A systematic review of the application of eye-tracking technology in reading in science studies

ABSTRACT

Background

Eye-tracking methods can compensate for the shortcomings of traditional reading in science in terms of understanding thereader’s cognition and the reading process, etc. There is a growing body of research on the use of eye-tracking methods in reading in science, but a systematic review is lacking.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current state of eye-tracking in reading in science, including research trends, number of participants and grade level, brand of eye-tracker, content and subject matter of the reading material, areas of interest (AOI) delineation, eye-tracking indicators, study content and analysis methods, and conclusions drawn.

Sample

Databases are Web of Science and Scopus, after screening 44 literature were included in the study.

Design and methods

Systematic literature review following PRISMA process.

Results

(1) The eye-tracking method has been consistently gaining attention among researchers over the past decade; (2) Participants are mainly college students and elementary school students, with the majority of participants numbering less than 100; (3) EyeLink, Tobii, and SMI are the commonly used brands of eye-tracking devices.The reading materials cover various branches of natural sciences. More than 90%of the studies used ANOVA methods. AOI can be classified according to the format of material presentation, functional attributes of the content, and the location of the material display. (4) Fifteen commonly used eye movement indicators, such as total fixation duration and number of saccades between AOI,and 8 unique eye movement indicators, such as number of blinks, as well as summarizes key general or important findings.

Conclusion

This study provides significant implications for understanding the current state of research, such as research content and the use of eye movement indicators. Furthermore, recommendations are provided for future studies such as increasing the number of participants, using more diverse eye movement indicators, and analyzing methods.

KEYWORDS:

• Reading in science
• eye-tracking
• systematic review
• science education

Acknowledgments

The authors thanks the support of National Natural Foundation of China (72074031).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Foundation of China [72074031].