Eye Tracking Study on Illustration Involving Earth Observer In Seasonal Change Learning of Elementary School Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

This study aimed to track the gaze of elementary school pre-service teachers on illustrations, including earth observers, in learning seasonal changes. For the study, learners' gaze behavior was analyzed using an eye tracker, and pre-and post-tests were conducted to find out the understanding of learning. The study participants were 12 students majoring in elementary education at the Korea National University of Education who voluntarily expressed their intention to participate (control group = 6, experimental group = 6). Gaze behavior data were analyzed by heat map analysis ② Fixation Duration statistical analysis ③ Number of Fixation statistical analysis, and pre-and post-tests were analyzed by independent sample t-test. The results of this study were as follows. First, in the seasonal change learning of elementary school pre-service teachers, illustrations including earth observers showed different gaze behaviors than illustrations that did not include them. Specifically, the experimental group had shorter fixation Duration of sentences 2-1 and 3 than the control group, fewer Number of Fixations, longer fixation Duration of the external perspective + earth observer area and the entire illustration area, and there was a statistically significant difference in the above contents. In other words, it can be seen that illustrations containing earth observers increased visual attention to the entire illustration and external perspective + earth observer area and lowered visual attention to texts such as Sentence 2-1 and Sentence 3. Second, when analyzing the pre-and post-test papers, it was confirmed through this study that illustrations that included earth observers in the seasonal change learning of preprimary teachers did not significantly affect their understanding of learning. Still, there were pre-primary and elementary teachers with alternative concepts, and through the tasks presented, the alternative concept changed into a scientific concept.