Reading Behavior in Science Comics and Its Relations with Comprehension Performance and Reading Attitudes: an Eye-tracker Study

One of the ways to acquire scientific knowledge is by reading science comics. This study aims to investigate the attitudes (e.g., reading habits, interest, motivation) of university students toward reading science comics, and how they read science comics for acquiring scientific knowledge reflected by an eye tracker. Sixty-five undergraduates were invited to complete an attitudes and habits questionnaire of reading comics, after which they read a science comic where their reading processes were recorded by an eye tracker; finally, they completed a reading comprehension test. The results showed that most undergraduates had a positive attitude for reading comics, and were more likely to learn science by reading comics rather than texts. In addition, the analysis results of the linear mixed-effect models indicated that fixation with regard to re-reading durations could promote post-reading comprehension. The readers who particularly re-read the important information in relation to the boxed-in texts and graphics for a longer period scored higher in the post-test (e.g., the cause and variation processes of cancer). The analysis of variance also indicated that readers who exhibited a good test performance allocated more re-reading time on informational texts and diagrams. This meant they were more intentional and selective in re-reading the core and concept-intensive information; however, concerning the reader who performed poorly in their test, this reading pattern was unapparent. Therefore, those who exhibited a better grasp of the knowledge in the science comics were likely to fully process the areas that presented relevant information concerning important science concepts.