In this post I want to dive deeper into tangible interfaces and embodied interaction especially in terms of learning and understanding new scientific topics and abstract concepts. The goal here is to gain a better understanding of how and why [inter]active engagement is beneficial in learning and understanding and how this is important in interaction design.
Two key theories I have discovered and make a good base for a project like this are constructivist learning and kinesthetic learning.
In constructivist learning the teacher isn’t the main focus and learning is centered around building new knowledge on past experience and previous learnings. Its important that students actively participate and go through a meaningful process of learning („meaning-making”, rather that learning by heart from a textbook): „The central tenet of constructivism is that human learning is constructed and that learners construct new knowledge on the basis of prior learning“. This active participation with the environment and the experience means that the learners stay engaged all throughout, constantly applying knowledge, having to think critically and adapt and modify their knowledge. [1]
What this active engagement can mean is seen in kinetic learning, where sensory-motor elements have been researched in relation to education and learning. What was found is that learning, retention, application, engagement and focus can be enhanced by such approaches: „By engaging in experiential, hands-on activities, learners are encouraged to explore, experiment, and adapt to the demands of the learning environment.“ There are different concepts and approaches which kinesthetic learning uses. These could be interesting base concepts for future interaction projects, or at least starting points for prototypes:
Hands-On Experiments and Labs
Role-Playing and Simulation
Manipulatives and Tactile Learning Tools
Field Trips and Outdoor Learning
Project-Based and Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Movement and Active Breaks
Kinesthetic learning can be applied to many different topics and subjects reaching from STEM to languages or arts and music. A nice example of the hands on approach is employing these methods in abstract subjects like math. Numbers, values and metrics can be made a lot more tangible and applicable to real world scenarios in hands on experiments with physical representations. I feel like the value of new learning approaches really becomes very clear here, as math is a very stigmatized (often hated) subject, yet it’s mostly taught in only one (very theoretical) way [2]. A nice example for grasping values more easily was a case study where the carbon footprint of certain foods was actually represented in their weight (Each model’s weight mirrors its carbon footprint, from 50 grams for half a kilo of potatoes to 13 kilograms for half a kilo of beef) [3].
Like I already said, the implications for interaction design are great and learning concepts like these are not only a great foundation for projects but are also becoming increasingly more relevant. There are many interesting sources to be found, especially from psychological research standpoint. It will be interesting to see how these findings can be turned into actual learning concepts and products.
[1] Constructivist learning
Chand, Satish Prakash. “Constructivism in education: Exploring the contributions of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner.” Children 10 (1995).
[2] Kinesthetic Learning
Oladele, Oluwaseyi. “Kinesthetic Learning: Hands-On Learning and Active Engagement.” ResearchGate, 2024. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385619069_Kinesthetic_Learning_Hands-On_Learning_and_Active_Engagement.
[3] Case Study
Wong, Chia-Hao, Chen Ling, Yuchen Yang, and Masahiko Inami. “Case Study: Leaf+—Supporting Tangible User Interface Prototyping for Soft Materials.” In Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–7. New York: ACM, 2024. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3623509.3635272.
