Instructor gesture improves encoding of mathematical representations

We examined the effect of instructor gesture and distractor presence on students’ encoding of slope and intercept in graphs of linear functions. In Experiment 1, participants watched an instructor avatar introduce a linear graph while either pointing to the intercept, tracing the over-and-up increase for slope, or not gesturing (i.e., gaze only). They then reconstructed the graph on paper. Participants were significantly more successful at encoding slope after watching the slope gesture than after watching no gesture. In Experiment 2, participants watched the avatar either point to the intercept or trace the slope, each either in the presence or absence of a visual distractor. Participants were significantly more successful at encoding slope after watching the tracing gesture than after watching the pointing gesture. Distractor presence did not affect performance. Taken together, these results suggest that teachers’ gestures promote students’ encoding of relevant information and could help explain why teachers’ gestures often benefit students’ learning.