The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of the Spanish-speaking Latino community during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders. A single remote focus group meeting was conducted with nine Spanish-speaking participants to explore how residents living amidst shelter-in-place orders made informed decisions about health, safety,…

With the introduction of internet as a source of information, parents have observed youngsters' tendency to prefer internet as a source, and almost a reluctance to learn in advance since "you can look it up when needed". Questions arise, such as 'Are these phenomena symptoms of changing beliefs about knowledge and learning? Is it at all…

Introduction: The understanding of the information-seeking behaviour of international students using social media is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to model the information-seeking behaviour of international students when they use social media to find information. Method: A mixed method approach was employed to collect data…

This paper examines a sampling of messages available to potential teacher candidates when searching online and querying, "How do I become a teacher?" Methodology used was discourse analysis of online search results using critical questions informed by Ellsworth's (1997) notions of mode of address. Results reported here are from targeted…

Introduction: Students increasingly depend on Web search for educational purposes. This causes concerns among education providers as some evidence indicates that in higher education, the disadvantages of Web search and personalised information are not justified by the benefits. Method: One hundred and twenty university students were surveyed about…

Introduction: Studies have indicated that users' text highlighting behaviour can be further manipulated to improve the relevance of retrieved results. This article reports on a study that examined users' text highlight frequency, length and users' copy-paste actions. Method: A binary voting mechanism was employed to determine the weights for the…

While search engines are commonly used by children to find information, and in classroom-based activities, children are not adept in their information seeking or evaluation of information sources. Prior work has explored such activities in isolated, individual contexts, failing to account for the collaborative, discourse-mediated nature of search…

This study sought to analyze and evaluate the accessibility, availability and quality of online information regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and hearing loss. The most common search engine keyword terms a caregiver may enter when conducting a web search was determined using a keyword search tool. The top websites linked…

Recognizing the importance of designing educational opportunities that draw upon students' prior knowledge and experiences, this paper uses focus groups to explore how Spanish-speaking students in a graduate program at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence understand academic information literacy practices within their new cultural contexts.…

While the influence of presentation formats have been widely studied in Bayesian reasoning tasks, we present the first systematic investigation of how presentation formats influence information search decisions. Four experiments were conducted across different probabilistic environments, where subjects (N = 2,858) chose between 2 possible search…

Introduction: The analysis of detailed interaction records is fundamental to development of user-centred systems. Researchers seeking such data must recruit volunteers willing to allow tracking of their interactions. This study examines privacy and trust attitudes in the intent to volunteer for research requiring installation of tracking software.…

The authors discuss the relationship between information seeking and epistemic beliefs--beliefs about the source, structure, complexity and stability of knowledge--in the context of collaborative information-seeking discourses. They further suggest that both information seeking, and epistemic cognition research agendas, have suffered from a lack…

This research explored perceptions of learners studying English in private language schools regarding the use of mobile technology to support language learning. Learners were first exposed to both a mobile assisted and a mobile unassisted language learning experience, and then asked to express their thoughts on the incorporation of mobile devices…

This study describes a research focused on science teachers' evaluation of natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence in their students. Natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence is defined as an essential part of science literacy -- as a competence to find, evaluate and use science knowledge stored…

This report presents findings about the challenges today's college freshmen face, and the information-seeking strategies they develop, use, and adapt as they make the transition from high school to college and begin to complete college-level research assignments. Included are data from a comparative analysis of library resources in 30 US high…