Choosing optimal means of knowledge visualization based on eye tracking for online education

In online education, the appropriate choice of means of knowledge visualization can reduce cognitive load and improve cognitive efficiency. However, no universal basis for selection can cause confusion in the pedagogical context. This study used the revised Bloom’s taxonomy to combine the types of knowledge with cognitive goals. We used a course on marketing research as an example to summarize the choices for visualizing factual knowledge (FK), conceptual knowledge (CK), procedural knowledge (PK), and metacognitive knowledge (MK) through four experiments. Visualized cognitive stages were used to determine the cognitive efficiencies of visualization for different knowledge types. In this stage, eye tracking is used for collecting eye movement indicators to measure cognitive load. The cognitive goals stage is used to get cognitive goals of the means of knowledge visualization. Combining the two stages, we get the conclusions as follows: Teachers and students can mostly benefit from presenting FK and CK points via mind maps. Using mind maps to teach FK online could be indirectly beneficial for improving students’ creativity. Concept maps may be chosen for this point if the linked knowledge points are PK and the achievement of the analytical objective is emphasized in the student’s knowledge points. The flowchart can be used to display PK, while timelines could be utilized if the PK point is to be presented in a temporal dimension. Teachers should choose the curve area chart to display MK. A pie chart might be chosen and added more instructions. The findings suggest that mind maps are very effective as a means of knowledge visualization in online education. In the meantime, it suggests that overly simplistic graphs increase cognitive load, while it also raises the possibility that redundant information in the text may increase cognitive load.