When Mathematics Moves: Designing and Teaching a Semester-Long Movement-Based Course Open Access
Zhou, Amber (Spring 2026)
Abstract
This thesis explores what it means to design and teach mathematics through movement in a non-introductory setting. Building on the Mathematics through Movement project led by dance professor Lori Teague and math professor Manuela Manetta, it examines a student-led directed research course developed and taught in Fall 2025.
Through the analysis of five activities across three mathematical topics, the study investigates how movement-based tasks were constructed and how students engaged with them. Using student presentations, reflections, and course artifacts, the work evaluates both the opportunities and the tensions that arise when embodied experience is used as a medium for mathematical thinking.
The findings highlight the potential of movement to support meaning-making and engagement, while also revealing the importance of careful task design to sustain mathematical depth. The thesis proposes directions for refining movement-based pedagogy and reflects on the role of student-led instruction in expanding this approach.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Motivation and Background
2.1 Discovering Mathematics Through Movement
2.2 Embodied Approaches in Mathematics Education
2.3 Prior Work in Mathematics through Movement
3. Math LEAP: Directed Research
3.1 Overview of the Math LEAP Project
3.1.1 Course Setting and Structure
4. Let's Move: Our Activities
4.1 Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues
4.1.1 Pilot Implementation: Findings and Reflections
4.1.2 Second Design Iteration: Refinement and Implementation
4.1.3 Exploration Time: Who is the eigenvector?
4.1.4 Students' Reflection
4.2 SIR and Graph Theory
4.2.1 Design Phase
4.2.2 Exploration Time: Back to the Pandemic
4.2.3 Students' Reflection
4.3 Partial Differential Equations
4.3.1 Design Phase
4.3.2 Exploration Time: Let PDEs be in Action
4.3.3 Students' Reflection
5. Conclusions and Future Work
5.1 Learning from Midterm and Final Projects
Bibliography
Appendix
About this Honors Thesis
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When Mathematics Moves: Designing and Teaching a Semester-Long Movement-Based Course () | 2026-04-21 13:40:32 -0400 |
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