliance on spatial concepts and imagery—such as anatomy, 3 molecular biology, 4 and even elementary astronomy 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Windows into spatial cognition: Mechanisms by which gesture‐based instruction improve anatomy learning

George,

Yohannan

2024

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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The ability to create efficient “mental models” or representations of anatomical structures is crucial for achieving competence in most areas of anatomy. Gesture‐based teaching has been recognized to lighten cognitive loads and allow superior mental model creation compared to non‐gestural teaching practices. This commentary explores the cognitive basis and possible mechanisms behind this advantage such as (1) reducing visual working memory load, (2) allowing parallel and sequential development of internal representations, and (3) facilitating preferential feature extraction and improved organization of spatial information. We also highlight how information transfer limitations of the gestural medium, interestingly, unveil features and organizational motifs preserved in the “expert's” mental schemas concerning particular anatomical structures. The universal and innate use of gestures in communication, their visual nature, and the ability to break down complex spatial information through sequential steps, all add to the immense potential of this subtle yet powerful tool of hand gestures. As pedagogical practices in the anatomical sciences continue to evolve largely towards technology‐enhanced teaching utilizing perceptually richer media, the unique advantages of gesture‐based teaching need to be reemphasized.

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“…While Eureka experiences have now been proven to arise in a range of contexts (e.g., Bowden et al, 2005 ; Danek et al, 2014 ; MacGregor & Cunningham, 2008 ; Webb et al, 2018 ), still there is little empirical work, if any, testing whether people may experience Eurekas when learning scientific concepts (for a review, see Brock, 2015 ). Several reports describe episodes where a student displays excitement while formulating a (correct) idea they had never expressed before, a sign that these students may have received a sudden insight (e.g., Blown & Bryce, 2006 ; Parnafes, 2012 ; Srivastava & Ramadas, 2013 ). Besides these case studies, to our knowledge only one study attempted to describe learning-related Eureka experiences at the population level (Liljedahl, 2005 ), finding reports of such experiences in 68% of students; but this study suffers from methodological limitations, casting doubts about its quantitative results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Now I Get It!”: Eureka Experiences During the Acquisition of Mathematical Concepts

Barot,

Chevalier,

Martin

et al. 2024

Open Mind

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Many famous scientists have reported anecdotes where a new understanding occurred to them suddenly, in an unexpected flash. Do people generally experience such “Eureka” moments when learning science concepts? And if so, do these episodes truly vehicle sudden insights, or is this impression illusory? To address these questions, we developed a paradigm where participants were taught the mathematical concept of geodesic, which generalizes the common notion of straight line to straight trajectories drawn on curved surfaces. After studying lessons introducing this concept on the sphere, participants (N = 56) were tested on their understanding of geodesics on the sphere and on other surfaces. Our findings indicate that Eureka experiences are common when learning mathematics, with reports by 34 (61%) participants. Moreover, Eureka experiences proved an accurate description of participants’ learning, in two respects. First, Eureka experiences were associated with learning and generalization: the participants who reported experiencing Eurekas performed better at identifying counterintuitive geodesics on new surfaces. Second, and in line with the firstperson experience of a sudden insight, our findings suggest that the learning mechanisms responsible for Eureka experiences are inaccessible to reflective introspection. Specifically, reports of Eureka experiences and of participants’ confidence in their own understanding were associated with different profiles of performance, indicating that the mechanisms bringing about Eureka experiences and those informing reflective confidence were at least partially dissociated. Learning mathematical concepts thus appears to involve mechanisms that operate unconsciously, except when a key computational step is reached and a sudden insight breaks into consciousness.

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Analogy and Gesture for Mental Visualization of DNA Structure

Cited by 6 publications

References 20 publications

Exploring Undergraduate Biochemistry Students’ Gesture Production Through an Embodied Framework

Exploring Undergraduate Biochemistry Students’ Gesture Production Through an Embodied Framework

Windows into spatial cognition: Mechanisms by which gesture‐based instruction improve anatomy learning

“Now I Get It!”: Eureka Experiences During the Acquisition of Mathematical Concepts

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