TEACHING STUDENTS TO DISEMBED GEOLOGIC FEATURES THROUGH SIGNALING: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

Geology is a visual science and is taught using images that usually include an object for scale. Scale objects, can be distracting and prevent students from focusing on the geologic content in the image. To assess whether scale objects and other distractors influence learning and to evaluate if these distractions can be counterbalanced by explicitly pointing out the relevant geologic features, college students were eye tracked while looking at geologically-rich images.

Students were assigned to 1 of 3 groups; each group listened to narration and viewed a series of photographs with geologic content and scale objects. Group 1 examined photographs that did not contain instructional text or additional enhancements that might draw attention to the relevant geologic features. Groups 2 and 3 examined photographs in which instructional enhancements were added to highlight the geologic features of interest. Group 2 viewed images with added “callouts”, whereas group 3 viewed images with overlaid schematic drawings. These schematic sketches only featured pertinent, geologic information. Groups 2 and 3 viewed the photographs first without added instructional enhancements and then for 5 seconds with the instructional enhancements. Upon removal of the “callouts” or schematic sketches, the narration began, which provided participant an opportunity to observe the picture without being distracted by the narration, presented the student with explicit instruction, and then allowed the student time to apply the new information before the narration started.

Students, who viewed images that contained distractors, fixated on the distractor and also surveyed the scene less than students that looked at the same image without distractors. Preliminary results indicate that students who receive explicit instruction in the form of signaling spent more time examining the areas in which they were instructed to examine and less time focusing on distractors. Additionally, students who fixated on distractors prior to instruction spent less time fixating on distractors following instruction.