The effect of embedded instruction on solving information problems

In higher education students are often faced with information problems: tasks or assignments that require them to identify information needs, locate corresponding information sources, extract and organize relevant information from each source, and synthesize information from a variety of sources. Explicit and intensive instruction is necessary, because solving information problems is a complex cognitive skill. In this study instruction for information problem solving (IPS) was embedded in a competence and web-based course for distance education students about research methodology in the field of Psychology. Eight of the 16 students following this course received a version of the course with embedded IPS instruction. The other half received a variant of the course without extra IPS instruction. The analysis of the thinking aloud protocols revealed that after the course students in the experimental condition regulate the IPS process more often than students in the control condition. They also judged the information found more often.