November 11, 2025
Sara Mostowfi and collaborators propose that pupil dilation can reveal metacognitive processes in AR-based learning environments.
Doctoral candidate Sara Mostowfi received the 2025 Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Augmented Cognition Technical Group (ACTG) Best Student Paper Award for her paper “Pupil Dilation as an Indicator of Debugging Strategy in a Location-based AR Learning Environment.”
In the study, Mostowfi and her collaborators propose that physiological measures like pupil dilation can reveal metacognitive processes in augmented reality-based learning environments.
Mostowfi, a researcher and doctoral candidate in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is the first author on the study. Her collaborators on the paper are Jung Hyup Kim, Siddarth Mohanty (MS IE ’25), Fang Wang, Danielle Oprean of the Mizzou College of Education and Human Development, Yi Wang and Kangwon Seo.
Mostowfi presented the paper at the 2025 ACTG Business Meeting Nov. 7.
HFES advances the science and practice of designing for people in systems through knowledge exchange, collaboration and advocacy. ACTG is concerned with fostering the development and application of computational technologies to enhance human abilities.
Drive life-changing research. Choose Mizzou Engineering!