How teachers respond to children's eye gaze

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How aware were teachers of pupils' eye gaze behaviour and how did they interpret it?

In the second phase of the study a different group of teachers were given a questionnaire designed to explore their explicit understanding of children’s gaze behaviour in relation to pupils’ interest, thinking and comprehension during lessons.

The evidence showed that:

these teachers were aware that children’s gaze behaviours were associated with their thinking but interpreted it in different ways; and
they also showed tentative awareness that GA increased when pupils were thinking about ‘hard questions’.

In the questionnaires the teachers were asked how they interpret gaze behaviour. The data showed that they initially associated looking at the teacher with child understanding and thinking. However when asked ‘When are you most likely to see a child avert their gaze?’ they did predict more GA while thinking, particularly in response to hard questions. So when the teachers were asked to think explicitly about gaze aversion they did associate it with thinking and concentration.
The authors of the study suggest that teachers are instinctively aware that gaze behaviour is linked with thinking. But they found that teachers did not always distinguish between the pupil continuing to think about a problem, the pupil listening and concentrating on what the teacher is saying and the pupil giving up because they find it too difficult.

The study also discussed eye gaze behaviour in relation to assessment for learning approaches. For example, when allowing children time to answer a question (wait time) it might be helpful if teachers can use eye gaze behaviour to understand what mental processes are going on in the child. This would then help the teacher to make a response that prompts the child’s further learning most effectively – a child who is stuck will require an oral response from the teacher that is different from a child who may have almost worked out an answer.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What do we know about eye gaze? How did teachers respond to pupil's gaze aversion (GA) in observed pupil-teacher interactions? How aware were teachers of pupils' eye gaze behaviour and how did they interpret it? How was the study carried out? What are the implications? Where can I find more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader How teachers respond to children's eye gaze This digest found in Assessment for Learning Thinking skills Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later How aware were teachers of pupils' eye gaze behaviour and how did they interpret it? In the second phase of the study a different group of teachers were given a questionnaire designed to explore their explicit understanding of children’s gaze behaviour in relation to pupils’ interest, thinking and comprehension during lessons. The evidence showed that: these teachers were aware that children’s gaze behaviours were associated with their thinking but interpreted it in different ways; and they also showed tentative awareness that GA increased when pupils were thinking about ‘hard questions’. In the questionnaires the teachers were asked how they interpret gaze behaviour. The data showed that they initially associated looking at the teacher with child understanding and thinking. However when asked ‘When are you most likely to see a child avert their gaze?’ they did predict more GA while thinking, particularly in response to hard questions. So when the teachers were asked to think explicitly about gaze aversion they did associate it with thinking and concentration. The authors of the study suggest that teachers are instinctively aware that gaze behaviour is linked with thinking. But they found that teachers did not always distinguish between the pupil continuing to think about a problem, the pupil listening and concentrating on what the teacher is saying and the pupil giving up because they find it too difficult. The study also discussed eye gaze behaviour in relation to assessment for learning approaches. For example, when allowing children time to answer a question (wait time) it might be helpful if teachers can use eye gaze behaviour to understand what mental processes are going on in the child. This would then help the teacher to make a response that prompts the child’s further learning most effectively – a child who is stuck will require an oral response from the teacher that is different from a child who may have almost worked out an answer.