Designing learning representations around physical manipulation: Hands and objects

The role of physical actions in learning has fostered enthusiasm for developing novel learning representations using emerging technologies such as tangibles. Indeed, as emerging devices blur the distinction between physical and graphical interfaces, it is important to build our understanding of how different forms of action and interaction will affect children's conceptual development. However, the mechanisms underpinning which actions support learning are often unclear. This paper offers a new perspective for examining the role of physical manipulation in learning by drawing a distinction between the actions generated by the hands and the resulting change in external representation. Arguments from existing research are revisited before using this distinction to identify implications for design.