EAGER: Thinking With Things: Remaking Learning in Higher Education and Beyond

本研究探讨具身认知对大学学习与教学的启示。大学课堂和大学教室通常是为纯粹的“抽象”思考者设计的：这种思考者不会从有形的、多感官的学习方法中受益，这些方法是幼儿教育的一部分，但被认为对成年学习者来说是不必要的、效率低下的。术语“教育技术”一般指具有标准图形用户界面的台式或膝上型计算机，以及数据投影仪、网络和其他熟悉的“智能教室”技术。但计算机、计算机教育和教育研究方面的各种发展指出了通过重组教育技术来更有效地培养“聪明学生”的方法。有形的用户界面提供了将计算能力与机械手的认知能力结合起来的机会；一些教职员工推广了CS1机械手教育；高等教育中关于学习的研究表明，多感官学习远比讲课有效。该项目的智力优势来自于其理论和证据的基础，以及它对主流智慧的挑战的重要性。除了借鉴学术文献，该项目还分析了来自学生和专业人士的实地数据，并对一个关键命题进行了实验室研究。这项工作的更广泛影响可以体现在对高等教育、教育技术和成人学习环境的重新思考中，使它们更具吸引力和有效性。

This project explores the implications of embodied cognition for learning and teaching at the college level. College classes and college classrooms are generally designed for the purely "abstract" thinker: a thinker who does not benefit from tangible, multi-sensory approaches to learning that are part of early childhood education but considered unnecessary and inefficient for adult learners. The term "educational technology" generally refers to desktop or laptop computers with standard GUI interfaces, and to data projectors, networks, and other familiar "smart classroom" technology. But a variety of developments in computing, computing education, and education research point the way to making "smart students" more effectively by reframing educational technology. Tangible User Interfaces offer the opportunity to combine computational power with the cognitive power of manipulatives; CS1 education with manipulatives has been promoted by some faculty; and research on learning in higher education shows that multi-sensory learning is far more effective than lecture.The intellectual merit of the project stems from its grounding in theory and evidence, and from the importance of its challenge to prevailing wisdom. In addition to drawing on the academic literature, the project analyzes field data from students and professionals, and conducts a laboratory study of a key proposition. The broader impacts of this work can appear in a rethinking of higher education, educational technology, and adult learning environments, making them more engaging and effective.