Where Does a Teacher Look at - the Comparative Analysis of Teachers' Eye Movement in the Science Class

Teachers who have taught students for more than twenty years can be considered as teaching experts. They have honed a diversity of teaching strategies including effective eye contact with students. Eye contact is crucial because where teachers look at reveals their care and attention on students, which will impact on students learning attitude. This study hypothesized that experienced teachers will display the different style of eye distribution from beginner teachers. Four teachers, recruited from the same middle school were grouped of two by teaching experience. They had a lecture-type science class each, wearing an eye-tracker employed in order to extract teachers’ gazes. Gaze number and rate on twelve AOIs and students’ behaviors were analyzed. The result showed both similarity and difference between two groups. Similarity was that teachers gave their eyes the most to the non-teaching zone regardless of how much experience teachers have. Within the student zone, they commonly gave the least gaze on students seated at the both front edges. Students who were not given enough visual attention from teachers usually got distracted or drowsed as class went by. In regard to the eye distribution on students, however, experienced teachers significantly differed from beginner teachers. The experienced gave their eyes to most learners, including those who were seated at the back or side lines so prone to be neglected. Beginners’ gazes, on the other hand, showed a great deal of standard deviation among nine AOIs of student zone. The current study draws noticeable conclusions although it is hard to generalize just four teachers’ cases. Both the experienced and beginner teachers should orient their eyes more toward student zone. Beginner teachers, especially, must ensure even gaze rate on each student. These strategies will promote teachers’ teaching expertise as well as students’ active participation. Finally, future studies on teachers’ gaze are needed to complement and beef up these study findings.