Effect of representation format on conceptual question performance and eye-tracking measures

Previous studies have shown the important role of different representations in the teaching and learning of physics. In this study, we used eye tracking to investigate the effect of different representations on the process of answering conceptual questions. We compared students’ scores and eye-tracking measures on isomorphic questions which contained graphical, pictorial, and verbal representations. On average, in two-thirds of cases, students were consistent in their answers (correct or incorrect) across all three representations. There was no statistically significant difference in students’ scores for different representations. However, eye-tracking measures suggest that it was easiest for students to extract information from verbal representations and most difficult from pictorial representations for the conceptual questions used in this study. These results could be useful to teachers and researchers when creating conceptual questions and, more generally, when teaching with multiple representations.

Figure 1

Distribution of student scores.

Figure 2

The mean students’ scores on all isomorphic questions with graphical, pictorial, and verbal representations. The error bars represent 1 SEM.

Figure 3

The proportion of students who gave the same answer (correct or incorrect) on all three isomorphic items for each question (Q1–Q6).

Figure 4

The dwell time on AOI representations for graphical, pictorial, and verbal representations on all questions (Q1–Q6). The last three bars show the mean values of dwell time for each representation. The error bars represent 1 SEM.

Figure 5

The average fixation duration on AOI representations for graphical, pictorial, and verbal representations on all questions (Q1–Q6). The last three bars show the mean values of fixation duration for each representation. The error bars represent 1 SEM.

Figure 6

The number of revisits on AOI representations for graphical, pictorial, and verbal representations on all questions (Q1–Q6). The last three bars show the mean values of the number of revisits for each representation. The error bars represent 1 SEM.