Abstract:

Nowadays, printed materials are still an integral part of everyday human activities despite the transition to mobile technologies and digitization. Before we buy, we review leaflets of retail chains, read magazines in leisure time, and use books and textbooks to learn. Traditional printed forms of these media begin to replace their electronic versions, however, the traditional form still has its supporters and applications.

From the point of view of teaching, the work with the textbook or the text represents a desirable teaching method, which creates and improves the ability of the pupils to work independently with text information. Regular placement of this teaching method during lesson at the same time helps students to develop positive attitudes towards the book. A positive attitude to read text is also desirable in the whole process of education, but it also has its non-negligible place in everyday life.

The design of each text document must always be modified by its creators so as to be as welcoming as possible for a particular target audience. Apart from design, the layout and, of course, the content itself is also essential. Suitable texts and design elements have their justification. Proper design and layout of the text can result in the pupils gaining or losing their attention, which can subsequently lead to success or failure in learning.

To test attention and perception in connection with design, layout, and content of textual backgrounds, eye-tracking can be used. Examining the process of reading a textbook in the form of eye-tracking allows for an objective view of pupils' attention and perception within the teaching process. The acquired knowledge can then be used to create more effective teaching methods or textbooks themselves.

This paper compares the attention and perception of three printed physics textbooks for students of grammar schools. Within each textbook, a chapter on internal combustion engines was selected. The research focuses on differences in the degree of attention and time of first attention within each stimulus in the textbook. Eyetracking was used as a research method using the SMI RED 250 instrument. The outputs indicate the importance of stylizing text according to the inverse pyramid rule, but also show the importance of the meaning of the images. An important factor in the creation of textbooks is also the non-use of excess amounts of stimuli that attract pupils' attention at the expense of more important information.

Keywords:

Textbooks, Eyetracking, Physics.