Using Eye-Tracking Methodology To Study Differences Between Novice and Experienced Teachers’ Monitoring of Classroom Situations

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Classroom Management Posters

Abstract

For the first years of their careers novice teachers struggle to become competent at classroom management. Novices teachers fail to divide their attention across the class and identify relevant events. Kounin (1970) identified teachers having more withitness as more successful in adequately dealing with disorderly behavior. However, withitness has never been directly observed, only inferred from teachers’ behavior and verbal reports. The current study employed eye-tracking methodology to investigate whether experienced teachers are better at dividing their attention across a classroom and identifying relevant events. Results show that this is indeed the case using both aggregated data and more in-depth analysis of teachers’ gaze patterns. Limitations, recommendations for further research and scholarly and practical significance are discussed.

Authors

• Niek van den Bogert, Fontys University of Applied Science

• Jan van Bruggen, Fontys University of Applied Science

• Wim Jochems, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands