Children’s attention to screen-based pedagogical supports: an eye-tracking study with low-income preschool children in the United States

ABSTRACT

Educational screen media is increasingly salient in the lives of young children. Research affirms preschool-aged children can learn content from media when they attend to it, however less is known about how specific screen-based pedagogical supports (SBPS) might draw children’s attention. Using eye-tracking methodology, the current study examines specific SBPSs that engage children’s attention. The sample consisted of 106 3- to 5-year-olds from a poverty-impacted neighborhood. Participants viewed 12 video clips of Sesame Street that used four different SBPSs to support vocabulary: visual effects, visual + sound effects, explicit definitions, and explicit definitions + repetitions. Results indicated that children attended significantly more to the SBPSs with definitions. Findings also revealed differences in screen composition. Children attended more to people than objects, and attended more to on-screen conversations than conversations cut between screens. This study demonstrates the importance for educational media to use appropriate SBPSs and on-screen compositions to engage children.

KEYWORDS:

• Video
• television
• media
• attention
• children
• eye-tracking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences [R305A150143].

Notes on contributors

Rachel M. Flynn

Rachel M. Flynn is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University. She received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Riverside and completed her postdoctoral training at New York University. Her primary research examines media’s impact on children’s cognitive development. She is interested in studying individual differences factors, such as prior exposure, enjoyment, and attention, that differentially impact media effects.

Kevin M. Wong

Kevin M. Wong is a PhD candidate in the Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University, specializing in early literacy and multilingual education. His research examines pedagogical supports that promote L1 and L2 vocabulary development among dual-language learners, including the use of educational media. His work related to educational media has appeared in Bilingual Research Journal, Reading and Writing, and the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Susan B. Neuman

Susan B. Neuman is a Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University specializing in teacher education and early literacy development. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction, prek-grade 3 for children who live in poverty. Neuman has received two life-time achievement awards for research in literacy development and is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.

Tanya Kaefer

Tanya Kaefer is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University in the field of Educational Psychology. She studies the development of children’s knowledge and the cognitive processes involved in early learning. Specifically, she examines the sources of children’s knowledge - experiences, people, books and media - and how this knowledge may influence future learning and development.