Eyetracking showed students often answer word problems without looking at the algebraic expression, leading the curriculum to treat expression-writing as an induction task with the formula row moved to the bottom of the table¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associationalr?·q1–q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Students looked at the problem scenario but not the expression about 13% of the time, at the expression 54% of the time, and at neither almost 34% of the time. → Ritter 2007
q1 i? Based on these data, the curriculum presents the formula row at the bottom of the table so students solve individual problems first and generalize to the expression. → Ritter 2007 (2)
Evidence¶
Ritter 2007¶
Ritter, S., Anderson, J. R., Koedinger, K. R., & Corbett, A. (2007). Cognitive Tutor: Applied research in mathematics education. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 249-255. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03194060
q2 · i? · associational · r?
An eyetracking study in which students completed a table of values based on a word problem; students looked at the problem scenario but not the expression about 13% of the time and at the expression 54% of the time, showing strategy use did not match expert expectations.
"Gluck (1999) found that when students were answering a question such as the first question in Figure 1, they looked at the problem scenario but not at the expression about 13% of the time. Students looked at the expression (sometimes along with the scenario) 54% of the time."
Ritter 2007 (2)¶
Ritter, S., Anderson, J. R., Koedinger, K. R., & Corbett, A. (2007). Cognitive Tutor: Applied research in mathematics education. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 249-255. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03194060
q1 · i? · design · r3
As a result of the eyetracking and other data, the Cognitive Tutor curriculum treats finding algebraic expressions for simple word problems as an induction task: the formula row is now presented at the bottom of the table, after the two question rows.
"The formula row, shown as the second row in the table of Figure 1, is now presented at the bottom of the table, after the rows corresponding to the two questions."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Teachers and students use gaze to express agency and communion during classroom problem-solving — related
- An IES practice-guide presentation recommends personalized problem contexts, asserting without cited studies that students engage more actively and perform better in them — related
- Personalization to student interests improved accuracy on hard knowledge components involving algebraic expression-writing within the tutoring unit — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
eyetracking-word-problem-gaze-patterns |
title |
Eyetracking showed students often answer word problems without looking at the algebraic expression, leading the curriculum to treat expression-writing as an induction task with the formula row moved to the bottom of the table |
description |
Eyetracking showed students often answer word problems without looking at the algebraic expression, leading the curriculum to treat expression-writing as an induction task with the formula row moved to the bottom of t... |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2007 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — ritter-2007, ritter-2007-2 |
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