Embodied Learning

Cognitive science shows that learning involves more than the engagement of the human brain or head. Susan Hrach therefore examines whole-body thinking to help instructors improve students’ knowledge and skills through physical movement, sensory perception and attention to the spatial environment.

This page shares Hrach’s work on embodied learning (EL) and provides practical information and resources to help you put these ideas into action. Hrach served as Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Carleton in 2022-23. She is the author of Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning.

In the following video, Hrach introduces embodied learning:

What is Embodied Learning

Embodied learning (EL) changes the instructional focus from strictly abstract, mental processes to using the body as an affordance for learning.

The body plays a significant role in how people think and learn. Bodily sensations and prior experience both shape perception, known as embodied cognition. The brain receives signals from the organs and other parts of the body that it interprets through the lens of prior experience to produce perception (Barrett, 2020). Cognitive function depends on bodily well-being, and bodily well-being results from a supportive environment for growth (Hrach, Minding Bodies, 2021).

Embodied learning is a shift from disembodied learning, a conceptual transference of knowledge from an expert into the brains of students, also called the banking model of education. EL involves physical movement and considers place/space and relationships with others as affordances for thinking.

The major pedagogical principles of embodied learning are:

• Humans evolved to think while moving, mostly outdoors.
• We use all our senses to notice, imitate and practice what we want to learn.
• The built environment shapes our thinking processes.

Why is Embodied Learning Important?

Hrach emphasizes how students’ bodies and their environments affect their perceptions and cognitive processes. Bodily engagement via gesture and action offers a powerful instrument through which students better understand concepts and develop skills. The effectiveness of embodied learning underscores its importance in educational settings.

Why is it important to put conscious attention on embodied learning techniques within higher education?

• EL creates engaging learning experiences that promote a deeper understanding of concepts and make learning more enjoyable and memorable for students.
• EL strategies help learners to effectively perceive new information and phenomena.
• Learning in a physically interactive environment promotes socialization, belonging, and a diversity of perspectives to gain understanding.
• Bringing novelty and variety through activities in the classroom space opens students’ brains to be more receptive.
• An embodied learning environment heightens students’ alertness, which is ideal for absorbing new ideas.
• EL creates engaging learning experiences that promote a deeper understanding of concepts and make learning more enjoyable and memorable for students.

How Can I Implement Embodied Learning?

Poor or inconsistent intellectual functioning may be a result of taxed bandwidth, often caused by emotional stress and lack of sleep, movement, fresh air, and nutritious food. These can be addressed by helping students restore cognitive bandwidth.

Susan Hrach has identified the following four strategies for providing the best conditions for cognitive performance. Below are practical resources about each strategy, as well as further reading and resources about embodied learning.

Know and recognize the impact of physical space

• Allocate time in the first week for students to optimize their learning spaces, particularly those taking online courses.
• Request classroom spaces and materials that support active learning strategies, and make use of natural light, flexible furniture, and open spaces to integrate physical movement and learning tasks.
• Ask students to share ‘third places’ (coffee shops, libraries, parks) they find productive for cognitive focus and restoration. This can be done verbally, in a discussion board, or on a shared Google Map.
• Learn about land-based learning (explore this report and bibliography for further resources). Consider incorporating a Collaborative Indigenous Learning Bundle into your course, such as “Our Original Instructions”: Engaging with Lands and Waters”.
• Consider using alternate spaces such as Carleton’s Future Learning Lab, Art Gallery, Book Arts Lab, Creation Suites, Nesbitt Building, greenhouses, the Experiential Learning Hub, or the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre.

Send learners outside whenever possible

• Provide students with audio podcasts or recordings to listen to while they walk, bike, or visit nearby green spaces on Carleton’s campus (such as near the river, canal, or quad).
•  Assign an outdoor ‘move and think’ activity that will help students generate ideas as they move around and breathe fresh air.
• Engage students in field trip assignments (as homework or together during class time) for immersive experiences relevant to your course material. These experiences can be shared verbally, in writing, or multimedia formats, for example in cuPortfolio.

Build movement into classroom time

• Engage students in a few minutes of collective physical activity, such as deep breathing, stretching, or gesturing in a live virtual class.
• Invite students to sit in a variety of places in the classroom; circulating among classmates promotes a sense of belonging.
• Use interactive techniques, for example to allow students to map information around the classroom on boards or sticky flip-chart paper, or break students into small groups to navigate information spatially.
• Ask students to snap photos to save and reflect on shared artifacts (whiteboards, flip-charts) of their thinking.
• Incorporate structured role-play, and debate to engage learners and provide a memorable and immersive experience.

Use multi-sensory activities to build relationships among students

• Provide online students with opportunities to know each other’s voices and faces. Ask students to share audio and video recordings of themselves on discussion forums.
• Provide social connection opportunities by promoting co-experiences such as watching a film or exploring unfamiliar objects together. Share sensory observations to build a collective understanding.
• Integrate Augmented or Virtual Reality experiences, such as those available at Carleton University’s Experiential Learning Hub for virtual sensory course content.

How Can I Learn More About Embodied Learning?

Selected Resources and References

Further resources for instructors and administrators

• Susan Hrach’s website, Minding Bodies blog, and Padlet are updated regularly and provide valuable resources. This infographic provides some key ideas from her book.
• Carleton’s Book Arts Lab is available to instructors and students. Its purpose is to enhance the teaching and learning experience of students from all disciplines by introducing them to the book arts and sciences in a practical, ‘hand-on’ manner.
• Use the Learning Spaces webpage from Teaching and Learning Services to search for rooms, book an orientation, book equipment, and learn more about HyFlex Learning Spaces, the Future Learning Lab, and the Media Commons.
• Visit our Relationship-Rich Education resource page for more tips on building relationships with and among students.
• Use Brightspace tools to foster communication and collaboration with and among students.
• Visit Carleton’s Experiential Learning Hub to learn more about Immersive Learning, XR Projects and Use Cases, Services and Programming, Creation Suites, and Experience Studios.
• Explore Experiential Learning resources at Carleton University, including the Experiential Learning Fund.

Written works:

• Barrett, Lisa Feldman (2017). How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Mariner Books.
• Hrach, Susan (2021). Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning. Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Series, West Virginia University Press.
• Hrach, Susan (2021). “Minding the Body in Remote Learning Environments,” National Education Association, Higher Education, 39(4).
• Kuhn, Sarah (2022). Thinking with Things: Transforming Learning Through Tangible Instruction. Routledge.
• Macrine, Sheila L., and Jennifer M.B. Fugate, eds. (2022). Movement Matters: How Embodied Cognition Informs Teaching and Learning. The MIT Press. doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13593.001.0001
• Pennington, Colin, Rebecca Putman, and Beck Munsey (2022), “An examination of flexible seating in the higher education classroom from a physical and kinesthetic perspective” Journal of Learning Spaces 11.2 (20 December).
• Skulmowski, Alexander, and Günter Daniel Rey (2018), “Embodied Learning: Introducing a Taxonomy Based on Bodily Engagement and Task Integration.” Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 3.1 (March 7): 6. doi.org/10.1186/s41235-018-0092-9

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