Searching as Learning

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between searching and learning, by conceptualizing information seeking as a learning process, and learning as an outcome of the information seeking process. We present the participants with four search tasks, each of them designed to represent different cognitive levels of learning. Through quantitative analysis of the participants» Web search logs, we examine how individual search behavior is influenced by different task complexity levels as we present the tasks in a hierarchical order. We also explore how the perceived learning outcomes and processes, and the different learning actions, are related to the levels of cognitive complexity. By analyzing the search logs, self-reports, interview data, and the reports, both quantitatively and qualitatively, we infer that searching and learning are not isolated but co-existing processes. Distinct search patterns and learning outcomes were observed in tasks of different cognitive complexities, and overlapping learning actions were observed for the different tasks.