The Role of Prior Knowledge in Effects of Embodied Pedagogies on Learning

Background: Embodied learning pedagogies are increasingly popular, but our understanding of how embodied pedagogies enhance learning of complex concepts in higher education over longer periods of time remains nascent, particularly how learners’ prior knowledge might interact with different types of embodied pedagogies. We propose the Performing First Hypothesis as an organizing framework, which posits that learners with lower prior knowledge, because they lack the foundational understanding needed to make sense of abstract representations, will benefit from actively performing actions. In contrast, learners who have higher prior knowledge will learn better from observing the actions as it enables more opportunity for connection-making and transfer.Methods: We implemented and compared two types of embodied pedagogy: (1) perform, in which students actively participated in hands-on activities, and (2) observe, in which students observed others doing hands-on activities. The activities were implemented as the lab component of a 10-week college-level introductory statistics course. 227 college students paired up and participated in the study. One half of the pair was randomly assigned to the Perform condition, where they themselves did the hands-on activities, and the other half was assigned to the Observe condition, where they observed their partner performing those activities. Findings: An analysis of students’ midterm and final exam scores showed a significant interaction between prior knowledge and type of pedagogy in the hypothesized direction. Interestingly, only self-rated prior knowledge—not other factors such as math anxiety or how well they had performed in math in previous classes—significantly moderated the effectiveness of the embodied pedagogies. Multilevel analysis of weekly tests supported the exam findings, demonstrating that low-prior-knowledge learners benefited more from physically performing the activities, whereas high-prior-knowledge learners benefited more from observing the activities.Contribution: The findings support the Performing First Hypothesis, suggest new directions for research on the mechanisms and applications of embodied pedagogies in complex learning environments, and inform real-world educational practices.