Tracking Fixations and Saccades during Reading to Determine the Optimal Text Perceptual Features for Student Reading Comprehension
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Abstract

Developing reading comprehension skills is essential to the success of young adults in school and in the workforce. Past studies have shown increased text disfluency - how hard it is to read a passage - increased engagement with a text resulting in improved reading comprehension. Furthermore, text disfluency is a function of text perceptual features, such as font size or style.
Other reading studies show that particular eye motions indicate higher comprehension. This study sets a goal to determine which typographical passage parameters are optimal for the reading comprehension of students by using an eye tracking mechanism during reading which is attached to the consumer via a wearable pair of glasses. With the results of this study we will determine which perceptual text features lead to the best comprehension using the “optimal eye movement” pattern of saccades and fixations during reading.

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