The main purpose of this study was to provide instructional suggestions for supporting science le... more The main purpose of this study was to provide instructional suggestions for supporting science learning in digital environments based on a review of eye tracking studies in e-learning related areas. Thirty-three eyetracking studies from 2005 to 2014 were selected from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database for review. Through a literature analysis program, CATA, and in-depth content analysis of the research methods and findings, five research theme clusters were abstracted from the selected papers, namely, cognitive activities in processing multimedia presentations, multimedia effects, roles of personal factors, effects of instructional design, and learning with dynamic e-platforms. Based on the results of the in-depth theme analyses, it is suggested that the design of e-learning instruction should consider placing related text and graphics in adjacent areas, using one verbal mode at a time, and providing explicit and clear verbal explanations. When using animations, inst...
Recent advancements in Web and HTML5 techniques have made collaborative simulations able to suppo... more Recent advancements in Web and HTML5 techniques have made collaborative simulations able to support a shared workspace and more synchronous collaboration in a single simulation. However, previous studies show divergent findings regarding the effects of the new features of collaborative simulations. To better understand the affordances and limitations of collaborative simulations, this study analyzed how 64 students learned in two different collaborative learning settings: individual-based simulation and collaborative simulation. To better reveal how students attended to different parts of the simulation, the researchers collected eye movement data and analyzed students' discourse, perceptions of collaboration and learning performance. The findings revealed that the two groups demonstrated similar levels of learning gains. However, the students who used the collaborative simulation displayed lower levels and less frequency of individual attention to the simulation than those using the individual-based simulation. However, the joint attention and discourse analysis suggests that students learning with the collaborative simulation are more likely to engage in effective collaborative learning while demonstrating more constructive discourse threads than those using the individual-based simulation. The findings support that the collaborative simulations transformed the learning experience into a cohesive collaborative learning process. This study also found that the relationship between the joint attention and the discourse features as well as the perceived collaborative experience are not decisive but are influenced by the features of the collaborative learning environment. This article discusses the implications of the use of collaborative simulations and eye movement for supporting collaborative learning, and addresses the direction for future studies.
This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Discussion Strategies Scale (... more This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Discussion Strategies Scale (ODSS). The purpose of this scale was designed to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies utilized by an online learner while performing a discussion task with peers on the Internet. Starting with interviewing 20 college students, a total of 25 questions were collected as a pool of the candidate items for ODSS. A survey including all the candidate items was then administered to 167 college students and ...
A prior study developed the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) for assessing individuals’ computa... more A prior study developed the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) for assessing individuals’ computational thinking dispositions in five dimensions: decomposition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking, evaluation, and generalization. This study proposed the Developmental Model of Computational Thinking through validating the structural relationships among the five factors of the CTS. To examine the model, a questionnaire including the CTS was administered to 472 middle school students. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the construct of the measurements, and a PLS-SEM analysis was used to validate the structural relationships among the factors. The results confirmed that the 19-item CTS has good item reliability, internal consistency, and construct reliability for measuring computational thinking (CT). In the Developmental Model of CT, decomposition and abstraction significantly predict all other three CT dispositions, suggesting that they are the two fundamental factors r...
2018 International Symposium on Educational Technology (ISET), 2018
Eye-tracking technology has been increasingly utilized as a research tool in educational studies ... more Eye-tracking technology has been increasingly utilized as a research tool in educational studies in the last decade. However, analyzing eye-tracking data is usually a challenge for educational researchers. This study developed a tool, Eye-tracking Data Analyzer (EDA), for educational researchers to conduct advanced eye-tracking data analyses. With a graphical user interface, the EDA was developed by MATLAB programming. As a sample module of EDA, the development, interface design and validation of a lag sequential analysis (LSA) model were introduced. The LSA module in EDA provides a useful and convenient tool for educational researchers to quickly and deeply explore and illustrate learners' visual-attention transitional patterns during learning process. Implications and applications of the module are also briefly discussed in this study.
To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study ai... more To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study aimed to examine the relationship between young students’ design thinking disposition and their computer programming self-efficacy. To assess students’ design thinking disposition, this study developed the Design Thinking Disposition Scale (DTDS) with a sample of 350 junior high school students who had computer programming experience in a STEAM course. A principle axis factor analysis with the promax rotation method was used to verify the DTDS’s construct under the four dimensions: empathize, define, ideate and prototype. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability was .90 for the overall scale. Correlation analyses results showed that all the four dimensions were significantly correlated with computer programming self-efficacy assessed by CPSES. A significant regression model was found in which the three factors, ideate, prototype and define, significantly predicted the overall computer programming ...
Crime scene investigation serves as an important source of information for law enforcement office... more Crime scene investigation serves as an important source of information for law enforcement officers when running a case. Effective leads are uncovered based on the knowledge, technique, and experience of the crime scene investigator. This study utilized eye-tracking technology to understand different decision makers'visual behaviors and decision-making process when studying a crime scene picture. A total of 42 college students majored in crime investigation were recruited as the subjects of the study. Eye movement data were collected and analyzed using t-test and ANOVA on eye-tracking measures of areas of interest (AOI) for visual attention distributions as well as lag sequence analysis (LSA), heat map, and scan path observations for visual transfer patterns. The results showed that participants who made the correct decision were faster in identifying the key target. Regardless of whether they made the correct decision or not, their visual attention was fixated on the answer option of their choosing. Additionally, the subjects' attention must be shifted to the key target in order to make the correct decision. This study successfully applied the eye-tracking method to explore the investigation and decision-making process of inspecting a crime scene picture. Future studies can apply the eye-tracking method to deeply understand the process of information processing in investigating criminal scene pictures and provide more suggestions for professional training curriculum and instruction.
Abstract Online information problem solving (OIPS) is essential for 21st century information lite... more Abstract Online information problem solving (OIPS) is essential for 21st century information literacy which often requires information selection competencies. However, students usually have problems in discriminating information from complex web sources. This study, utilizing eye-tracking technology, aims to examine the relationships among learners' visual search patterns, information anxiety and OIPS task performance in web search contexts. In this study, 46 university students volunteered to participate in a web search task for solving a landslide problem. Student’ visual behaviors were recorded by eye-trackers during the task and information anxiety was self-reported immediately after the task. Reaction time and task performance were also recorded and scored. Pearson's correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, cluster analyses and lag sequential analyses (LSA) were conducted. The results show that learners' eye-tracking measures, information anxiety, and task performances are significantly correlated in OIPS. Students' visual attention paid onto irrelevant web information can significantly and positively predicts their information anxiety, but negatively predicts their task performance. Additionally, based on eye-tracking measures and reaction time, three visual search patterns are identified: Confused, Slow-thinking and Fast-thinking. The LSA results further show that different information selection and attentional control strategies are utilized by different groups, especially when discriminating the relevancy of web information. This study bridges the associations among eye-tracking measures, information anxiety and task performances in OIPS contexts. Future studies are suggested to analyze eye-tracking data using cluster analyses plus LSAs to profile online learners' characteristics in terms of visual search or information processing patterns.
This study aimed to develop the Computational Thinking Test for Elementary School Students (CTT-E... more This study aimed to develop the Computational Thinking Test for Elementary School Students (CTT-ES) to assess young children’s CT competencies in non-programming contexts and also examine the relationship between CT competencies and CT dispositions. A survey including a pool of CTT-ES candidate items and the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) was administered to 631 elementary school students. Rasch model of the Item Response Theory and the discrimination analysis of the Classical Testing Theory were conducted for item analyses. Pearson’s correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between CTT-ES and CTS scores. The results showed that the final CTT-ES including 16 items had a good fitness, discrimination, and reliability to evaluate elementary students’ domain-general CT competencies. The convergent validity of CTT-ES was confirmed by its significant correlations with the CTS scores. The significant regression model not ...
Abstract This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Information Searchin... more Abstract This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Information Searching Strategies Inventory (OISSI). The purpose of this inventory was to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies utilized by online learners while searching information on the Internet. Beginning with an interview of 20 college students, a total of 55 questions were collected as a pool of the candidate items of the OISSI. A survey including all of the candidate items was then administered to 123 college and senior high school ...
Page 1. Teacher Guidance in two Inquiry-based Instructions for Non-science Majored High School St... more Page 1. Teacher Guidance in two Inquiry-based Instructions for Non-science Majored High School Students Ting-ling Lai Ying-Shao Hsu Fang-Ying Yang National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan Meng-Jung Tsai National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan ...
The purpose of the study was to explore the judgment criteria used by university students for eva... more The purpose of the study was to explore the judgment criteria used by university students for evaluating online information about a socio-scientific issue and the associations, if any, with their epistemic beliefs. The problem context was a socio-scientific issue concerning the impact of electromagnetic waves on human health. The participants were 36 university students, who were asked to read a news report, briefly state their thoughts, and then proceed to the web search activity in order to determine if their thoughts were legitimate. The students' search processes were recorded by web camera. After the search activity, all students were interviewed about the criteria used to determine the credibility of the online information. The students responded to the interview questions as they were watching their own web search processes. Epistemic beliefs were then assessed using questionnaires. A coding scheme was developed to analyze the students' oral responses. It was found th...
The main purpose of this study was to provide instructional suggestions for supporting science le... more The main purpose of this study was to provide instructional suggestions for supporting science learning in digital environments based on a review of eye tracking studies in e-learning related areas. Thirty-three eyetracking studies from 2005 to 2014 were selected from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database for review. Through a literature analysis program, CATA, and in-depth content analysis of the research methods and findings, five research theme clusters were abstracted from the selected papers, namely, cognitive activities in processing multimedia presentations, multimedia effects, roles of personal factors, effects of instructional design, and learning with dynamic e-platforms. Based on the results of the in-depth theme analyses, it is suggested that the design of e-learning instruction should consider placing related text and graphics in adjacent areas, using one verbal mode at a time, and providing explicit and clear verbal explanations. When using animations, inst...
Recent advancements in Web and HTML5 techniques have made collaborative simulations able to suppo... more Recent advancements in Web and HTML5 techniques have made collaborative simulations able to support a shared workspace and more synchronous collaboration in a single simulation. However, previous studies show divergent findings regarding the effects of the new features of collaborative simulations. To better understand the affordances and limitations of collaborative simulations, this study analyzed how 64 students learned in two different collaborative learning settings: individual-based simulation and collaborative simulation. To better reveal how students attended to different parts of the simulation, the researchers collected eye movement data and analyzed students' discourse, perceptions of collaboration and learning performance. The findings revealed that the two groups demonstrated similar levels of learning gains. However, the students who used the collaborative simulation displayed lower levels and less frequency of individual attention to the simulation than those using the individual-based simulation. However, the joint attention and discourse analysis suggests that students learning with the collaborative simulation are more likely to engage in effective collaborative learning while demonstrating more constructive discourse threads than those using the individual-based simulation. The findings support that the collaborative simulations transformed the learning experience into a cohesive collaborative learning process. This study also found that the relationship between the joint attention and the discourse features as well as the perceived collaborative experience are not decisive but are influenced by the features of the collaborative learning environment. This article discusses the implications of the use of collaborative simulations and eye movement for supporting collaborative learning, and addresses the direction for future studies.
This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Discussion Strategies Scale (... more This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Discussion Strategies Scale (ODSS). The purpose of this scale was designed to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies utilized by an online learner while performing a discussion task with peers on the Internet. Starting with interviewing 20 college students, a total of 25 questions were collected as a pool of the candidate items for ODSS. A survey including all the candidate items was then administered to 167 college students and ...
A prior study developed the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) for assessing individuals’ computa... more A prior study developed the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) for assessing individuals’ computational thinking dispositions in five dimensions: decomposition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking, evaluation, and generalization. This study proposed the Developmental Model of Computational Thinking through validating the structural relationships among the five factors of the CTS. To examine the model, a questionnaire including the CTS was administered to 472 middle school students. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the construct of the measurements, and a PLS-SEM analysis was used to validate the structural relationships among the factors. The results confirmed that the 19-item CTS has good item reliability, internal consistency, and construct reliability for measuring computational thinking (CT). In the Developmental Model of CT, decomposition and abstraction significantly predict all other three CT dispositions, suggesting that they are the two fundamental factors r...
2018 International Symposium on Educational Technology (ISET), 2018
Eye-tracking technology has been increasingly utilized as a research tool in educational studies ... more Eye-tracking technology has been increasingly utilized as a research tool in educational studies in the last decade. However, analyzing eye-tracking data is usually a challenge for educational researchers. This study developed a tool, Eye-tracking Data Analyzer (EDA), for educational researchers to conduct advanced eye-tracking data analyses. With a graphical user interface, the EDA was developed by MATLAB programming. As a sample module of EDA, the development, interface design and validation of a lag sequential analysis (LSA) model were introduced. The LSA module in EDA provides a useful and convenient tool for educational researchers to quickly and deeply explore and illustrate learners' visual-attention transitional patterns during learning process. Implications and applications of the module are also briefly discussed in this study.
To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study ai... more To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study aimed to examine the relationship between young students’ design thinking disposition and their computer programming self-efficacy. To assess students’ design thinking disposition, this study developed the Design Thinking Disposition Scale (DTDS) with a sample of 350 junior high school students who had computer programming experience in a STEAM course. A principle axis factor analysis with the promax rotation method was used to verify the DTDS’s construct under the four dimensions: empathize, define, ideate and prototype. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability was .90 for the overall scale. Correlation analyses results showed that all the four dimensions were significantly correlated with computer programming self-efficacy assessed by CPSES. A significant regression model was found in which the three factors, ideate, prototype and define, significantly predicted the overall computer programming ...
Crime scene investigation serves as an important source of information for law enforcement office... more Crime scene investigation serves as an important source of information for law enforcement officers when running a case. Effective leads are uncovered based on the knowledge, technique, and experience of the crime scene investigator. This study utilized eye-tracking technology to understand different decision makers'visual behaviors and decision-making process when studying a crime scene picture. A total of 42 college students majored in crime investigation were recruited as the subjects of the study. Eye movement data were collected and analyzed using t-test and ANOVA on eye-tracking measures of areas of interest (AOI) for visual attention distributions as well as lag sequence analysis (LSA), heat map, and scan path observations for visual transfer patterns. The results showed that participants who made the correct decision were faster in identifying the key target. Regardless of whether they made the correct decision or not, their visual attention was fixated on the answer option of their choosing. Additionally, the subjects' attention must be shifted to the key target in order to make the correct decision. This study successfully applied the eye-tracking method to explore the investigation and decision-making process of inspecting a crime scene picture. Future studies can apply the eye-tracking method to deeply understand the process of information processing in investigating criminal scene pictures and provide more suggestions for professional training curriculum and instruction.
Abstract Online information problem solving (OIPS) is essential for 21st century information lite... more Abstract Online information problem solving (OIPS) is essential for 21st century information literacy which often requires information selection competencies. However, students usually have problems in discriminating information from complex web sources. This study, utilizing eye-tracking technology, aims to examine the relationships among learners' visual search patterns, information anxiety and OIPS task performance in web search contexts. In this study, 46 university students volunteered to participate in a web search task for solving a landslide problem. Student’ visual behaviors were recorded by eye-trackers during the task and information anxiety was self-reported immediately after the task. Reaction time and task performance were also recorded and scored. Pearson's correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, cluster analyses and lag sequential analyses (LSA) were conducted. The results show that learners' eye-tracking measures, information anxiety, and task performances are significantly correlated in OIPS. Students' visual attention paid onto irrelevant web information can significantly and positively predicts their information anxiety, but negatively predicts their task performance. Additionally, based on eye-tracking measures and reaction time, three visual search patterns are identified: Confused, Slow-thinking and Fast-thinking. The LSA results further show that different information selection and attentional control strategies are utilized by different groups, especially when discriminating the relevancy of web information. This study bridges the associations among eye-tracking measures, information anxiety and task performances in OIPS contexts. Future studies are suggested to analyze eye-tracking data using cluster analyses plus LSAs to profile online learners' characteristics in terms of visual search or information processing patterns.
This study aimed to develop the Computational Thinking Test for Elementary School Students (CTT-E... more This study aimed to develop the Computational Thinking Test for Elementary School Students (CTT-ES) to assess young children’s CT competencies in non-programming contexts and also examine the relationship between CT competencies and CT dispositions. A survey including a pool of CTT-ES candidate items and the Computational Thinking Scale (CTS) was administered to 631 elementary school students. Rasch model of the Item Response Theory and the discrimination analysis of the Classical Testing Theory were conducted for item analyses. Pearson’s correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between CTT-ES and CTS scores. The results showed that the final CTT-ES including 16 items had a good fitness, discrimination, and reliability to evaluate elementary students’ domain-general CT competencies. The convergent validity of CTT-ES was confirmed by its significant correlations with the CTS scores. The significant regression model not ...
Abstract This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Information Searchin... more Abstract This paper presented a pilot study of the development of the Online Information Searching Strategies Inventory (OISSI). The purpose of this inventory was to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies utilized by online learners while searching information on the Internet. Beginning with an interview of 20 college students, a total of 55 questions were collected as a pool of the candidate items of the OISSI. A survey including all of the candidate items was then administered to 123 college and senior high school ...
Page 1. Teacher Guidance in two Inquiry-based Instructions for Non-science Majored High School St... more Page 1. Teacher Guidance in two Inquiry-based Instructions for Non-science Majored High School Students Ting-ling Lai Ying-Shao Hsu Fang-Ying Yang National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan Meng-Jung Tsai National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan ...
The purpose of the study was to explore the judgment criteria used by university students for eva... more The purpose of the study was to explore the judgment criteria used by university students for evaluating online information about a socio-scientific issue and the associations, if any, with their epistemic beliefs. The problem context was a socio-scientific issue concerning the impact of electromagnetic waves on human health. The participants were 36 university students, who were asked to read a news report, briefly state their thoughts, and then proceed to the web search activity in order to determine if their thoughts were legitimate. The students' search processes were recorded by web camera. After the search activity, all students were interviewed about the criteria used to determine the credibility of the online information. The students responded to the interview questions as they were watching their own web search processes. Epistemic beliefs were then assessed using questionnaires. A coding scheme was developed to analyze the students' oral responses. It was found th...
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