How Signaling Principle Affects Learning: An Eye Tracking Study

Studies examining the effects of signaling principle on learning mostly used data sources such as interviews, achievement tests and think aloud protocols. There is, however, limited research on the use of quantitative measures to promote findings from interviews and think aloud procedures. This study aimed to investigate the effects of signaling principle on learning by supporting the results with the eye movement data. Participants included 34 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) pre-service teachers divided into experimental and control groups randomly. Participants were presented with two types of MS Power Point presentations with and without highlighted clues as multimedia material. Participants’ pre-test, post-test, and retention test scores were measured. Participants’ gaze behavior (fixation duration, fixation counts and time to first fixation) during the presentation of instructional material was also recorded. The results revealed that while the experimental group had higher scores than control group in the post- and retention tests, there was no significant difference between the two groups. The analysis of eye movement data showed that signaling directed the attention of the students on relevant information and decreased students’ cognitive effort. Results revealed that both eye movement data and achievement scores were consistent with each other