A pre-post study to assess the impact of an information-problem solving intervention on university students’ perceptions and self-efficacy towards search engines

Marioleni Parissi,Konstantintos Lavidas,Thierry Karsenti,Gabriel Dumouchel,Vassilis Komis

doi:10.18162/ritpu-2019-v16n1-05

Abstract

This study investigates the changes in university students’ perceptions towards the use of Web search engines after their exposure to a teaching intervention centered on the information problem-solving process. A total of 138 students of the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras were surveyed to measure perceived ease of use and usefulness of search engines and search engine self-efficacy. A questionnaire, part of which was based on the Technology Acceptance Model, was developed and distributed to respondents, both before and after the course, to measure their perceptions. The results revealed statistically significant improvement for the ease of use and usefulness of search engines, as well as for search engine self-efficacy.

Highlights

In the twenty-first century, the definition of literacy has increasingly reflected the ability to use technology for gathering and communicating information (Pilgrim & Martinez, 2013)
Descriptive statistics were run to analyze the data from the pre-post intervention questionnaire concerning perceived ease of use, usefulness and search engine self-efficacy
It is strongly evident that the teaching intervention can improve students’ perceptions regarding the ease of use and usefulness of search engines

Summary

Introduction

In the twenty-first century, the definition of literacy has increasingly reflected the ability to use technology for gathering and communicating information (Pilgrim & Martinez, 2013). The TAM model (Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989) has been widely applied in studies conducted to explain the acceptance behaviour of individuals using information technology and information systems (Surendran, 2012). In this model, the construct of “perceived usefulness” (PU) is defined as a user’s subjective perception of the extent to which a computer system will aid work performance, while “perceived ease of use” (PEΟU) refers to the extent to which the user expects a computer system or software to be easy to learn and use. PU is related to individual impacts, such as improved individual productivity and performance (Seddon, 1997)

Objectives

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Conclusion