Embodiment, Mathematics Communication, and the Blind

1
Embodiment, Mathematics Communication, and the
Blind

• Francis Quek
• Professor of Computer Science
• Director, Center for Human Computer Interaction
• Virginia Tech

Mary Ellen Bargerhuff Jeffrey Vernooy Education
Office of Disability Services Wright State
University
Bennett Bertenthal David McNeill Department of
Psychology The University of Chicago
2
Discourse, Mathematics, Blindness, Approach

• Embodiment Language Claims
• Language in inherently embodied
• Communication needs to be situated in meaning and
  time
• Embodiment provides cues for spatial-temporal
  grounding
• The spatial field of the embodied behavior
  provides semantic and discourse-temporal cues
• Mathematics Embodied Discourse Claims
• Mathematics is inherently embodied (Lakoff
  Nunèz 2001, Penrose 1989)
• Mathematics concepts involve symbolic and analog
  content (McNeill 1992)
• Humans discussing and conceptualizing mathematics
  gesture
• Access to the communicators gesture aids in
  understanding discourse content
• Mathematics the Blind
• Blind students are typically 1-3 years behind
  seeing students
• Blind individuals have the capacity for spatial
  visualization
• Tactile instruction material generation is not
  the bottleneck
• The capacity for situated mathematics instruction
  is understudied
• Mediating Communication between Teacher Student
• Student Teacher have conformal illustrations
• Teachers point of instructional focus and
  students point of tactile focus are tracked
• The student is made aware of the disparity via a
  set of devices and the interaction is evaluated
  (how effective, how do individuals adapt etc.)