A practice used by education pioneer Montessori in the early 1900s has received further validation, with studies showing that finger tracing makes learning easier and more motivating. Imagining an object after tracing it can generate even faster learning, for children and adults alike.

Over 100 years later, her method has received some empirical validation. Two new University of Sydney studies show that not only is tracing an effective learning technique; if it is used in conjunction with imagination, its positive effect could be amplified.

Previous Sydney School of Education & Social Work research demonstrated a link between tracing and math performance. Now, tracing in math and science lessons has been specifically found to reduce people’s cognitive load (the demands placed on the conscious mind by a range of cognitive activities), thereby enhancing their ability to learn. It has also been found to potentially increase their learning motivation. Once students have built a foundational understanding of a topic through tracing, asking them to close their eyes and «imagine» the steps while tracing enhances learning more than additional tracing with eyes open.

«Although Australian schools are trending upwards in terms of maths and science performance, there’s still room for improvement,» said Associate Professor Paul Ginns, the academic supervisor and co-author of the papers. «Our research shows that tracing and imagination strategies can help. They are cost-free, simple, and can be easily implemented in classrooms, across a range of lesson topics and media.»

Tracing triangles

In the first study, published in Educational Psychology Review, 93 Year 4 and 5 students from a school in Shanghai, China were being taught about the properties of angles in a triangle. They were randomly assigned to the control condition, the tracing condition, or the tracing/imagination condition, and then given ‘calculate the missing angle’ examples to complete under practice and test conditions.

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