Increasing the usability of Learning Materials

CELSTEC has laboratory facilities to study and improve the usability of digital learning materials. In this show case we will concentrate on one of these facilities: eye tracking.

Eye tracking is a general term for techniques measuring where people are directing their visual attention. As human behaviour and thinking are related to where visual attention is aimed, the ability to measure this visual attention has an added value to research and analysis of human behaviour and cognition. Domains where eye tracking is applied include, but are not limited to, academic research (e.g. cognitive science, psychology, medical research), marketing research, and software or web usability.

Eye tracking is an effective method in understanding the motives and behaviour of users while experiencing a website or software application. As eye tracking gives clear results on visual attention during such experiences, it enables direct investigation into users’ navigation and choices. Such investigations have become a key method for testing the usability of websites, software, computer games, or learning material. Eye tracking is an established technique in laboratory experiments where human perception and performance are tested in attention, learning, and memory tasks, as well as by social psychologists in studies of human interaction. Combined with other methods, such as interviews or thinking out loud, eye tracking can lead to deeper insights into navigational behaviour of users.

The eye tracker used at CELSTEC is a TOBII 50HZ eye tracker that is integrated into a PC monitor. This eye tracker utilizes image processing techniques to detect reflections of near infrared light in the participants eyes, also called the pupil-centre/corneal reflection method. By means of accurate estimates of the relative positions of the pupil centre and the corneal reflections of the infrared light, the eye tracking software is able to establish where each eye is in the real 3D world, and the precise target to which each eye is directed.

By using new technologies, such as the TOBII eye tracker, we can perform eye tracking studies that are largely automated, have a high accuracy, can include nearly all people (including with glasses), are completely non-intrusive, and have a high tolerance of head motion. Furthermore, software packages such as Tobii Studio offer easy set-up of experiments, provide quick analysis of data, and provides clear output of results.

At CELSTEC labs, we have performed several research studies using the eye tracker. Such studies include, for example, investigations into what hits in a google lists are looked at when searching for specific information, whether learning task choices are based on structural features of the task such as complexity or on superficial features such as cover story, and if a replay of eye tracking recordings could facilitate self-assessment of task performance. Usability studies were also conducted, for example when our TV commercial was checked to see whether the appearing blocks of text drew people's attention or the actors in these commercials drew attention away from these blocks.