Fidget spinners have experienced a rapid rise in popularity, at least partially because they are marketed as attentional aides with the potential to enhance student learning. In the current study, college-aged students watched educational videos while either using a fidget spinner or not. Using a fidget spinner was associated with increased…

Online learning has become a daily mode of modern education, and its effect on learning outcomes has also been widely discussed. Engagement, satisfaction and academic performance are often used to measure learning outcomes, while factors such as physical motorization, information presentation and embodied learning experiences are often used to…

This article discusses a case study combining the qualitative analysis of documents and videofootage. The data was collected during a short collaborative task within an ideation phase with 9-10 year old pupils customizing a store-bought t-shirt. The combination of video and document analysis allows tracing back the emergence of some of the kernel…

Infants build knowledge by acting on the world. We conducted an ecologically grounded test of an embodied learning hypothesis: that infants' active engagement with objects in the home environment elicits caregiver naming and cascades to learning object names. Our home-based study extends laboratory-based theories to identify real-world processes…

Applying the fundamentals of motor skill development for children in the classroom setting can prove beneficial for both student and teacher. Herein, the authors will focus on what motor development is, how this manifests itself in young learners, the concept of the nonlinear pedagogy design principles, and the importance of the movement as it…

"Research Findings:" Promoting children's science knowledge by adequate measures such as guided or free play is a cardinal goal of preschool. However, there is considerable variability in preschool teachers' instructional quality in block play, which might be associated with children's domain-specific science skills but also their…

Although there is a plethora of tools available to assess children's movement competence (MC), the literature suggests that many have significant limitations (e.g. not being practical for use in many 'real-world' settings). The FMS[superscript 2] assessment tool has recently been developed as a targeted solution to many of the existing barriers…

Fifty-one 23-to-55-month-old-infants faced two apparatuses that required the use of a rigid (box apparatus) or flexible (hose apparatus) stick-like tool to retrieve a toy stuck inside. Before attempting the extraction, however, they had to pick the only one tool (of three) on display that had the appropriate rigidity/flexibility to be effective.…

Toddlers' understanding of object rotation was investigated using a multimethod approach. Participants were 44 toddlers between 22 and 38 months of age. In an eye-tracking task, they observed a shape that rotated and disappeared briefly behind an occluder. In an object-fitting task, they rotated wooden blocks and fit them through apertures.…

Performance in everyday spatial orientation tasks (e.g., map reading and navigation) has been considered functionally separate from performance on more abstract object-based spatial abilities (e.g., mental rotation and visualization). However, few studies have examined the link between spatial orientation and object-based spatial skills, and even…

Children with intellectual disability (ID) tend to have difficulty with mastering fundamental movement skills, associated with cognitive deficits that impair skill acquisition. In this case study, motor learning evidence was transformed into an object control skills training program for children with ID in a school context. An implementation…

Objects can be grasped in different ways to ensure a movement plan is aligned with the intended action. The current study assessed grasp posture in joint action object manipulation in children (ages 6-11, n = 68), young adults (n = 21), and older adults (n = 23). Participants performed two actions (pickup and pass; pickup and pass for use) within…

Past research has shown that children's mental rotation skills are malleable and can be improved through action experience--physically rotating objects--or gesture experience--showing how objects could rotate (e.g., Frick, Ferrara, & Newcombe, 2013; Goldin-Meadow et al., 2012; Levine, Goldin-Meadow, Carlson, & Hemani-Lopez, 2018). These…

Spatial skill assessment and training are promising fields of application for tablets, as touch-based interaction can prime and support mental transformations of spatial knowledge. We report on a study with 49 secondary school students who used our iPad app to solve mental and physical rotation tasks. During physical rotation, students were able…

Learning to walk leads to an increase in language abilities; however, the underlying mechanisms accounting for this relation remain unclear. Investigating the quality of early gait control may offer some insights. The purpose of this study was to: (1) quantify how 13-month-olds (n = 39; 39% male) and 24-month-olds (n = 39; 59% male) adapt gait…