Mapping processing strategies in learning from expository text: an exploratory eye tracking study followed by a cued recall
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Abstract
This study starts from the observation that current empirical research on students’ processing strategies in higher education has mainly focused on the use of self-report instruments to measure students’ general preferences towards processing strategies. In contrast, there is a rather limited use of more direct and online observation techniques to uncover differences in processing strategies at a task specific level. We based our study on one of the most influential studies in the domain of Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL) (Marton, Dahlgren, Säljö, & Svensson, 1975). In our exploratory experiment we used eye tracking followed by a cued recall to investigate how students use processing strategies in learning from expository text. Nineteen university students participated in the experiment. Results suggested that students in the deep condition did not look longer at the essentials in the text compared with students in the surface condition, but that they processed them in a more deep way. In our sample, students in the surface condition looked longer at facts and details and also reported repeating these facts and details more often. We suggest that the combination of eye tracking followed by a cued recall is a promising tool to investigate students’ processing strategies since not all differences in processing strategies are reflected in overt eye movement behaviour. The current methodology allows researchers in the domain of SAL to complement and extend the present knowledge base that has accumulated through years of research with self-report questionnaires and interviews on students’ general preferences towards processing strategies.
Article Details
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Catrysse, L., Gijbels, D., Donche, V., De Maeyer, S., Van den Bossche, P., & Gommers, L. (2016). Mapping processing strategies in learning from expository text: an exploratory eye tracking study followed by a cued recall. Frontline Learning Research, 4(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v4i1.192
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References
References
Ariasi, N., & Mason, L. (2010). Uncovering the effect of text structure in learning from a science text: An eye-tracking study. Instructional Science, 39(5), 581-601. doi: 10.1007/s11251-010-9142-5
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 5(3), 243-260. doi: 10.1016/J.Edurev.2010.06.001
Biggs, J. (1987). Student Approaches to Learning and Studyin. Research Monograph. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University: Open University Press / McGraw-Hill Education.
Bormans, L. (2010). Geluk. The world book of Happiness. Tielt: Lannoo.
Dinsmore, D. L., & Alexander, P. A. (2012). A Critical Discussion of Deep and Surface Processing: What It Means, How It Is Measured, the Role of Context, and Model Specification. Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 499-567. doi: 10.1007/s10648-012-9198-7
Dinsmore, D. L., & Alexander, P. A. (2015). A Multidimensional Investigation of Deep-level and Surface-level Processing. The Journal of Experimental Education, 1-32. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2014.979126
Entwistle, N., & McCune, V. (2004). The conceptual bases of study strategy inventories. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 325-345. doi: 10.1007/S1064800400030
Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (1982). Understanding student learning. New York: Nichols Publishing Company.
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol Analysis. Verbal Reports as Data. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Fox, E. (2009). The Role of Reader Characteristics in Processing and Learning From Informational Text. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 197-261. doi: 10.3102/0034654308324654
Gielen, S., Dochy, F., & Dierick, S. (2003). Evaluating the consequential validity of new modes of assessment: The influence of assessment on learning, including pre-, post- and true assessment effects. . In M. Segers, F. Dochy & E. Cascallar (Eds.), Optimising new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and standards (pp. 37-54). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Gijbels, D., Donche, V., Richardson, J. T. E., & Vermunt, J. D. (Eds.). (2014). Learning patterns in Higher Education. Dimensions and research perspectives. . London: Routledge.
Hamaker, C. (1986). The effects of adjunct questions on prose learning. Review of Educational Research, 56(2), 212-242. doi: 10.3102/00346543056002212
Holmqvist, K., Nyström, M., Andersson, R., Dewhurst, R., Jarodzka, H., & van de Weijer, J. (2011). Eye tracking : a comprehensive guide to methods and measures. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Holmqvist, K., & Wartenberg, C. (2005). The role of local design factors for newspaper reading behaviour - an eye-tracking perspective. Lund University Cognitive Studies (Vol. 127). Lund University.
Holsanova, J., Holmqvist, K., & Rahm, H. (2006). Entry points and reading paths on newspaper spreads: comparing a semiotic analysis with eye-tracking measurements. Visual communication, 5(1), 65-93. doi: 10.1177/1470357206061005
Hyönä, J. (2010). The use of eye movements in the study of multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 172-176. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.02.013
Hyönä, J., & Lorch, R. F. (2004). Effects of topic headings on text processing: evidence from adult readers’ eye fixation patterns. Learning and Instruction, 14(2), 131-152. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.01.001
Hyönä, J., Lorch, R. F., & Kaakinen, J. K. (2002). Individual differences in reading to summarize expository text: Evidence from eye fixation patterns. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 44-55. doi: 10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.44
Hyönä, J., Lorch, R. F., & Rinck, M. (2003). Eye Movement Measures to Study Global Text Processing. In J. Hyönä, R. Radach & H. Deubel (Eds.), The mind's eye: cognitive and applied aspects of eye movement research. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Pyschological Review, 87(4), 329-354. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.87.4.329
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2005). Perspective Effects on Expository Text Comprehension: Evidence From Think-Aloud Protocols, Eyetracking, and Recall. Discourse processes, 40(3), 239-257. doi: 10.1207/s15326950dp4003_4
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2007). Perspective effects in repeated reading: An eye movement study. Memory & Cognition, 35(6), 1323-1336. doi: 10.3758/BF03193604
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2008). Perspective-Driven Text Comprehension. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 319-334. doi: 10.1002/acp.1412
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2010). Task effects on eye movements during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 36(6), 1561-1566. doi: 10.1037/a0020693
Kaakinen, J. K., Hyönä, J., & Keenan, J. M. (2002). Perspective Effects on Online Text Processing. Discourse processes, 33(2), 159-173. doi: 10.1207/S15326950DP3302_03
Lai, M.-L., Tsai, M.-J., Yang, F.-Y., Hsu, C.-Y., Liu, T.-C., Lee, S. W.-Y., . . . Tsai, C.-C. (2013). A review of using eye-tracking technology in exploring learning from 2000 to 2012. Educational Research Review, 10, 90-115. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2013.10.001
Lonka, K., Olkinuora, E., & Mäkinen, J. (2004). Aspects and Prospects of Measuring Studying and Learning in Higher Education. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 301-323. doi: 10.1007/s10648–004–0002–1
Marton, F., Dahlgren, L. O., Säljö, R., & Svensson, L. (1975). The Göteborg project on non-verbatim learning. Göteborg: University of Göteborg.
Mason, L., Tornatora, M. C., & Pluchino, P. (2013). Do fourth graders integrate text and picture in processing and learning from an illustrated science text? Evidence from eye-movement patterns. Computers & Education, 60(1), 95-109. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.011
McNamara, D. S. (2004). SERT: Self-Explanation Reading Training. Discourse processes, 38(1), 1-30.
Moss, J., Schunn, C. D., Schneider, W., McNamara, D. S., & Vanlehn, K. (2011). The neural correlates of strategic reading comprehension: cognitive control and discourse comprehension. Neuroimage, 58(2), 675-686. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.034
Olsson, P. (2007). Real-time and offline filters for eye tracking. KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Penttinen, M., Anto, E., & Mikkilä-Erdmann, M. (2012). Conceptual Change, Text Comprehension and Eye Movements During Reading. Research in Science Education, 43(4), 1407-1434. doi: 10.1007/s11165-012-9313-2
Perry, N. E., & Winne, P. H. (2006). Learning from learning Kits: gStudy Traces of Students' Self-Regulated Engagements with Computerized Content. Educational Psychological Review, 18, 211-228. doi: 10.1007/s10648-006-9014-3
Ponce, H. R., & Mayer, R. E. (2014). An eye movement analysis of highlighting and graphic organizer study aids for learning from expository text. Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 21-32. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.010
Rayner, K. (1998). Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 372-422. doi: 10.1037//0033-2909.124.3.372
Richardson, J. T. E. (2000). Researching Student Learning. Buckingham: Open University Press and SRHE.
Richardson, J. T. E. (2013). Research issues in evaluating learning pattern development in higher education. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 39(1), 66-70. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2012.11.003
Rothkopf, E. Z. (1966). Learning from written instructive materials: An exploration of the control of inspection behavior by test-like events. American Educational Research Journal, 3, 241-249. doi: 10.3102/00028312003004241
Samuelstuen, M. S., & Braten, I. (2007). Examining the validity of self-reports on scales measuring students' strategic processing. Britisch Journal of Educactional Psychology, 77(Pt 2), 351-378. doi: 10.1348/000709906X106147
Schellings, G. L. M. (2011). Applying learning strategy questionnaires: problems and possibilities. Metacognition and Learning, 6(2), 91-109. doi: 10.1007/s11409-011-9069-5
Schellings, G. L. M., van Hout-Wolters, B., & Vermunt, J. D. (1996). Individual Differences in Adapting to Three Different Tasks of Selecting Information form Texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 423-446. doi: 10.1006/ceps.1996.0029
Scouller, K. M. (1998). The influence of assessment method on students' learning approaches: Multiple choice question examination versus assignment essay. Higher Education, 35, 453-472. doi: 10.1023/A:1003196224280
Scouller, K. M., & Prosser, M. (1994). Students' experiences in studying for multiple choice question examinations. Studies in Higher Education, 19(3), 267-279. doi: 10.1080/03075079412331381870
Segers, M., Nijhuis, J., & Gijselaers, W. (2006). Redesigning a learning and assessment environment: the influence on students' perceptions of assessment demands and their learning strategies. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 32, 223-242. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2006.08.004
van Gog, T., & Jarodzka, H. (2013). Eye Tracking as a Tool to Study and Enhance Cognitive and Metacognitve Processes in Computer-Based Learning Environments. In R. Azevedo & V. A. W. M. M. Aleven (Eds.), International Handbook of Metacognition and Learning Technologies. New York: Springer.
van Gog, T., Paas, F., & Van Merrienboer, J. J. G. (2005). Uncovering expertise-related differences in troubleshooting performance: combining eye movement and concurrent verbal protocol data. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(2), 205-221. doi: 10.1002/acp.1112
Veenman, M. V. J. (2005). The assessment of Metacognitive Skills: What can be learned from multi-method designs? In C. Artett & B. Moschner (Eds.), Lernstrategien und Metakognition. Implikationen für Forschung und Praxis (pp. 77-99). Münster: Waxmann.
Veenman, M. V. J. (2011). Alternative assessment of strategy use with self-report instruments: a discussion. Metacognition and Learning, 6(2), 205-211. doi: 10.1007/s11409-011-9080-x
Veenman, M. V. J., Bavelaar, L., De Wolf, L., & Van Haaren, M. G. P. (2014). The on-line assessment of metacognitive skills in a computerized learning environment. Learning and Individual Differences, 29, 123-130. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2013.01.003
Vermunt, J. D., & Vermetten, Y. J. (2004). Patterns in student learning: Relationships between learning strategies, conceptions of learning, and learning orientations. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 359-384. doi: 10.1007/S10648-004-0005-Y
Ariasi, N., & Mason, L. (2010). Uncovering the effect of text structure in learning from a science text: An eye-tracking study. Instructional Science, 39(5), 581-601. doi: 10.1007/s11251-010-9142-5
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 5(3), 243-260. doi: 10.1016/J.Edurev.2010.06.001
Biggs, J. (1987). Student Approaches to Learning and Studyin. Research Monograph. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University: Open University Press / McGraw-Hill Education.
Bormans, L. (2010). Geluk. The world book of Happiness. Tielt: Lannoo.
Dinsmore, D. L., & Alexander, P. A. (2012). A Critical Discussion of Deep and Surface Processing: What It Means, How It Is Measured, the Role of Context, and Model Specification. Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 499-567. doi: 10.1007/s10648-012-9198-7
Dinsmore, D. L., & Alexander, P. A. (2015). A Multidimensional Investigation of Deep-level and Surface-level Processing. The Journal of Experimental Education, 1-32. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2014.979126
Entwistle, N., & McCune, V. (2004). The conceptual bases of study strategy inventories. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 325-345. doi: 10.1007/S1064800400030
Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (1982). Understanding student learning. New York: Nichols Publishing Company.
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol Analysis. Verbal Reports as Data. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Fox, E. (2009). The Role of Reader Characteristics in Processing and Learning From Informational Text. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 197-261. doi: 10.3102/0034654308324654
Gielen, S., Dochy, F., & Dierick, S. (2003). Evaluating the consequential validity of new modes of assessment: The influence of assessment on learning, including pre-, post- and true assessment effects. . In M. Segers, F. Dochy & E. Cascallar (Eds.), Optimising new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and standards (pp. 37-54). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Gijbels, D., Donche, V., Richardson, J. T. E., & Vermunt, J. D. (Eds.). (2014). Learning patterns in Higher Education. Dimensions and research perspectives. . London: Routledge.
Hamaker, C. (1986). The effects of adjunct questions on prose learning. Review of Educational Research, 56(2), 212-242. doi: 10.3102/00346543056002212
Holmqvist, K., Nyström, M., Andersson, R., Dewhurst, R., Jarodzka, H., & van de Weijer, J. (2011). Eye tracking : a comprehensive guide to methods and measures. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Holmqvist, K., & Wartenberg, C. (2005). The role of local design factors for newspaper reading behaviour - an eye-tracking perspective. Lund University Cognitive Studies (Vol. 127). Lund University.
Holsanova, J., Holmqvist, K., & Rahm, H. (2006). Entry points and reading paths on newspaper spreads: comparing a semiotic analysis with eye-tracking measurements. Visual communication, 5(1), 65-93. doi: 10.1177/1470357206061005
Hyönä, J. (2010). The use of eye movements in the study of multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 172-176. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.02.013
Hyönä, J., & Lorch, R. F. (2004). Effects of topic headings on text processing: evidence from adult readers’ eye fixation patterns. Learning and Instruction, 14(2), 131-152. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.01.001
Hyönä, J., Lorch, R. F., & Kaakinen, J. K. (2002). Individual differences in reading to summarize expository text: Evidence from eye fixation patterns. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 44-55. doi: 10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.44
Hyönä, J., Lorch, R. F., & Rinck, M. (2003). Eye Movement Measures to Study Global Text Processing. In J. Hyönä, R. Radach & H. Deubel (Eds.), The mind's eye: cognitive and applied aspects of eye movement research. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Pyschological Review, 87(4), 329-354. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.87.4.329
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2005). Perspective Effects on Expository Text Comprehension: Evidence From Think-Aloud Protocols, Eyetracking, and Recall. Discourse processes, 40(3), 239-257. doi: 10.1207/s15326950dp4003_4
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2007). Perspective effects in repeated reading: An eye movement study. Memory & Cognition, 35(6), 1323-1336. doi: 10.3758/BF03193604
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2008). Perspective-Driven Text Comprehension. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 319-334. doi: 10.1002/acp.1412
Kaakinen, J. K., & Hyönä, J. (2010). Task effects on eye movements during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 36(6), 1561-1566. doi: 10.1037/a0020693
Kaakinen, J. K., Hyönä, J., & Keenan, J. M. (2002). Perspective Effects on Online Text Processing. Discourse processes, 33(2), 159-173. doi: 10.1207/S15326950DP3302_03
Lai, M.-L., Tsai, M.-J., Yang, F.-Y., Hsu, C.-Y., Liu, T.-C., Lee, S. W.-Y., . . . Tsai, C.-C. (2013). A review of using eye-tracking technology in exploring learning from 2000 to 2012. Educational Research Review, 10, 90-115. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2013.10.001
Lonka, K., Olkinuora, E., & Mäkinen, J. (2004). Aspects and Prospects of Measuring Studying and Learning in Higher Education. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 301-323. doi: 10.1007/s10648–004–0002–1
Marton, F., Dahlgren, L. O., Säljö, R., & Svensson, L. (1975). The Göteborg project on non-verbatim learning. Göteborg: University of Göteborg.
Mason, L., Tornatora, M. C., & Pluchino, P. (2013). Do fourth graders integrate text and picture in processing and learning from an illustrated science text? Evidence from eye-movement patterns. Computers & Education, 60(1), 95-109. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.011
McNamara, D. S. (2004). SERT: Self-Explanation Reading Training. Discourse processes, 38(1), 1-30.
Moss, J., Schunn, C. D., Schneider, W., McNamara, D. S., & Vanlehn, K. (2011). The neural correlates of strategic reading comprehension: cognitive control and discourse comprehension. Neuroimage, 58(2), 675-686. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.034
Olsson, P. (2007). Real-time and offline filters for eye tracking. KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Penttinen, M., Anto, E., & Mikkilä-Erdmann, M. (2012). Conceptual Change, Text Comprehension and Eye Movements During Reading. Research in Science Education, 43(4), 1407-1434. doi: 10.1007/s11165-012-9313-2
Perry, N. E., & Winne, P. H. (2006). Learning from learning Kits: gStudy Traces of Students' Self-Regulated Engagements with Computerized Content. Educational Psychological Review, 18, 211-228. doi: 10.1007/s10648-006-9014-3
Ponce, H. R., & Mayer, R. E. (2014). An eye movement analysis of highlighting and graphic organizer study aids for learning from expository text. Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 21-32. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.010
Rayner, K. (1998). Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 372-422. doi: 10.1037//0033-2909.124.3.372
Richardson, J. T. E. (2000). Researching Student Learning. Buckingham: Open University Press and SRHE.
Richardson, J. T. E. (2013). Research issues in evaluating learning pattern development in higher education. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 39(1), 66-70. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2012.11.003
Rothkopf, E. Z. (1966). Learning from written instructive materials: An exploration of the control of inspection behavior by test-like events. American Educational Research Journal, 3, 241-249. doi: 10.3102/00028312003004241
Samuelstuen, M. S., & Braten, I. (2007). Examining the validity of self-reports on scales measuring students' strategic processing. Britisch Journal of Educactional Psychology, 77(Pt 2), 351-378. doi: 10.1348/000709906X106147
Schellings, G. L. M. (2011). Applying learning strategy questionnaires: problems and possibilities. Metacognition and Learning, 6(2), 91-109. doi: 10.1007/s11409-011-9069-5
Schellings, G. L. M., van Hout-Wolters, B., & Vermunt, J. D. (1996). Individual Differences in Adapting to Three Different Tasks of Selecting Information form Texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 423-446. doi: 10.1006/ceps.1996.0029
Scouller, K. M. (1998). The influence of assessment method on students' learning approaches: Multiple choice question examination versus assignment essay. Higher Education, 35, 453-472. doi: 10.1023/A:1003196224280
Scouller, K. M., & Prosser, M. (1994). Students' experiences in studying for multiple choice question examinations. Studies in Higher Education, 19(3), 267-279. doi: 10.1080/03075079412331381870
Segers, M., Nijhuis, J., & Gijselaers, W. (2006). Redesigning a learning and assessment environment: the influence on students' perceptions of assessment demands and their learning strategies. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 32, 223-242. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2006.08.004
van Gog, T., & Jarodzka, H. (2013). Eye Tracking as a Tool to Study and Enhance Cognitive and Metacognitve Processes in Computer-Based Learning Environments. In R. Azevedo & V. A. W. M. M. Aleven (Eds.), International Handbook of Metacognition and Learning Technologies. New York: Springer.
van Gog, T., Paas, F., & Van Merrienboer, J. J. G. (2005). Uncovering expertise-related differences in troubleshooting performance: combining eye movement and concurrent verbal protocol data. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(2), 205-221. doi: 10.1002/acp.1112
Veenman, M. V. J. (2005). The assessment of Metacognitive Skills: What can be learned from multi-method designs? In C. Artett & B. Moschner (Eds.), Lernstrategien und Metakognition. Implikationen für Forschung und Praxis (pp. 77-99). Münster: Waxmann.
Veenman, M. V. J. (2011). Alternative assessment of strategy use with self-report instruments: a discussion. Metacognition and Learning, 6(2), 205-211. doi: 10.1007/s11409-011-9080-x
Veenman, M. V. J., Bavelaar, L., De Wolf, L., & Van Haaren, M. G. P. (2014). The on-line assessment of metacognitive skills in a computerized learning environment. Learning and Individual Differences, 29, 123-130. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2013.01.003
Vermunt, J. D., & Vermetten, Y. J. (2004). Patterns in student learning: Relationships between learning strategies, conceptions of learning, and learning orientations. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 359-384. doi: 10.1007/S10648-004-0005-Y