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Physical Review Physics Education Research
written by Chao-Jung Wu and Chia-Yu Liu
The purpose of this study was to explore how students with high- and low-prior-knowledge employed multiple representations in argumentation evaluation and generation tasks. The argumentation performance and eye-movement behaviors of 96 college students in these tasks were investigated. The number of participants who proposed complex argumentation levels and the argumentation accuracy was higher in the high-prior-knowledge group than in the low-prior-knowledge group. Moreover, the high-prior-knowledge group demonstrated greater eye-movement transitions between representations compared with the low-prior-knowledge group. Both groups had greater transitions in the generation task than the evaluation tasks. The high-prior-knowledge group distributed attention to representations with more flexibility, revealing that they were more aware of the task requirements and more able to employ multiple representations for arguments. In the argumentation evaluation tasks, the high-prior-knowledge group performed referencing behaviors in the reading sequences between representation text and equation and between representation table and figure, whereas the low-prior-knowledge group was inclined to look back and forth between representation text and table. In the argumentation generation task, the two groups displayed similar reading sequences. It indicated that learners with higher knowledge may perceive the similarity between homogeneous representations and constrained interpretations of the complex representations by using easier representations, or further integrated representations to achieve deeper understanding, which then improved their argumentation performance. Implications for improving learners' argumentation skills in a multirepresentational display are discussed.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 010125
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Communication
= Representations
- Problem Solving
= Representational Use
Education Practices
- Instructional Material Design
General Physics
- Physics Education Research
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Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created May 12, 2021 by Bruce Mason
Record Updated:
March 19, 2022 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
April 16, 2021
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AIP Format
C. Wu and C. Liu, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17 (1), 010125 (2021), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125).
AJP/PRST-PER
C. Wu and C. Liu, Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17 (1), 010125 (2021), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125>.
APA Format
Wu, C., & Liu, C. (2021, April 16). Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 17(1), 010125. Retrieved June 8, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125
Chicago Format
Wu, Chao-Jung, and Chia-Yu Liu. "Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17, no. 1, (April 16, 2021): 010125, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125 (accessed 8 June 2025).
MLA Format
Wu, Chao-Jung, and Chia-Yu Liu. "Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17.1 (2021): 010125. 8 June 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Chao-Jung Wu and Chia-Yu Liu", Title = {Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {17}, Number = {1}, Pages = {010125}, Month = {April}, Year = {2021} }
Refer Export Format

%A Chao-Jung Wu %A Chia-Yu Liu %T Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students' scientific argumentations with multiple representations %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 17 %N 1 %D April 16, 2021 %P 010125 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Wu, Chao-Jung %A Liu, Chia-Yu %D April 16, 2021 %T Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students' scientific argumentations with multiple representations %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 17 %N 1 %P 010125 %8 April 16, 2021 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010125


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Eye-movement study of high- and low-prior-knowledge students’ scientific argumentations with multiple representations:

Covers the Same Topic As Sequential and simultaneous synthesis problem solving: A comparison of students’ gaze transitions

Both of these articles were featured in the April 16, 2021 issue of Physical Review-Physics Education Research within the larger heading "Eye Tracking Gets Complex".

relation by Caroline Hall

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