Data evaluation processes of different-sized datasets: an eye-tracking with concurrent think-aloud study

Abstract

Considering the increasing availability of digital tools and measurement data in physics classrooms, students are more frequently confronted with larger datasets. While existing literature often assumes that working with large amounts of data is more complex, recent work by Benz, Ludwig, and Vorholzer [Sci. Ed. 119, 1669-1700 (2025)] suggests that this is not necessarily the case when data are presented in diagrams. Building on this, the present study investigates how students evaluate small and large datasets in diagrammatic representations. Using a process-oriented approach, we analyzed the data evaluation processes of $N=20$ university physics students via eye-tracking and concurrent think-aloud. The results indicate that dataset size, in interaction with the visibility of patterns in the data, systematically shapes how students reason with measurement data. Larger datasets support more pattern- and trend-based evaluation and can lead to more unambiguous conclusions. In contrast, smaller datasets are associated with a stronger focus on single measurement points and increased expressions of uncertainty, including an articulated "need for data," alongside an overinterpretation/overweighting of single measurements. The observed shift from uncertainty-related and locally focused evaluation toward more integrative and trend/pattern-based reasoning suggests that larger datasets may support students in integrating multiple data points into more coherent interpretations of measurement data. Overall, the study contributes to a process-oriented understanding of how students engage with measurement data in physics education.