history didactic; eye-tracking; empirical research; analysis and interpretation of a historical cartoon

The article presents the results of qualitative research conducted in 2015 and 2016 on a sample of pupils at Czech lower secondary schools (age 14-15) and upper secondary schools (age 17-18). The research drew on a pilot study carried out in 2014, whose aim was to determine the extent to which didactically structured learning tasks influence the quality of perception, analysis and interpretation of an iconographic historical source - specifically a caricature. The research presented here applied two methods of data collection and processing: analysis of audio recordings via open axial coding, and the eyetracking method (which is still not yet widely used in history didactics research). The results showed that the didactic structuring of learning tasks has a clear positive influence on pupils' perception strategies and on the quality of their analysis and interpretation of the caricature. If pupils are not guided to observe the image in detail, to identify the various symbols and understand their meanings, they generally overlook these significant elements entirely, and their interpretations remain on a very superficial level. This finding should encourage textbook authors and history teachers to place more emphasis on structuring learning tasks related to historical sources in such a way as to guide pupils to develop their historical thinking skills.