Concretizing the abstract: embodied learning as a pedagogical strategy for teaching measurement and evaluation

Traditional nursing education often relies on lecture-based approaches that treat the mind and body as separate, frequently leading to a "conceptual chasm" when teaching abstract subjects. Measurement and evaluation is one such area where students struggle with highly symbolic and statistical concepts. Drawing on Embodied Cognition Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, this study investigated the impact of an Embodied Learning intervention - which integrates physical movement and sensory experience into the learning process - on prospective nurses' academic performance, attitudes, and self-efficacy.

The study employed a pretest-posttest randomized controlled design with 31 senior undergraduate nursing students. Participants were allocated to a treatment group (n = 15), which received embodied learning-based instruction, or a comparison group (n = 16), which received traditional lectures. Over seven sessions, the treatment group engaged in activities to physically enact psychometric concepts. The data collected from both groups as pre-test and post-test included an academic performance test, an attitudes toward educational measurement inventory, and the self-efficacy perception scale for measurement and evaluation.