scholarly journals Student’s Reading of Thematic Maps from Czech School World Atlas – an Eye-tracking Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Marketa Beitlova ◽  
Stanislav Popelka ◽  
Vit Vozenilek

Abstract. According to the cartographic communication models, the map is intended as a product which helps people to understand the world. Usually, the first systematic cartographic product which pupils and students met in their lives is a school world atlas. In the Czech Republic, these atlases are used in almost every geography lesson. Thus, school atlases should be understandable, well-arranged, intelligible and easy to use by students. However, almost no empirical studies focused on this type of product exist.This presentation summarizes the results of the experiment, where the task was to find some object on the thematic map. The research aimed on two main issues: if the students are able to read thematic maps from school world atlas (Q1) and if the used cartographic visualization methods are properly selected (Q2).For finding answers to these research questions, the eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students was performed. This study contained ten tasks on the thematic world maps from the Czech school world atlas. Depending on the type of information displayed, visualization method and legend style, the tasks were formulated for each map. Eyemovement data were recorded using low-cost GazePoint eye-tracker with sampling frequency of 60 Hz. The first research question – if students can work with the thematic maps from school world atlas – was analysed using the correctness of answers and Trial Duration – the metric that shows how much time respondents needed to find the answer. For answering the second research question – if the cartographic methods used in the atlas are understandable –qualitative data visualization methods were used.At the beginning of the recorded data analysis, the correctness of answers and trial duration was ïnvestigated. These results helped us to find out, how the students were able to read the maps, if their answers were correct and how much time they needed for task solving. The results showed that generally, the students could read thematic maps (Q1). The most problematic task was the one where students had to estimate the pie-chart value according to the logarithmic scale.In the next step, the behaviour of students while solving each task was qualitatively described and problematic cartographic visualization methods were identified (Q2). For example, in some cases, used symbols were difficult to distinguish. The most serious problems were in the task, where students had to estimate the value of the bar chart. The scale of the legend was designed so that one millimetre of the bar corresponds to 50 million USD of export volume. This cartographic method was hard to understand for the students.The conducted eye-tracking study pointed out to maps where the cartographic methods were misused and caused problems to the students. The results might help the cartographers and map publishers who can modify the maps to be more understandable for the readers.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marketa Beitlova ◽  
Stanislav Popelka ◽  
Vit Vozenilek

A school world atlas is likely the first systematic cartographic product which students encounter in their lives. However, only a few empirical studies have analysed school atlases in the context of map reading and learning geographical curricula. The present paper describes an eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students and their geography teacher. The study explored ten tasks using thematic world maps contained in the Czech school world atlas. Three research questions were posed: (i) Are students able to learn using these particular types of maps? (ii) Have the cartographic visualization methods in the school atlas been adequately selected? (iii) Does the teacher read the maps in the same manner as students? The results proved that the students were sufficiently able to learn using thematic maps. The average correctness of their answers exceeded 70%. However, the results highlighted several types of cartographic visualization methods which students found difficult to read. Most of the difficulties arose from map symbols being poorly legible. The most problematic task was estimating the value of the phenomenon from the symbol size legend. Finally, the difference between the students’ and teacher’s manner of reading maps in each task was analysed qualitatively and then quantitatively by applying two different scanpath comparison methods. The study revealed that the geography teacher applied a different method than her students. She avoided looking at the map legend and solved the task using her knowledge.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Chong-Bin Tsai ◽  
Wei-Yu Hung ◽  
Wei-Yen Hsu

Optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) is an involuntary eye movement induced by motion of a large proportion of the visual field. It consists of a “slow phase (SP)” with eye movements in the same direction as the movement of the pattern and a “fast phase (FP)” with saccadic eye movements in the opposite direction. Study of OKN can reveal valuable information in ophthalmology, neurology and psychology. However, the current commercially available high-resolution and research-grade eye tracker is usually expensive. Methods & Results: We developed a novel fast and effective system combined with a low-cost eye tracking device to accurately quantitatively measure OKN eye movement. Conclusions: The experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves fast and promising results in comparisons with several traditional approaches.


Author(s):  
Houda Bassim

Starting from the beginning of the third millennium, firms around the world in various economic sectors have been powerfully affected by the evolution process of digital technology and associated internet developments. The use of Internet and new digital technologies has been considered as a great revolution that will allow companies to benefit from new opportunities, in order to extend their activities and profitability, specifically through decreases in costs. While some companies have been investing rapidly in this new filed with the aim to take advantages of new opportunities, others seem to fail in following such developmental pattern. The main research question in the present paper is to understand perceptions of a sample of Moroccan firms operating in Casablanca, regarding the currently observed process of communication-based digital transformation worldwide. In this sense, our study turns to be exploratory, that is based on open interviews, within a focus group of professionals in the digital sector, rather than on collected data and effective orientations. Such exploratory analysis will be followed by upcoming empirical studies for a more comprehensive understanding of the profession. Our research paper aspires thereby to better grasping the process of digitalization of communication channels among the firms’ professionals, as selected. The ultimate target is to know how well firms are evolving in utilizing newly integrated digital tools, with respect to innovation and trademarks. To address this issue in an exploratory perspective, we have resorted to a focus group-based enquiry with six professionals of firms operating in Casablanca. The methodological framework relies upon qualitative data, as collected through the conducted interviews.      The major research finding of the present paper is that the pattern of digital transformation and communication seems to follow the one observed worldwide. Nevertheless, in spite of strong customers’ expectations, some hesitations and inadequate fundraising allocations partially explain the relative slowness of the process. In terms of policy implications, a suitable public-private partnership is still needed so as Morocco can foster digital transformation for economic and social development as well as improvements in the population’s standards of life, especially through investment in human capital for better attractivity-generating progress.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Herman ◽  
Stanislav Popelka ◽  
Vendula Hejlova

This paper describes a new tool for eye-tracking data and their analysis with the use of interactive 3D models. This tool helps to analyse interactive 3D models easier than by time-consuming, frame-by-frame investigation of captured screen recordings with superimposed scanpaths. The main function of this tool, called 3DgazeR, is to calculate 3D coordinates (X, Y, Z coordinates of the 3D scene) for individual points of view. These 3D coordinates can be calculated from the values of the position and orientation of a virtual camera and the 2D coordinates of the gaze upon the screen. The functionality of 3DgazeR is introduced in a case study example using Digital Elevation Models as stimuli. The purpose of the case study was to verify the functionality of the tool and discover the most suitable visualization methods for geographic 3D models. Five selected methods are presented in the results section of the paper. Most of the output was created in a Geographic Information System. 3DgazeR works with generic CSV files, SMI eye-tracker, and the low-cost EyeTribe tracker connected with open source application OGAMA. It can compute 3D coordinates from raw data and fixations.


Author(s):  
Suci Ariani

In Indonesia secondary school, students are equipped with any English subject to arrange their own writing. In this case, writing is the one of difficult English skill for students. Because of that, to increase students writing skill teacher need a certain method in teaching writing. Based on student’s ability in writing that also suitable with their grades, they were difficult to arrange the sentence to be good paragraph. To solve these problem several teachers had applied a method that called scramble sentence method. This study used qualitative research method with concept analysis method or library research. The data of this study came from eight articles related about scramble method to secondary student’s writing skill. Data had analyzed from reading, reviewing, supporting and contra journal article and concluding. As the result, according to eight articles, the researcher found that scramble method was effective to increased student’s writing skill. Based on the implementation of each articles, scramble method helped students to write. It proven by the improvement of several writing aspects, such as topic sentence, supporting sentence, coherence, organization, generic structures, grammar, vocabulary, content, discourse, syntax, mechanic and language use. From the analysis, the research question of this study had answered. Keyword : Scramble method, writing, library research


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Arvin ◽  
Rune Nguyen Rasmussen ◽  
Keisuke Yonehara

Eye-trackers are widely used to study nervous system dynamics and neuropathology. Despite this broad utility, eye-tracking remains expensive, hardware-intensive, and proprietary, limiting its use to high-resource facilities. It also does not easily allow for real-time analysis and closed-loop design to link eye movements to neural activity. To address these issues, we developed an open-source eye-tracker – EyeLoop – that uses a highly efficient vectorized pupil detection method to provide uninterrupted tracking and fast online analysis with high accuracy on par with popular eye tracking modules, such as DeepLabCut. This Python-based software easily integrates custom functions using code modules, tracks a multitude of eyes, including in rodents, humans, and non-human primates, and operates at more than 1,000 frames per second on consumer-grade hardware. In this paper, we demonstrate EyeLoop’s utility in an open-loop experiment and in biomedical disease identification, two common applications of eye-tracking. With a remarkably low cost and minimum setup steps, EyeLoop makes high-speed eye-tracking widely accessible.


Author(s):  
Hélio Clemente Cuve ◽  
Jelka Stojanov ◽  
Xavier Roberts-Gaal ◽  
Caroline Catmur ◽  
Geoffrey Bird

AbstractEye-tracking and recording of physiological signals are increasingly used in research within cognitive science and human–computer interaction. For example, gaze position and measures of autonomic arousal, including pupil dilation, skin conductance (SC), and heart rate (HR), provide an indicator of cognitive and physiological processes. The growing popularity of these techniques is partially driven by the emergence of low-cost recording equipment and the proliferation of open-source software for data collection and analysis of such signals. However, the use of new technology requires investigation of its reliability and validation with respect to real-world usage and against established technologies. Accordingly, in two experiments (total N = 69), we assessed the Gazepoint GP3-HD eye-tracker and Gazepoint Biometrics (GPB) system from Gazepoint. We show that the accuracy, precision, and robustness of the eye-tracker are comparable to competing systems. While fixation and saccade events can be reliably extracted, the study of saccade kinematics is affected by the low sampling rate. The GP3-HD is also able to capture psychological effects on pupil dilation in addition to the well-defined pupillary light reflex. Finally, moderate-to-strong correlations between physiological recordings and derived metrics of SC and HR between the GPB and the well-established BIOPAC MP160 support its validity. However, low amplitude of the SC signal obtained from the GPB may reduce sensitivity when separating phasic and tonic components. Similarly, data loss in pulse monitoring may pose difficulties for certain HR variability analyses.


Author(s):  
Wieteke van Dijk ◽  
Marjan J. Meinders ◽  
Marit A.C. Tanke ◽  
Gert P. Westert ◽  
Patrick P.T. Jeurissen

Background: Medicalization has been a topic of discussion and research for over four decades. It is a known concept to researchers from a broad range of disciplines. Medicalization appears to be a concept that speaks to all, suggesting a shared understanding of what it constitutes. However, conceptually, the definition of medicalization has evolved over time. It is unknown how the concept is applied in empirical research, therefore following research question was answered: How is medicalization defined in empirical research and how do the definitions differ from each other? Methods: We performed a scoping review on the empirical research on medicalization. The 5 steps of a scoping review were followed: (1) Identifying the research question; (2) Identifying relevant studies; (3) Inclusion and exclusion criteria; (4) Charting the data; and (5) Collating, summarizing and reporting the results. The screening of 3027 papers resulted in the inclusion of 50 empirical studies in the review. Results: The application of the concept of medicalization within empirical studies proved quite diverse. The used conceptual definitions could be divided into 10 categories, which differed from each other subtly though importantly. The ten categories could be placed in a framework, containing two axes. The one axe represents a continuum from value neutral definitions to value laden definitions. The other axe represents a continuum from a micro to a macro perspective on medicalization. Conclusion: This review shows that empirical research on medicalization is quite heterogeneous in its definition of the concept. This reveals the richness and complexity of medicalization, once more, but also hinders the comparability of studies. Future empirical research should pay more attention to the choice made with regard to the definition of medialization and its applicability to the context of the study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Skrabankova ◽  
Stanislav Popelka ◽  
Marketa Beitlova

Graphs are often used to represent mathematical functions, to illustrate data from social and natural sciences, or to specify scientific theories. With increasing emphasis on the development of scientific research skills, the work with graphs and data interpretation are gaining in importance. The research involved an eye-tracking experiment conducted to evaluate student work with graphs in physics. Eye-movement data were recorded using the GazePoint eye-tracker. A total of 40 third-year grammar school students participated in the research. These students were allocated into three groups by a physics teacher. These groups were called PLUS, AVERAGE and MINUS. The PLUS group showed excellent results in education and included gifted physics students. The MINUS group was composed of the opposite end of this cognitive spectrum, whose members made the most mistakes in graph reading. The aim of the experiment was to find the differences between students allocated to these three groups and to evaluate whether the allocation based on the teacher’s experience, long-term observations and the students’ previous achievements was sufficient. The results showed that students from all three groups had problems with reading graphs in physics. According to the eye-movement data, several students who had been incorrectly assigned to groups were identified. Keywords: education in physics, gifted children, graph, eye-tracking, experimental study.


Author(s):  
Jesús Morenas Martín ◽  
Vicente Luis del Campo ◽  
Luis Jesús Manso Fernández-Argüelles

The aim of the study was to build a low-cost mask-type eye tracker with accuracy and precision levels similar to those reported for commercial eye tracking devices. To this end, head-mounted hardware was designed and developed, while open-source software was modified for digital image capture, manipulation, and fixation analysis. An image recognition application was also included with different lighting scenarios. Moreover, parallax and viewing perspective errors were controlled to ensure the quality of data collection. The device was wireless and lightweight (99 g) to allow for natural movement and avoid participant discomfort. After calibration of a 9-target monocular grid, spatial accuracy and precision of the eye tracker was evaluated by 30 participants, at four different lighting setups, both before and after a climbing task. Validity tests showed high levels of accuracy in all conditions as evidenced by a systematic error for a 13-target grid of <0.5°. The reliability tests also showed consistent measurements with no differences in accuracy recorded between participants, lighting conditions, and visual behaviors for the pre- versus post-climbing task. These results suggest that the present eye tracker reports spatial accuracy similar to other commercial systems with levels of high quality. Altogether, this innovative user interface is suitable for research purposes and/or performance analysis in physical activity and sport-related activities. Also, features of this mask-type eye tracking system make it a suitable perceptual user interface to investigate human–computer interactions in a large number of other research fields including psychology, education, marketing, transportation, and medicine.


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