The teacher’s eye gaze in university classrooms: Evidence from a field study

We conducted a field study using Tobii Glasses 2.0 eye-tracker to assess 11 experienced university teachers' eye gaze patterns in classrooms, and the impact of these patterns on 293 students' engagement, motivation and satisfaction. Independent-samples t tests showed that compared to teachers who gazed primarily at students, teachers who showed a balance of eye gaze towards students and teaching content had students who were more engaged, motivated and satisfied. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that there were significant mediating roles of engagement and motivation in the association between teachers' eye gaze pattern and students' satisfaction. Our results have practical implications for educational practice: teachers are encouraged to allocate their attention both to students and teaching content to enhance students' learning experience.