From organization to elaboration: relationships between university students’ online information searching experience and judgements

Abstract

Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of students’ Internet self-efficacy, and identified its relationship with their academic learning performance. In addition, researchers have indicated the importance of investigating students’ cognitive and metacognitive performance in their online learning, especially in their online information searching experience and information judgements. In this study, the exploration of students’ online information searching experience and information judgements was conducted. Two instruments were adopted; one is related to online information searching experience, and the other is about online information judgements. The survey was responded to by 583 volunteer university students. There were five factors included in the online information searching experience survey, that is, information searching, source organization, online communication, metacognition, and academic self-efficacy; six factors including multiple sources, authority, content, interactive interface, elaboration, and matching were classified in the information judgements survey. The structural equation model results showed that students would take into account both sophisticated (e.g., multiple source and content) and simple information evaluation standards (e.g., authority and interactive interface) when searching for information on the Internet. On the other hand, the students’ source organizing experience and content evaluation standard are positively correlated to their searching strategy: elaboration. However, the result also found some less sophisticated behaviors, that is, a positive correlation between online communication and the searching strategy, matching. The findings of this study provide a good reference for university teachers who intend to conduct information searching activities in their courses.