What the teacher's hands tell the student's mind about math

Does nonverbal behavior contribute to cognitive as well as affective compon ents of teaching? We examine here one type of nonverbal behavior: spontaneo us gestures that accompany talk. Eight teachers were asked to instruct 49 c hildren individually on mathematical equivalence as it applies to addition. All teachers used gesture to convey problem-solving strategies. The gestur ed strategies either reinforced (matched) or differed from (mismatched) str ategies conveyed in speech. Children were more likely to reiterate teacher speech if it was accompanied by matching gesture than by no gesture at all and less likely to reiterate teacher speech if it was accompanied by mismat ching gesture than by no gesture at all. Moreover, children were able to gl ean problem-solving strategies from the teachers' gestures and recast them into their own speech. Not only do teachers produce gestures that express t ask-relevant information, but their students take notice.