The gestures ASL signers use tell us when they are ready to learn math

The gestures ASL signers use tell us when they are ready to learn math.

The manual gestures that hearing children produce when explaining their answers to math problems predict whether they will profit from instruction in those problems. We ask here whether gesture plays a similar role in deaf children, whose primary communication system is in the manual modality. Forty ASL-signing deaf children explained their solutions to math problems and were then given instruc...

Observational Learning: Tell Beginners What They Are about to Watch and They Will Learn Better

Observation aids motor skill learning. When multiple models or different levels of performance are observed, does learning improve when the observer is informed of the performance quality prior to each observation trial or after each trial? We used a knock-down barrier task and asked participants to learn a new relative timing pattern that differed from that naturally emerging from the task con...

Pediatric residents: are they ready to use computer-aided instruction?

OBJECTIVE To assess pediatric residents' readiness to use computer-aided instruction (CAI). DESIGN Survey. SETTING Pediatric residency program based in a tertiary care children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS Four pediatric residency classes. ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT: Self-administered questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Residents' access to computers and the Internet, experience with CD-ROM and...

When are research findings ready for use?

Iconic gestures prime words: comparison of priming effects when gestures are presented alone and when they are accompanying speech

Previous studies have shown that iconic gestures presented in an isolated manner prime visually presented semantically related words. Since gestures and speech are almost always produced together, this study examined whether iconic gestures accompanying speech would prime words and compared the priming effect of iconic gestures with speech to that of iconic gestures presented alone. Adult parti...