Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Movement & Mathematics in College

This 90-minute workshop shares several aspects of an innovative interdisciplinary college course, Pattern Play, that links mathematics and dance to meet creative arts and quantitative literacy requirements. Participants will: 1) Engage in two open-ended movement activities – Giant Tangrams and Hustling Graph – that introduce geometry, algebra, and dance concepts as well as the broader theme of kinesthetic and arts-based learning, 2) Learn how the creative discovery process can be used to form an atmosphere of experimentation and play that can positively affect student attitudes about mathematics, dance and learning, and 3) Learn how strategies such as movement, breath control, and reframing/redesigning assignments help students identify and cope with learning anxiety. Rationale and Overview For college students in the United States not majoring in the sciences, there are limited appealing options for liberal arts mathematics classes. As a result, fulfilling mathematics general education requirements can become a barrier to graduating. The resulting discomfort with and avoidance of quantitative literacy requirements, particularly for students majoring in arts and humanities, is causing educators to look for more effective ways to engage and inspire students in their study of mathematics in order to communicate the beauty and relevance of the subject. While a fresh look at non-lecture based teaching practices is useful for all postsecondary mathematics classrooms, liberal arts majors who often do not identify as strong traditional mathematics learners stand to gain the most from such innovations. See [5] and [8]. In the article "Learning Through Dance," Hanna [4] discusses a study of dance that encouraged the explorations of various mathematical concepts such as space, time, and phrasing. The article also cites a ten-year study of low-income youth in which regular study of the arts improved the youths’ academic performance and increased their abilities in self-assessment. Yakimanskaya [9] documented the important relationship between spatial thinking and mathematics education. Many instructors of general education college mathematics courses are adept at recognizing when a student is discouraged, reluctant, afraid, disengaged, or anxious. Unfortunately, the focus and format of the majority of these courses do not include the means and rationale to pursue strategies to alleviate these negative feelings. Pattern Play draws on research connecting kinesthetic and mathematical thinking, in particular that of Schaffer, Stern and Kim [6], to change the dynamic and focus of learning. A Pattern Play class session looks, sounds and feels very different from a traditional college mathematics or dance class. While learning about a particular topic or unit, students and teachers shift fluidly from extended creative movement problems to specialized worksheets begun in class to working out questions on a white board to 15-minute Yoga sessions. Students also shift from working alone, in groups, and with instructors. Much time and effort is devoted to physical exploration and the transition between physical and symbolic representations. These intentional applications of different but related ways of grasping the material not only offer more access points; they foster a sense of educational agency. This agency is an outgrowth of exposure to a range of approaches to learning; students reflect regularly on how each approach influences their understanding and competency (in both dance and mathematics). Figure 1: Pattern Play students learn multiple ways to solve problems. In addition, they develop the ability to choose methods that suit their evolving learning needs. Accordingly, students are encouraged throughout to find solutions in ways that are rigorous but that also suit them. This choice lays the groundwork for persistence in problem-solving and for a non-rigid approach to problem solving. It also provides students with methods to 1) analyze personal learning patterns and tendencies, and employ methods to consciously alter negative mindsets that impede progress, and 2) regulate anxiety about learning through breath control, mindful physical exertion, and reframing how to approach assignments and tests. These strategies are designed to to give student tools to recognize and alter negative attitudes about certain subjects in higher education, most notably mathematics (particularly in those U.S. colleges that have more open entrance requirements). Creativity and attention to process are staples of this approach, are integral to the syllabus and learning outcomes for Pattern Play, and are discussed further in the “Workshop Activities” and “Learning Outcomes” sections below. In this workshop, participants experience how carefully designed kinesthetic activities can lay the foundation for mathematical understand and can alter the environment for learning by engendering the sort of close, collaborative associations inherent in some dance classes. These associations serve as a new model for mathematics learning, and speak more directly to students studying the arts and humanities by showing how creative discovery can positively influence the learning process. This educational model aligns well with the Bridges 2016 workshop theme of “Creativity and Learning.” Stately simply, Pattern Play seeks to empower students to take control of their own progress by helping them learning how they learn.