Multimodal process-tracing approach to rubric use

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

The article adopts a methodological framework combining eye-tracking with think-aloud protocols to capture students' real-time engagement with rubrics during academic tasks. Eye-tracking supplies fixation times, number of visits, and gaze transitions between rubric and task stimuli, while think-aloud protocols capture verbalized reasoning and strategies. The authors state that "The integration of these two data sources follows a logic of triangulation common in mixed-methods research", allowing them to identify convergences (prioritization of PL4) and divergences (visual behavior predicting performance while verbal references did not). No prior study had combined both methods to examine how students read and use rubrics.

Accounts

• Multimodal process-tracing approach to rubric use: triangulating eye-tracking and think-aloud protocols: The article adopts a methodological framework combining eye-tracking with think-aloud protocols to capture students' real-time engagement with rubrics during academic tasks. Eye-tracking supplies fixation times, number of visits, and gaze transitions between rubric and task stimuli, while think-aloud protocols capture verbalized reasoning and strategies. The authors state that "The integration of these two data sources follows a logic of triangulation common in mixed-methods research", allowing them to identify convergences (prioritization of PL4) and divergences (visual behavior predicting performance while verbal references did not). No prior study had combined both methods to examine how students read and use rubrics. (Panadero et al. (2025))

Claims

• Visual attention to the highest performance level (PL4) predicts task performance, whereas verbal references to performance levels do not [+M]
• University students visually prioritize the highest performance level (PL4) when first reading a rubric [+M]

Related Research Methods

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Key Sources

• Panadero, E., Delgado, P., Zamorano, D., Pinedo, L., Fernández-Ortube, A., & Barrenetxea-Mínguez, L. (2025). Putting excellence first: How rubric performance level order and feedback type influence students' reading patterns and task performance. Learning and Instruction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102168

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	research-method
id	multimodal-process-tracing-approach-to-rubric-use
title	Multimodal process-tracing approach to rubric use
description	The article adopts a methodological framework combining eye-tracking with think-aloud protocols to capture students' real-time engagement with rubrics during academic tasks.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-23
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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