Online Information Searching Strategies

of Selected Grade 9 Students of Miriam College High School

Youth of today spend most of their time browsing the internet and surfing through
collections of information online (Ito, 2008). With extensive engagement in the world of
digital media, it is important to make students realize that they should take advantage of the
vast resources available to them to further enhance their academic performance. Researchers
(Morris, 2011; Ofulue, 2011) across countries identified issues concerning the use of
technology as a tool for students learning. In a case study review on the Implementation of
Computers for Pupils Programme by Jonathan Morris (2011) in Birmingham, UK, he
concluded that many pupils primarily use their laptops for leisure purposes rather than
educational. He also noted that the lack of ICT teachers involvement might be a reason as to
why the use of laptops has not been educationally based.

Before students can realize the potential of digital media as source of information and
learning, educators must be aware of the common practices of students once they go online. It
was found out that most university students online searching strategies used for searching
daily life information were significantly better than the ones they use for learning activities
(Tsai & Tsai, 2012). This was concluded after surveying a total of 304 university students in
Taiwan using a questionnaire in which two search contexts were defined: searching for
learning and searching for daily life information.

Methodology
This case study adapted the instrument used in the research of Tsai and Tsai (2012) to
find out the role of search context played in a Grade 9 class of Miriam College High School
(MCHS) online information searching strategies. A total of 40 students were surveyed using
the Online Information Searching Strategy Inventory (OISSI). Similar search contexts were
also defined: searching for learning (Context A) and searching for daily life information
(Context B). Before giving the questionnaire to the students, they were asked to search online
about their next lesson in ICT. A brief discussion about the search results followed. For
Context B, the teacher asked the students to search for upcoming movies that they would like
to watch in the year 2015, and list their top 3 choices. Finally, the students were asked to
answer the OISSI twice - first with Context A in mind and second with Context B. Responses
of each student were encoded and analysed using a non-parametric test to identify significant

differences. The ordinal data gathered was subjected to Wilcoxon-signed test; however, the
assumption of normality and symmetry has not been met. Sign test, a less conservative test,
was used instead since it does not require normality and symmetry of data.
The OISSI covers three domains to evaluate students online search strategies with
good validity and reliability: 1) Behavioural domain, 2) Procedural domain, and 3)
Metacognitive domain. The behavioural domain describes basic Internet manipulation and
navigation; procedural domain is concerned with content-general searching approaches in the
Internet and; metacognitive domain indicates skills involved in higher-order and contentrelated reflective activities.

Data Analysis
Forty students participated in the study to understand the difference between
searching online for academic purposes and for daily life information. Data are medians
unless otherwise stated. As shown below, out of the twenty-five attributes under three
domains, four attributes under the behavioural domain, and one attribute under the
metacognitive domain have been found to be statistically significantly different between the
two contexts. Students more often use hyperlinks to catch main ideas, use advance search
functions, properly select main ideas, and identify major information through title and
hyperlinks when looking for information related to entertainment. All of these attributes are
under the behavioural domain. Surprisingly, students do not feel lost when searching for
academic related information. For all attributes with significant difference except for proper
selection of main ideas, the number of similar responses is overwhelming which means that
for the majority, there is no difference in searching strategies between academic and
entertainment purposes.

Table 1. Summary of Significant Differences

Attributes
I look through the
titles or hyperlinks
in order to catch
the main ideas in a
webpage.
I know how to
utilise advancedsearch functions
provided by search
engines.

Domain

Positive
Difference

Negative
Difference

Ties

p-value

Behavioural

16

22

0.001

Behavioural

20

13

0.004

I select main ideas

provided in each
webpage as
possible as I can.
I look through titles
or hyperlinks in a
web in order to
catch major
information.
I always feel lost
while searching.

Behavioural

18

17

0.011

Behavioural

16

22

0.001

Metacognitive

11

24

0.022

Through the above stated findings, the researcher concludes that there must be evident
connection and application of academic topics to daily life activities. Teachers in all subjects
must be able to effectively integrate technology in their instructional plans, and share best
practices in the use of digital media and resources among their peers. It would be proper to
use digital media in class discussions, and most importantly, in motivations to provide an
engaging atmosphere that is socially relevant to the students. Teachers and parents must be
able to constantly monitor and regulate the degree of exposure of the students to the new
technologies. Despite positive effects of using technologies, there are issues that must be
addressed to provide the students a safe environment for learning. Lastly, students must be
taught search techniques and strategies to allow them to effectively search information
online.

Bibliography:
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4.

Ito, Mizuko et al. Foreword." Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Edited by David Buckingham. The
John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge,
MA: The MIT Press, 2008. viiix. doi:10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.vii
Morris, J. P. (2011). Digital Bridge or Digital Divide? A Case Study Review of the Implementation of the
Computers for Pupils Programme in a Birmingham Secondary School. Retrieved from
http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol10/JITEv10IIPp017-031Morris899.pdf
Ofulue, C. (2011). Survey of Barriers Affecting the Use of Information Communication Technologies
(ICTs) Among Distance Learners: A Case Study of Nigeria. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education
Tsai, M.-J., Liang, J.-C., Hou, H.-T. & Tsai, C.-C. (2012). University students online information
searching strategies in different search contexts. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology,
28(5), 881-895. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet28/tsai-mj.html