Learning online research skills in lower secondary school: long-term intervention effects, skill profiles and background factors

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term development of online research skills effects of a teaching intervention in online research skills among lower secondary school students and how various factors such as teaching interventions and students’ to identify students’ skill profiles in online research self-efficacy, attitudes, information and communication technology (ICT) activity and gender are associated with development. Design/methodology/approach Two intervention courses were implemented to improve online research skills among 7th-grade students. In the follow-up test in the 8th grade, students’ skills were measured in Web searching, critical evaluation of sources and argumentative use of Web information. Students’ self-efficacy beliefs in online research, their attitudes toward learning, behavioral intentions in online research and ICT activity were surveyed by questionnaires. Findings The main finding was that the effect observed immediately after the intervention in 7th grade did not last until the following year. A cluster analysis revealed six skill profiles characterizing strengths and weaknesses in students’ performance in the subtasks of online research and indicated that many students suffer from poor evaluation skills. Self-efficacy beliefs stood out as a student-related factor associated with the development of online research skills. Originality/value This study contributed to the pedagogy of online research skills. It indicates that small-scale interventions are not enough to enhance 7th-graders’ online research skills. Students need continuous practice in different contexts during their school years. It is important to support students’ self-efficacy to motivate them to develop their skills in all the subtasks of online research. This study also demonstrated the importance of follow-up studies in online research skills, as they have been rare thus far.

An inquiry-based teaching intervention to embed information literacy instructions into a library and information science curriculum in Bangladesh

“…The intervention group outperformed the control group in two out of three information literacy knowledge subdomains. These findings are in line with previous studies reporting on successful information literacy teaching interventions (e.g., Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020;Argelagós and Pifarré, 2012;Baji et al, 2018). No difference was found in evaluating online information which has been a problematic skill to teach in previous intervention studies (Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020) as well.…”

“…These findings are in line with previous studies reporting on successful information literacy teaching interventions (e.g., Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020;Argelagós and Pifarré, 2012;Baji et al, 2018). No difference was found in evaluating online information which has been a problematic skill to teach in previous intervention studies (Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020) as well. The present study contributes to the earlier findings that even short-term inquiry-based teaching interventions improve at least some components of information literacy competences (e.g., Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020).…”

“…A growing number of teaching interventions are being carried out to improve information literacy knowledge and skills among students in elementary (e.g., Chen et al, 2017;Chu et al, 2011) and secondary schools (e.g., Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020;Argelagós and Pifarré, 2012;Baji et al, 2018) using inquiry-based learning models. Inquiry-based frameworks such as guided inquiry have been integrated into schools' curricula (e.g., Heinström andSormunen, 2019, Kuhlthau et al, 2015).…”

“…To sum up the literature review, it is well justified to argue that there is an obvious research gap in the target area of this study. Most intervention studies on inquiry-based teaching embedded into the regular curriculum have been carried out in primary (Chen et al, 2017;Chu et al, 2011) and secondary (Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2020;Argelagós and Pifarré, 2012;Baji et al, 2018) education. Only a few studies were found that integrated inquirybased information literacy instruction into the university's curriculum (McKinney, 2014).…”

Investigating factors that influence students’ ability to seek online bilingual scientific information

“…In addition, recent studies support the claim that the preparation of bi/multilingual rather than monolingual information seekers is necessary for global and more equal scientific progress (Amano et al , 2021a, 2021b, 2023; Angulo et al , 2021; Nuñez and Amano, 2021; Ransing et al , 2023; Zenni et al , 2023). Unfortunately, to date, there is little evidence about the type of sources selected by students when engaged in academic bilingual tasks as previous research has largely focused on monolingual educational practices (Alamettälä and Sormunen, 2021; Brante, 2019; Macedo-Rouet et al , 2020; McGrew et al , 2018; Kiili et al , 2021; Paul et al , 2019; Paul et al , 2017, 2018; Potocki et al , 2020; Schiffl, 2020; Stenseth and Strømsø 2019). Our study provides evidence from a university bilingual science course, which helps expand this research.…”