Active Learning, Collective Participation: From Theory to Practice - Illustrations From Professional Learning About an Embodied Approach to Learning

Oct 15, 2026

This paper analyzes professional learning in the Embodied Learning in Early Mathematics and Science (ELEMS) project, focusing on how active learning and collective participation supported teacher change. It examines four online sessions and uses Desimone’s five features of effective professional learning—content focus, coherence, collective participation, active learning, and duration—as an organizing lens. The ELEMS project links embodied learning research with classroom practice and evaluates teacher learning through reflections, feedback, and student outcome data across intervention and control schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Professional learning features and research questions

Project Background

ELEMS design-based approach and learning goals

Intervention and assessment outcomes

Active Learning, Collective Participation: From Theory to Practice, Illustrations From Professional Learning About an Embodied Approach to Learning Katherin Cartwright University of Wollongong [katherinc@uow.edu.au](katherinc@uow.edu.au) Jennifer Way The University of Sydney [jennifer.way@sydney.edu.au](jennifer.way@sydney.edu.au) Effective professional learning includes the provision of opportunities for teachers to actively engage with learning in a supportive community, where ideas can be shared, trialled, questioned and revised. The professional learning designed within the Embodied Learning in Early Mathematics and Science (ELEMS) Project aimed to assist teachers in making connections between embodied learning research and teaching and learning approaches. Analysis of four online sessions during the project illustrated active learning and collective participation were key for this project’s PL and were the most effective features in supporting teachers to implement a new pedagogy. Introduction The implied ultimate goal of effective professional learning (PL) is for improved teacher learning that in turn impacts student learning in a positive way (Beswick et al., 2017) . While no set list of ‘best practice’ features exist to guarantee a successful PL, Desimone and colleagues’own research (Desimone, 2011; Desimone & Garet, 2015; Garet et al., 2001) and review of PL literature (Desimone, 2023) over the past 10–15 years shows that “high-quality learning experiences for teachers, linked to their curriculum and lessons, which provides active learning that includes practice with feedback, can change what teachers do”(p. 2) . Five features are listed in Desimone’s (2011) paper: 1) content focus–on subject matter and how students learn that content, 2) coherence–with other PL, teacher knowledge and beliefs, and school or state reforms, 3) collective participation–with groups of teachers in the same grade, subject or school to build a learning community, 4) active learning–where teachers have opportunities tobe involved in observing, analysing student responses, receiving feedback, making presentations, and 5) duration–where PL activities are spread over a semester and should include 20 hours or more contact time. Desimone and Garet’s (2015) paper concluded that “we need more information about specific aspects of the five features that are important in different contexts”(p. 260) . This paper is a window into the ongoing active learning process within the ELEMS project’s professional learning episodes. The purpose of this paper is to provide illustrations of Desimone’s five features of professional learning that supported productive teacher change. This paper explores the following two research questions: • How do teachers’ reflections and feedback illustrate Desimone’s five features of effective teacher professional learning? • Which, if any, of the features are more important in the context ofthe ELEMS project? Project Background The ELEMS research project is a synthesis of research findings from the fields of neuroscience, psychology and education indicating that a focus on haptic modes of learning (touch, body movement, gesture, tracing), and on the development of emerging mathematical and scientific drawing, can enhance children’s learning by focusing their attention on essential properties, structures and relationships (for example, Alibali & Nathan, 2012; Dackerman et al., 2017) . From the analysis of literature (Way & Ginns, 2024) we derived a set of key education principles and proposed the implications for teaching practices in Pre-school to Year 2 (4–8 years old) mathematics and science. In Phase 1 of the project, using a collective approach (Way et al., 2023), seven teachers and their students worked alongside the researchers in trialling and developing embodied learning activities related to mathematical concepts in their classrooms. At the end of Phase 1 the teaching activities were developed i

FAQs

What are the five features of effective professional learning used in the paper?

The paper uses Desimone’s five features: content focus, coherence, collective participation, active learning, and duration, including opportunities for practice with feedback and sufficient time across a semester.

How does the ELEMS project connect theory to classroom practice?

ELEMS uses a design-based approach that links theory to practice “in the field,” developing and trialling embodied learning activities with teachers and researchers.

What evidence does the paper provide about learning gains in intervention schools?

Students in intervention schools were assessed pre- and post- using REMA-SF, and analysis across two timepoints indicated greater mathematics learning gains for intervention schools compared with control schools.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Taylor Morgan