Stimuli-based Gaze Analytics to Enhance Motivation and Learning in MOOCs Kshitij Sharma 1 , Pierre Dillenbourg 2 , Michail Giannakos 1 1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway 2. ´ Ecole Polytechnique F´ ed´ erale de Lausanne, Switzerland Email: kshitij.sharma@ntnu.no; pierre.dillenbourg@epfl.ch; michailg@ntnu.no Abstract—The interaction with the various learners in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is often complex. Con- temporary MOOC learning analytics relate with click-streams, keystrokes and other user-input variables. Such variables how- ever, do not always capture learners’ learning and behavior (e.g., passive video watching). In this paper, we present a study with 40 students who watched a MOOC lecture while their eye- movements were being recorded. We then proposed a method to define stimuli-based gaze variables that can be used for any kind of stimulus. The proposed stimuli-based gaze variables indicate students’ attention (i.e., with-me-ness), at the perceptual (following teacher’s deictic acts) and conceptual levels (following teacher discourse). In our experiment, we identified a significant mediation effect of the two levels of with-me-ness on the relation between students’ motivation and their learning performance. Such variables enable common measurements for the different kind of stimuli present in distinct MOOCs. Our long-term goal is to create student profiles based on their performance and learning strategy using stimuli-based gaze variables and to provide students gaze-aware feedback to improve overall learning process. Keywords: Eye-tracking, motivation, learning, MOOCs, video based learning, multimodal analytics, massive open online courses I. I NTRODUCTION We present a study to investigate how well stimuli-based gaze analytics can be utilized to enhance motivation and learn- ing in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Our work seeks to provide insights on how gaze variables can provide students with gaze-aware feedback and help us improve the design, interfaces and analytics used as well as provide a first step towards gaze-aware design of MOOCs to amplify learning. The evidence for understanding and supporting users’ learn- ing is still very limited, considering the wide range of data produced when the learner interacts with a system (e.g., gaze [12]. Devices like eye-trackers have become readily available and have the capacity to provide researchers with unprece- dented access to users’ attention [19]. Thus, besides commonly used variables coming from users’ click-streams, keywords and preferences, we can also use eye-tracking variables to accurately measure students’ attention during their interaction with learning materials (e.g., MOOC lectures). In this contribution, we address the general question of how gaze-variables (related to students attention) can help students to watch MOOC videos more efficiently?. We tackle this question from a teacher’s perspective (how much student follows the teacher) and call it this gaze-based measure “with- me-ness”. With-me-ness is defined in two levels: (1) perceptual (following teacher’s deictic acts) and (2) conceptual (following teacher discourse). Specifically, in this contribution, we ad- dress how “with-me-ness” mediates the relationship between students’ motivation and learning within a MOOC?. The rest of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 outlines the relevant previous work. Section 3 illustrates the methodology used in the paper. Section 4 presents the results of the data analyses. Finally Section 5 discusses the results and concludes the paper. II. RELATED WORK a) Video based learning:: The use of educational videos has been widely employed in the past years. Educational videos is a vital element in several online learning forms (in a MOOC, or how-to video tutorial), students spend enormous amount of time watching various forms of educational videos [15]. Educational videos have been studied extensively during the last decades, through the lenses of empirical studies and theories [4]. One of the most commonly acceptes theoretical angles it the one of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) [10], CTML provides several insights on how video-based learning (and multimedia in general) can be used effectively. Paivio [11] argued that information provided by both audi- tory and visual channels should increase recall and retention. Studies by Mayer [10] have shown that visual information helps to process and remember verbal information and vice versa. This argument was strengthened by cue-summation theory showing that learning performance in the combined audio and pictures was better than in the combined audio and text, if the numbers of available cues or stimuli are increased [16]. The major benefits of video as a facilitator of educational content include presentation of detailed information (with text and image), efficient engagement of students’ attention, sim- ulating discussions and providing concrete real life examples with visualizations [14]. During the last year, video-based learning practices are applied in a variety of ways, such as the flipped classroom, small private online courses (SPOCs), and xMOOCs. Today,