This study investigated how visual attention differed between students who hold scientific knowledge and those who have misconceptions. We analyzed visual fixations of 98 middle students on problems containing information relevant to scientific knowledge and common misconceptions. It showed that students who acquired scientific concepts paid more…

The purpose of this study was to explore how students interacted with guidance to conduct a scientific inquiry in a physics simulation by using the eye-tracking techniques. The participants were 51 7th graders, and an eye-tracking system was used to record their visual behaviors and log data while they were using the simulation. As for data…

Typical physics textbook problems often include supportive diagrams that visualize the physical situation although the potential benefits of providing such diagrams is not yet fully established. We used eye tracking to explore the role of supportive diagrams in problem solving. Including a supportive diagram with the text of the problem improved…

The work described here represents an effort to understand and influence visual attention while solving physics problems containing a diagram. Our visual system is guided by two types of processes--top-down and bottom-up. The top-down processes are internal and determined by ones prior knowledge and goals. The bottom-up processes are external and…