Congratulations to Romain College鈥檚 very own Dr. Tina McCalment. She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership-Pedagogical Leadership Specialization from the 黑料吃瓜. Tina successfully defended her dissertation, "Seeing the Museum: A Mixed Methods Approach Using Biometric Eye Motion Tracking Technology to Measure Visitor Engagement in Museum Exhibits."
The subject combines Tina鈥檚 interests in education and museum management. She partnered with the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science to use high-level technology from Romain College鈥檚 Biometrix Discovery Lab to collect the quantitative data in her study. Visitors at the Evansville Museum who participated wore the mobile eye-tracking glasses, which recorded how they moved throughout the gallery and what they focused on. This technology can detect the appeal of visuals using screen-based eye-tracking software and hardware to track the movement of the viewer鈥檚 eyes onto a screen. This provides deeper insights into how placement of images and other content 鈥� whether on a screen or in a physical environment - holds the attention of people. The findings in her study are useful for understanding how visitors learn from museum exhibits and will be shared with Evansville Museum administrators.
鈥淯sing eye-motion tracking adds a new and interesting dimension to traditional visitor studies research,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 learned a lot from the process and really enjoyed engaging with museum visitors.鈥�
鈥淢any researchers and organizations are relatively unfamiliar with how to apply eye-tracking research and how to use the latest technology in this area," noted Dr. Chad Milewicz, Chair, Economics and Marketing Department; Coordinator, Biometrix Discovery Lab; Professor of Marketing 鈥淒r. McCalment saw the value in applying these tools and methods and she learned what was needed to integrate them in her research. I think her work can be inspiring to anyone considering learning and trying something new.鈥�
Tina also holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Romain College of Business, and a master鈥檚 degree in art administration from Indiana University.