EyeGestLearn · Applying eye-tracking to investigate information uptake from co-speech gestures in online learning environments

The overall objectives for this proposal are two-fold: 1) Learning new theories and methods with international recognized scientists to push forward the boundaries of the state of the art; 2) promoting to peers and public the insights and methodological advancements from the project with the scope of changing teaching methods in online learning. More precisely, the purpose of this MSCA-fellowship is to acquire expert level knowledge in second-language teaching and eye-tracking to investigate the cognitive effects of teachers' co-speech gestures on learning in an online learning environment where learners are not native English speakers. By tracking the students' eye movements and attention to teachers' co-speech hand gestures in the learning situation, I will gain unique understanding of how the learners attend to gestures and how the attention correlates with the uptake of new information. With the relevant guidance from the host organization both the progression and advancement of this proposal is in safe hands. The expertise of the supervisors in second-language teaching, speech analysis, educational psychology and eye-tracking will form an educational platform for myself to achieve my ambition of carrying this research proposal through. The objectives are relevant to the work program in two ways: 1) by maturing myself as a researcher to reach top international level with a solid international network; and 2) by working to create better learning materials and teaching skills in the massively expanding area of online learning (Massive Open Online Courses). In the grander picture, I work towards creating better learning opportunities for learners of all linguistic and socio-economical backgrounds.