ABSTRACT
This chapter serves as an introduction to the book as a whole. Beginning in a conventional college classroom and discussing the ways in which the typical classroom is problematic, it then describes the benefits of teaching with physical materials in higher education. Explaining that all students are embodied learners, the chapter mentions the benefits of using manipulatives and other hands-on activities in the higher education classroom. In a studio-style space where active learning is the norm, student engagement is enhanced and embodied cognition is an asset. Laying out five myths about learning in college, the chapter concludes with an overview of the remaining chapters in the book, which discuss embodied cognition, inquiry in education, thinking with things and its role in learning, extended discussions of how objects shape our thinking and learning, the ways in which the concrete can be a route to learning abstractions, the importance of the hand in learning, and how our standard college pedagogy can create disability. The final chapter outlines recommendations for change in the higher education classroom.
