What Can Eye Movements Tell us about Visual Perception Processes in Classroom Contexts? Commentary on a Special Issue

Abstract

In this commentary to the Special Issue of Educational Psychology Review on visual perceptual processes, I tie the empirical studies reported in the issue with previous research in other domains to offer some points to be considered in future studies. First, I will point out to issues related to theoperationalization of the theoretical constructs. The empirical papers in this Special Issue use eye tracking to study students' engagement, teachers' expertise, and student-teacher interaction. However, it is not always clear how the observed eye movement patterns reflect these theoretical concepts and the underlying psychological processes. Second, I will reflect on theanalyses of the eye movement datapresented in the papers. The main advantage of the methodology is that it can provide detailed information about the time-course of processing, and to fully engage its potential, it should be complemented with adequate statistical methods. In my view, the papers in this Special Issue provide valuable novel information about the complex processes underlying learning in variable contexts, and offer an excellent starting point for future research.