How Does Students’ Knowledge About Information-Seeking Improve Their Behavior in Solving Information Problems?

Abstract

Background/purpose – This study investigates how the teaching intervention and familiarity with the search topic enhance Greek students’ behavior while solving information problems. Materials/methods – Seven university students solved three information problems on the same search topic during an academic semester. Between the first and second information problems, a didactic intervention was implemented aimed at familiarizing the participant undergraduates with the information problem-solving process based on the Big 6 model of Eisenberg & Berkowitz (1990) and the use of essential online search tools. Qualitative data were collected via observation and the think-aloud protocol. Results – The findings indicated that following the didactic intervention and familiarity with the search topic, the participants were able to realize a greater variety of actions in order to locate the required information. Conclusion – The study’s findings deepen the comprehension of how students’ information behaviors evolve, and indicate suitable interventions that could help to support students in performing more effective Internet searches.