Where do students focus their attention on solving mathematical tasks? An eye tracker explorative study

Several international studies recognize the central role of the understanding in problem solving in the mathematics teaching-learning process. Interdisciplinary studies have shown how the type of text affects student's reading and, consequently, its performance. It emerged that “selective- reading”, through which specific attention is paid to certain textual elements, often involves a lack of understanding of the problematic situation. The aim of our research is to understand how some structural and textual aspects influence the understanding of a mathematical text. This research, conducted using the eye-tracker tool, shows the results of the first phase of a larger study.