Patterns of simulation-based physics learning: An eye-movement analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the scan patterns of simulation-based physics learning performed by learners’ with different knowledge backgrounds. The eye- tracking technique was used to record ten graduate students’ visual attention while learning with two physics simulations, and sequential analyses were conducted to construct their scan patterns. The participants were divided into either the better or the less prior knowledge group according to their pretest scores. The results showed that, the participants with better prior knowledge tended to make more visual transitions between texts and graphics, to explore more connections among the resulting images and other graphics, and to take more advantage of the interactivity of the simulations.