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Characterizing instructor gestures in a lecture in a proof-based mathematics class

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Abstract

Researchers have increasingly focused on how gestures in mathematics aid in thinking and communication. This paper builds on Arzarello’s (2006) idea of a semiotic bundle and several frameworks for describing individual gestures and applies these ideas to a case study of an instructor’s gestures in an undergraduate abstract algebra class. We describe the role that the semiotic bundle plays in shaping the potential meanings of gestures; the ways gestural sets create complex relationships between gestures; and the role played by polysemy and abstraction. These results highlight the complex ways in which mathematical meanings—both specific and general—are expressed in gesture, and to highlight the integrated nature of elements of the semiotic bundle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ithaca College, 953 Danby Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    Aaron Weinberg & Emilie Wiesner

  2. The University of New Hampshire, 33 Academic Way, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Tim Fukawa-Connelly

  3. Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Tim Fukawa-Connelly

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  1. Aaron Weinberg
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  2. Tim Fukawa-Connelly
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  3. Emilie Wiesner
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Correspondence to Aaron Weinberg.

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Weinberg, A., Fukawa-Connelly, T. & Wiesner, E. Characterizing instructor gestures in a lecture in a proof-based mathematics class. Educ Stud Math 90, 233–258 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9623-1

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