Looking through Sherlock's eyes: Effects of eye movement modelling examples with and without verbal explanations on deductive reasoning

• Published in: Journal of computer assisted learning Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 1497 - 1506
• Main Authors: Marlen, Tim, Wermeskerken, Margot, Jarodzka, Halszka, Raijmakers, Maartje, Gog, Tamara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2022; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: attention cueing; Between-subjects design; Cognitive Processes; Education; example‐based learning; eye movement modelling examples; Eye Movements; eye tracking; Learning; Logical Thinking; Modelling; Reasoning; Secondary education; Secondary School Students; Students; Task Analysis; Teachers; Teaching methods; Technology Uses in Education
• ISSN: 0266-4909; 1365-2729
• DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12712

Background Eye movement modelling examples (EMME) are demonstrations in which learners' not only see a model's (e.g., a teacher's) task performance on a computer screen (as in regular video examples) but also the model's eye movements (represented as moving coloured dots overlaid on the screen). Thereby EMME help guide learners' attention towards the relevant information and can model cognitive strategies which are otherwise unobservable for learners. Objectives This study investigated whether EMME can help to learn deductive reasoning strategies and how the presence/absence of a teacher's verbal explanation affects learning from EMME. Methods Secondary education students (N = 137) were randomly assigned to study video examples under one of four conditions in a 2 (EMME: yes/no) x 2 (verbal explanations: yes/no) between‐subjects design. Results and Conclusions Results revealed only a beneficial effect of the presence of verbal explanations on performance on the practice problems, but no pretest‐to‐posttest learning gains. Implications Seeing the teacher's eye movements does not appear to enhance learning of deductive reasoning. The presence/absence of the teacher's verbal explanation does not seem to affect learning deductive reasoning. Lay Description What is currently known about the subject matter? Eye movement modelling examples (EMME) are demonstrations in which learners not only see a teacher's task execution on a computer screen (as in video examples) but also the teacher's eye movements. The eye movements in EMME were visualized as moving coloured dots overlaid on the screen recording. EMME help direct attention to relevant information and enhance learning; it is not yet known if this also applies to reasoning problems. It is unknown if and how presence/absence of a teacher's verbal explanation affects learning from EMME. What our paper adds to this? Secondary education students watched EMME or regular video examples with/without a teacher's verbal explanation. The examples demonstrated how to solve deductive reasoning problems (adapted version of the Mastermind game). Performance and learning gains were examined and revealed no differences between conditions. The implications of study findings for practitioners Seeing the teacher's eye movements does not appear to enhance learning of deductive reasoning. The presence/absence of the teacher's verbal explanation does not seem to affect learning deductive reasoning.