Eye tracking enables the reconstruction of eye movements and thus the analysis of visual information selection and integration processes during problem solving. In this way, learner-specific difficulties can be identified and problem-solving process can be adapted accordingly. For such an adaptation, the prediction of response behavior plays a…

Eye tracking is becoming increasingly popular in physics education research (PER). As technology has advanced considerably in recent years and has become more user friendly, it is anticipated that eye tracking will play an increasingly significant role in assessing student learning at the process level in future studies. The main objective of this…

The results of qualitative and quantitative investigations conducted with individuals who learned algorithms in school are presented in this article. In these investigations, eye-tracking technology was used to follow the process of solving algorithmic problems. The algorithmic problems were presented in two comparable variants: in a pseudocode…

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…

Routine human behavior has often been attributed to plans--mental representations of sequences goals and actions--but can also be attributed to more opportunistic interactions of mind and a structured environment. This study asks whether performance on a task traditionally analyzed in terms of plans can be better understood from a "situated" (or…

This dissertation presents several studies designed to probe the mental representations that physics experts and novices form when interacting with typical instructional materials, such as diagrams and problem statements. By using recognition tasks and a change detection task, the mental representations of experts and novices are studied in a more…

The purpose of this study was to use the picture format to examine in depth the metacognitive performances and reaction time in general education, low-achieving, and institutionally raised students. Results revealed that institutionally raised students, unlike low-achieving students, took significantly the longest reaction time to finish the test…

Problem statement: This study aims to investigate factors influencing mathematic problem-solving ability of sixth grade students. One thousand and twenty eight of sixth grade students, studying in the second semester of academic year 2007 were sampled by stratified random sampling technique. Approach: The research instruments used in the study…

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that an inability to separate incoming information into discrete messages is a source of young children's relatively poor performance in selective attention tasks. Subjects were 27 children drawn from kindergarten, second grade and fifth grade classes. (Author/GO)

Recent research in cognitive neuroscience has yielded a more comprehensive understanding of brain function. Some of these diagnostic techniques include the event-related potential, which depicts brain electrical activity, and magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, which are particularly sensitive to the delineation of brain…

A model of information processing has been developed that combines concepts from the study of attention and the study of problem solving. The model has been realized as a computer program and used to simulate a variety of phenomena from the attention and performance literature. (Author/LMO)

Reviews a large number of studies of eye movement. Bibliography appended. (LS)

Using information contained in nine photographs, young children constructed a wooden pyramid. Control children were given the same task but no pictorial information. Children's performances were significantly better when pictorial information was available. Sex and age differences were noted regarding strategies used to complete the task.…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…