Competent information search in the World Wide Web: Development and evaluation of a web training for pupils

This paper describes the development and empirical evaluation of a web training for pupils (CIS-WEB, Competent Information Search in the World Wide WEB) which aims to convey prerequisite knowledge and skills that are necessary for a competent search for information on the web. The web training focuses on competent information handling and is based on two theoretical analyses. First, a conceptual analysis of information search from the perspective of media literacy research and information retrieval research was conducted and yielded a set of five pivotal content aspects that need to be covered by a web training. Each of these content aspects is characterized by declarative and procedural knowledge components which are necessary for the pursuit of a competent search for information on the web. Second, we conducted a task analysis which conceptualizes the search for information on the web as a problem-solving process and which allows to systematically distinguish between different types of information problems. In the empirical part of the paper two classroom studies are reported. In Study 1, the widespread training concept of a technically oriented Internet training for pupils was evaluated and it was shown that no substantial improvement of web searching skills can be expected from this type of treatment. In Study 2, it was shown that the web training CIS-WEB improves pupils’ declarative knowledge of the web as well as their search performance, thereby outperforming the conventional Internet training used in Study 1.