Discovering patterns of interaction with feedback : an eye tracker study

Abstract: Feedback plays a vital role in learning. With online learning on the rise, feedback can be given directly to each student in a way that can not be achieved in a traditional classroom with one teacher. But while the importance of feedback is well-known, little is known about how students interact with feedback. This study was conducted to find out how students interact with feedback from a question-based learning platform in terms of their eye movement patterns. Using an eye tracker and a multiple choice quiz, data of gaze duration in each quiz segment and gaze transactions in between segments was extracted and analyzed. The results show that students fall into three groups: 1) those who spend most time on feedback and less on the question, 2) those who spend most time on questions and less on the feedback 3) those who use a mixed approach. Students in group 1) and 3) had few gaze transactions between the questions and feedback, indicating that the feedback was used as intended. Having discovered the presence of distinct patterns of feedback interaction, the next steps will be to investigate how these impact the use and utility of the feedback by students.