With the advancements in the WWW and ICT, the e-learning domain has developed very fast. Even many educational institutions these days have shifted their focus towards the e-learning and mobile learning environments. However, from the quality of learning point of view, which is measured in terms of "active learning" taking place, the…

This paper deals with two types of logical problems--recognition problems and reverse engineering problems, and with the interrelations between these types of problems. The recognition problems are modeled in the form of a visual representation of various objects in a common pattern, with a composition of represented objects in the pattern.…

Usability testing on library search tools was conducted with ten students and eighteen library staff members at Syracuse University. The study addressed three research questions: (1) Do the ways in which librarians carry out search tasks on the library Web site vary from those of student users?; (2) Are those variations indicative of different…

Difficult visual search is often attributed to time-limited serial attention operations, although neural computations in the early visual system are parallel. Using probabilistic search models (Dosher, Han, & Lu, 2004) and a full time-course analysis of the dynamics of covert visual search, we distinguish unlimited capacity parallel versus serial…

Mathematicians have proven that four colors are sufficient to color 2-D maps so that no neighboring regions share the same color. Here we consider the psychological 4-color problem: Identifying which 4 colors should be used to make a map easy to use. We build a model of visual search for this design task and demonstrate how to apply it to the task…

The tremendously huge volume of biomedical literature, scientists' specific information needs, long terms of multiples words, and fundamental problems of synonym and polysemy have been challenging issues facing the biomedical information retrieval community researchers. Search engines have significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of…

The contributions in this volume represent a decade of OCLC's user behavior research findings that articulate the need for the design of future library services to be all about the user. Highlights include: (1) People associate the library with books and do not consider the library in relation to online resources or reference services; (2) People…

In the psychology of reasoning and judgment, the pseudodiagnosticity task has been a major tool for the empirical investigation of people's ability to search for diagnostic information. A novel normative analysis of this experimental paradigm is presented, by which the participants' prevailing responses turn out not to support the generally…

This dissertation studies consumer search behavior in markets where buyers have incomplete information about available goods, such as markets with many sellers or frequently changing prices. In these markets, consumers engage in costly search in order to collect information necessary for making a purchase. Our method of investigation combines…

Negation, conjunction, and disjunction are major building blocks in the formation of concepts. This article presents a new model-based theory of these Boolean components. It predicts that individuals simplify the models of instances of concepts. Evidence corroborates the theory and challenges alternative accounts, such as those based on minimal…

Information seeking is one of the most popular online activities for young people and can provide an additional information channel, which may enhance learning. In this study, we propose and test a model that adds to the existing literature by examining the ways in which parents, schools, and friends (what we call networks of support) effect young…

This qualitative study examines first-year college students' online search habits in order to identify patterns in millennials' mental models of information retrieval. The study employed a combination of modified contextual inquiry and concept mapping methodologies to elicit students' mental models. The researcher confirmed previously observed…

This dissertation explores the use of geometric and graphical models for a variety of information search and filtering applications. These models serve to provide an intuitive understanding of the problem domains and as well as computational efficiencies to our solution approaches. We begin by considering a search and rescue scenario where both…

As the amount of information available in online digital libraries increases exponentially, questions arise concerning the most productive way to use that information to advance learning. Applying the earlier information seeking theories advocated by Kelly (1963), Taylor (1968), and Belkin (1980) to the digital libraries experience, Carol Kuhlthau…

Faculty and students at University College London (UCL) were polled online in November 2006 as part of a wider investigation into the impact of e-books in UK higher education. One of the survey questions probed the strategies that members of the academic community use to identify the conventional printed books that they need for work, study, or…