Abstract
The purpose of this study was to use an eye-tracking method to investigate the curricular noticing of ten pre-service mathematics teachers, five from elementary school (n = 5) and five from middle school (n = 5), in the topic of "ratios and proportions." The research procedure involved both groups of teachers reading either the elementary or middle school textbooks, followed by writing lesson plans and then reading the other version of the textbook to determine whether they would revise their lesson plans. Using the Gazepoint GP3 HD eye-tracker, data were analyzed based on fixation durations and proportions across defined Areas of Interest (AOIs) and the lesson plans were analyzed by using the thematic analysis. Findings showed that: (1) Curricular attending differs between groups, The eye-tracking data revealed a difference in average fixation duration, with the elementary pre-service teachers exhibiting approximately twice as much average fixation duration on textbooks as secondary pre-service teachers. The distribution of fixation proportion for different types of proportion problems was primarily related to the amount of corresponding content in the textbooks. (2) Results in curricular responding showed significant differences between the two groups: the elementary pre-service teachers presented a more diverse range of problem types, with a focus on "associated sets" (32.6%), while the middle school pre-service teachers had a more limited range of problem types, emphasizing "part-part" questions (44.8%). (3) Curricular interpreting differed. The elementary group primarily designed lesson plans from the "learner's perspective" (40.9%), whereas the middle group was mainly based on the "mathematical perspective" (46.9%). (4) Relationships among curricular noticing dimensions were not clearly defined. The fixation proportions for different problem types did not show a very clear correlation with lesson plan design. However, the fixation proportions for the three content categories of "definitions and explanations," "part-whole," and "calculations" seem to be noteworthy dimensions when exploring whether pre-service teachers revise their lesson plans. (5) Lastly, the elementary group was more willing than the middle group to revise their lesson plans after viewing textbooks from another grade level (4/5 vs. 2/5).