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Mind Maps: Processed as Intuitively as Thought? Investigating Late Elementary Students' Eye-Tracked Visual Behavior
Emmelien Merchie1, Sofie Heirweg2, Hilde Van Keer1
1Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Frontiers in Psychology
|April 25, 2022
Summary
Students struggled with mind map structures, but reading text first improved comprehension and information integration. This highlights the need for visual literacy education in elementary schools.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Technology
- Visual Literacy
Background:
- Mind maps are visual tools for knowledge representation.
- Understanding how students visually process mind maps is crucial for effective learning.
- Prior research indicates challenges in interpreting complex visual structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate visual behavior patterns of elementary students reading mind maps.
- To analyze the impact of presentation mode (mind map first vs. text first) on learning.
- To identify how visual characteristics influence reading sequence and comprehension.
Main Methods:
- Utilized eye-tracking technology for static early attention and dynamic educational process mining (EPM).
- Combined eye-tracking data with learning performance metrics (free recall, coherence).
- Conducted retrospective interviews to gather qualitative insights.
Main Results:
- Students initially struggled with the radial structure and image placement in mind maps.
- Educational Process Mining revealed distinct reading patterns.
- Presenting text before the mind map led to better understanding of the radial structure and higher information integration.
Conclusions:
- Students who read text first demonstrated improved information integration and recall.
- The study underscores difficulties in intuitive visual processing of mind maps among elementary students.
- Explicit visual literacy instruction is essential for elementary grades to enhance learning with visual aids.
