Our Project

In this phase the project team, with expertise in embodied cognition and science education, will work with teachers in the participating schools to discuss strand units / concepts that they would like to address during the project. The teachers will attend 2 X 1 day workshops in their schools.  During these workshops the teachers will engage with tasks that will support them in understanding (from pre-prepared aide-memoires) how to construct embodied cognition experiences for children. Within this domain, specifics such as interpreting Science skills and concepts through embodied cognition which include the use of gesture (gross and fine motor skills for example), body (trunk), limb movements, full body movement in space, facial expression (to include role of drama), olfactory cues, auditory cues, haptic cues and peer / parent collaborative exercises (based on the aforementioned).  The teachers will also engage with related science inquiries.

Parents from each school will be invited to participate in 4 workshops over the course of the third term of the 2020 /2021 academic year or the first term of the 2021 / 2022 academic year.  These workshops will be held in the schools at a time that suits the school and the parents.  The workshops will be approximately 3 hours in length.

During the workshops the parents will engage with the inquiry-based, hands-on embodied cognition activities that were co-developed by the project team and participating teachers during phase 1. These workshops will also cover embodied cognition activities which can be developed which include the use of gesture (gross and fine motor skills for example), body (trunk), limb movements, full body movement in space, facial expression (to include role of drama), olfactory cues, auditory cues, haptic cues and peer / parent collaborative exercises (based on the aforementioned).

In between the workshops parents will be asked to try out some of these activities with their children at home.  They will then discuss these experiences in the workshops.  In workshop 3 the parents and project leads will collaborate to develop new embodied cognition activities.  Again the parents will be asked to try these at home with their children and to discuss their experiences in the final workshop. The project’s website will serve as an important source of information, advice and ideas for all participants. 

Each school will twin with another school.  This will involve collaborative learning between each school (teachers, parents and pupils) as they begin to engage with the project. In particular, it will involve the sharing of ideas / activities and experiences of co-constructing embodied cognition activities.   Following approximately two months of engagement with the project, these ‘twinned’ schools will visit each other. This will involve a site visit to the ‘partner’ school in the latter phase of the project. The visit will involve pupils, parents and teachers in a sharing (to date) of their experiences and insights on co-constructing and applying embodied cognition to Physics education. In addition to site visits from the Physics in Action team, this visit will further refine and advance all project stakeholders’ skills and insights on applying embodied cognition to Physics education.

At the end of the project the teachers, parents and a selection of students will be invited to attend a one-day event in the Dublin City University to share their experiences of participating in the Physics in Action Project.  In addition to celebrating the work of all involved, this event will explore and examine the challenges and opportunities which the project presented. It will also specifically seek pupil voice with a view to determining those factors which inhibit or assist embodied cognition in Physics education.