Using an Eye Tracker to Determine Whether Instructions are Understood by the User

School Name

Governor's School for Science & Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Computer Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Peter Hevesi, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence

Written Paper Award

3rd Place

Abstract

In the past few years, research done with eye trackers has increased tremendously. Though this research spans many fields, it has failed to reach into one area – comprehension of instructions. Our research used eye tracking techniques to identify difficult steps and lack of comprehension in seven subjects. Fixations are defined as points between saccades, or the time when the eye is still while focusing or looking at something. Fixations can be separated into two categories. Voluntary fixations are longer fixations that occur by the subject’s will. Involuntary fixations are short fixations that occur naturally or unwillingly. Using the rate of voluntary fixations of a subject, it is possible to determine the most difficult portions of written instructions and diagrams for a given task. This research identified the correlation between voluntary fixations, complexity, repetition, and comprehension of instructions. In the future, this research could be developed into an app or tool which teachers and students alike could use to identify problem areas and recognize difficulty in learning.

Location

Wall 119

Start Date

3-25-2017 10:15 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 25th, 10:15 AM

Using an Eye Tracker to Determine Whether Instructions are Understood by the User

Wall 119

In the past few years, research done with eye trackers has increased tremendously. Though this research spans many fields, it has failed to reach into one area – comprehension of instructions. Our research used eye tracking techniques to identify difficult steps and lack of comprehension in seven subjects. Fixations are defined as points between saccades, or the time when the eye is still while focusing or looking at something. Fixations can be separated into two categories. Voluntary fixations are longer fixations that occur by the subject’s will. Involuntary fixations are short fixations that occur naturally or unwillingly. Using the rate of voluntary fixations of a subject, it is possible to determine the most difficult portions of written instructions and diagrams for a given task. This research identified the correlation between voluntary fixations, complexity, repetition, and comprehension of instructions. In the future, this research could be developed into an app or tool which teachers and students alike could use to identify problem areas and recognize difficulty in learning.