EYE LEARN
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Eye-tracking-based Learning process to enhance reasoning and metacognition
This educational and teaching tool aims to support learners in developing their reasoning skills and improving their understanding of their own metacognitive processes throughout their education.
This tool was developed by the School of Health Sciences Fribourg (Heds FR) in partnership with the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg (HEIA-FR). It uses eye-tracking glasses (eye-tracking technology) to record videos of practical training activities, displaying precise traces of the users' gaze. During the recording, the instructor can mark key moments of the exercise.
The videos are then used by the learner in a programme specifically designed and developed to support the analysis of their activity and their understanding of the cognitive processes involved in the situation. Objective data (metrics) relating to gaze fixation areas are automatically identified and provided throughout the process to enrich the analysis.
In Nursing
The initial target audience for this project is students enrolled in the Bachelor's programme in Nursing at Heds FR, who, during simulation exercises, need to structure and develop their understanding of nursing clinical reasoning based on the model developed at Heds FR, which incorporates the ABCDE approach.
In Other Disciplines
This learning tool can be transferred to many other fields or programmes:
Activities requiring hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Activities aimed at consciously acquiring systematic approaches to work
The project jointly submitted by Heds FR and HEIA-FR in response to the call for projects issued by the HES-SO's Academic and Pedagogical Development Support Service (SADAP) was officially awarded a distinction on 8 April 2022.
Developing students' understanding of cognitive processes in simulation through the use of eye tracking: application in Nursing and prospects for extending it to other disciplines. HES-SO page
Award:
CHF 100,000 was awarded to support the development of this educational innovation.
Team:
Jean-Michel Vasse, Clinical Teaching Lecturer, Heds FR
Alain Verdon, Professor of Applied Sciences, Heds FR
Catherine Senn-Dubey, Co-Head of the Nursing Programme, Heds FR
Quentin Meteier, Postdoctoral Researcher, HEIA-FR
Leonardo Angelini, Lecturer, HEIA-FR
Elena Mugelini, Professor of Applied Sciences and Head of HumanTech, HEIA-FR
EYE LEARN was presented during an interprofessional webinar organised by SMACA on the transformation of medical practice through AI. The webinar provided an opportunity to discuss some of the current and future developments in the field of healthcare professional education and support for medical diagnosis.
EYE LEARN – Using Eye Tracking and AI to Support Clinical Reasoning Learning
The project team had the privilege of presenting EYE LEARN at a conference organised by Cyberlearn / HES-SO in Lausanne in June 2025.
This presentation provided an opportunity to introduce the reference frameworks and the educational concept underpinning our tool. It also shared some results from evaluations conducted with students and teachers. Finally, it addressed the technical aspects of the platform and opened up a discussion on the ethical issues associated with its use.
The project team is delighted to share an exclusive interview produced as part of “Les C@fés de l’INAS”, a series of videos produced by the research team of the ARC Sim Pro project hosted by the University of Mons in Belgium.
In Episode 25, dedicated specifically to EYE LEARN, the team shares its experience with this innovative tool and demonstrates how eye-tracking glasses integrated into acute care simulations provide a unique learning experience, improving students' clinical reasoning and metacognitive abilities.
Whether you are a healthcare professional, a Nursing student or simply interested in innovation in education, this interview offers an in-depth perspective on the impact and benefits of EYE LEARN.
Any feedback or questions are welcome in the comments section of the video or via the contact address.
During this international meeting, the project team presented its educational innovation in an oral presentation that generated considerable interest and numerous discussions.
Vasse, J.-M. (2026). EYE LEARN : développer le raisonnement clinique et la métacognition grâce à l’oculométrie et à l’intelligence artificielle en simulation. Oral presentation at the FINE Europe 2026 Congress, 5–6 February 2026, Parma, Italy.
The Fribourg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIF) organises meetings between the academic and business communities as part of the Ice Hockey World Championships.
EYE LEARN was presented to around thirty business leaders from the canton of Fribourg.
EYE LEARN: Using Eye-Tracking Video to Strengthen Clinical Reasoning
This provided an opportunity to present EYE LEARN in an oral presentation and to run workshops enabling nursing educators to explore the potential of eye tracking as used at Heds FR.
Webinar organised by SMACA.
During this Cyberlearn / HES-SO conference, the project team presented the educational concept behind EYE LEARN, shared feedback from students and teachers, and raised key technical and ethical issues.
EYE LEARN had the privilege of being presented as part of the official programme of the Secrétariat international des infirmières et infirmiers de l’espace francophone (SIDIIEF) 2025 Congress during a session dedicated to educational innovation.
Vasse, J.-M., Senn-Dubey, C., Mugellini, E., Donzallaz, J. & Verdon, A. (2025). EYE LEARN, développement des compétences en raisonnement clinique infirmier et des apprentissages métacognitifs à l’aide de l’oculométrie utilisée en simulation. Oral presentation at the SIDIIEF 2025 Congress, 2–5 June, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Our thanks go to the organising committee of the SIDIIEF 2025 student pre-congress for inviting the project team to present EYE LEARN.
The objective of the two workshops was not only to share the team's experience in creating the tool, but also to offer activities enabling participants to discover the potential of eye tracking in supporting reasoning and metacognition.
EYE LEARN was presented in an oral presentation during the 2025 congress of the Société Internationale Francophone d’Education Médicale (SIFEM).
Vasse, J.-M., Senn-Dubey, C., Mugellini, E., Koch, G., & Verdon, A. (2025). L’oculométrie à usage pédagogique : un levier pour développer le raisonnement clinique par la métacognition - EYE LEARN. Oral presentation at the International Francophone Congress on Health Sciences Education (Société Internationale Francophone d’Éducation Médicale – SIFEM), 26–28 May, Faculty of Law, Economics & Management, Orléans, France.
The EYE LEARN abstract is listed under Free Topics – Oral Presentations on page 55 (TLCO01).
Communications orales. (2025). Pédagogie Médicale, 26, S37 S100. https://doi.org/10.1051/pmed/2025006
The University of Mons and its Institut d’Administration Scolaire (INAS) invited EYE LEARN as part of their ARC Sim’Pro Projet.
The programme focused on simulation and eye tracking.
Presentation – EYE LEARN: Understanding the Cognitive Processes of Students in Simulation
Recording of a C@fé INAS episode with Jean-Michel Vasse as guest
The abstract submitted by EYE LEARN was selected by the ERC for a short poster presentation at the annual RESUS2023 congress.
This participation provided a rare opportunity to showcase the work carried out at Heds FR and HEIA-FR.
The presentation took place as part of the "Education and Implementation (including simulation)": EYE LEARN: Innovation pedagogical process using eye tracking in acute care simulation , Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), DOI: 10.1016/S0300-9572(23)00723-2, Poster.
The DigitalSkills@Fribourg project is a collaboration between the University of Fribourg (Unifr) and HES-SO Fribourg. It aims to strengthen and stimulate the digital skills of students, teachers and the institution.
The training day “Réalité virtuelle et augmentée: comment enrichir son cours avec l’apprentissage immersif ?” gives EYE LEARN a prominent place among the examples of applications of eye tracking and virtual reality. These topics can be further developed and explored. Facilitators: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR), Elena Mugelini (HEIA-FR).
Part of the EYE LEARN team had the opportunity to present its concept at the Health Sciences Education Symposium, hosted by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and co-organised by the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), the University of Fribourg (Unifr), the Centre Interprofessionnel de Simulation (CIS), the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) and the Unité de Développement et de Recherche en Éducation Médicale (UDREM).
The presentation consisted of two parts:
Plenary presentation: EYE LEARN: Eye-tracking-based Learning Process to Enhance Reasoning and Metacognition. Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR)
Group workshop: EYE LEARN: Transposition to My Activity? Facilitators: Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR), Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR)
The response was very positive and generated numerous discussions. Prospects for further development or potential partnerships are being considered.
Our thanks go to the symposium organising committee, and particularly to Julia Sader.
The DigitalSkills@Fribourg project is a collaboration between the University of Fribourg (Unifr) and HES-SO Fribourg. It aims to strengthen and stimulate the digital skills of students, teachers and the institution.
The presentation “Réalité virtuelle et augmentée : comment enrichir son cours avec l’apprentissage immersif ?” gives EYE LEARN a prominent place among the examples of applications of eye tracking and virtual reality. Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR), Elena Mugelini (HEIA-FR).
Further development and experimentation on these topics took place during the full-day course held on 30 October 2023.
This specialised engineering conference on eye tracking hosted EYE LEARN during the Late Breaking Work session:
Enhancing the Metacognition of Nursing Students Using Eye Tracking Glasses. Présentation : Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR), Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), DOI: 10.1145/3588015.3590115, Poster.
Following the 2021 Teaching Innovation Award awarded by the HES-SO's Academic and Pedagogical Development Support Service (SADAP), the 2023 Teaching Innovation Day gave particular prominence to the expanded presentation of EYE LEARN, with three contributions:
Plenary presentation: Méthodologie d’utilisation du Eye Tracking pour le développement de la métacognition des étudiant·es. Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR), Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR)
Midday stand: Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR), Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR)
Group workshop: Methodology for Using Eye Tracking to Develop Students' Metacognition: Let’s Test and Discuss. Facilitators: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR), Quentin Meteier (HEIA-FR)
Organised by the Secrétariat international des infirmières et infirmiers de l’espace francophone (SIDIIEF), this world congress aims to highlight nursing expertise and its contribution to improving population health.
As part of the oral presentations on education and training, the ABCDE approach was presented and incorporated into educational training tools such as EYE LEARN:
ABCDE: An Effective Approach to Developing Clinical Reasoning Skills. Presentation: Alain Verdon (Heds FR)
Following the 2021 Teaching Innovation Award awarded by the HES-SO's Academic and Pedagogical Development Support Service (SADAP), the 2022 Teaching Innovation Day featured EYE LEARN in three contributions:
Short plenary presentation: Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR)
Midday stand: Presentation: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Leonardo Angelini (HEIA-FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR)
Group workshop: Using Eye Tracking to Understand Students' Cognitive Processes. Facilitators: Jean-Michel Vasse (Heds FR), Leonardo Angelini (HEIA-FR), Alain Verdon (Heds FR)
Long peer-reviewed article in the journal of AUPTIC.education (Association pour l'Utilisation Pédagogique des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication) – June 2026:
Vasse, J.-M., Verdon, A., Senn-Dubey, C., Mugellini, E., Angelini, L., Donzallaz, J., & Meteier, Q. (2026). EYE LEARN : Méthodologie d’utilisation de lunettes d’oculométrie en simulation et création d’une plateforme dédiée pour développer les compétences en raisonnement clinique infirmier. Integration Pedagogique des TIC-IPTIC-Revue Internationale de l’AUPTIC, 2026(7), 179 200. Lien ArODES
Short article accepted as part of the Late Breaking Work at the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA) – May 2023:
Meteier, Q., Mugellini, E., Angelini, L., Verdon, A. A., Senn-Dubey, C., & Vasse, J.-M. (2023). Enhancing the Metacognition of Nursing Students Using Eye Tracking Glasses. Proceedings of the 2023 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications, 1 2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3588015.3590115
An innovative pilot project between Heds FR and Swissmem in preparation for WorldSkills
Heds FR is partnering with Swissmem as part of an original pilot project aimed at supporting the preparation of young Swiss talents for WorldSkills. The project uses EYE LEARN, an educational tool developed at the School of Health Sciences Fribourg that uses eye-tracking glasses and AI to enable learners to analyse their observation strategies in order to improve their (clinical) reasoning and interventions.
Initially designed for nursing education through simulation, EYE LEARN is being applied here in a new context: training mechatronics apprentices who have won the SwissSkills and are preparing for WorldSkills. The objective is to prepare these athletes by refining their understanding of their attentional strategies in order to improve their decision-making and optimise their performance in complex technical situations.
This project illustrates the potential of approaches derived from simulation and educational technology to support excellence across different fields of education and training. It also demonstrates Heds FR's commitment to developing innovative interdisciplinary collaborations between health, education, technology and vocational education and training.
