UC Berkeley

Some forms of movement, such as rocking, are common means of sensory self-regulation yet are discouraged in classroom contexts. We analyze the ableist underpinnings of this approach, and ask instead: could sensory-attractive activities such as rocking instead be solicited to serve content learning? Our design-based research project, Balance Board Math, fosters sensory-cognitive opportunities for the regulatory movement of rocking to serve as an intrinsic interaction resource for exploring mathematical graphical representations, with a focus on properties of sinusoidal functions such as frequency and amplitude. We analyze the role of balance/vestibular activation in pilot participants' exploration of graphing before, during, and after Balance Board Math activities.