Video Evidence: What Gestures Tell us About Students' Understanding of Rate of Change

This paper reports on insights into students’ understanding of the concept of rate of change, provided by examining the gestures made, by 25 Year 10 students, in videorecorded interviews. Detailed analysis, of both the sound and images, illuminates the meaning of rate-related gestures. Findings indicate that students often use the symbols and metaphors of gesture to complement, supplement, or even contradict verbal descriptions. Many students demonstrated, by the combination of their words and gestures, a sound qualitative understanding of constant rate, with a few attempting to quantify rate. The interpretation of gestures may provide teachers with a better understanding of the progress in their students’ thinking.

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