Investigating Information Seeking Process Using Think-Aloud Protocol of Students Living in Rural Areas

Abstract

In this study, we investigated how students in a rural secondary school searched for online information for their school assignments, and we employed the think-aloud protocol to reveal students’ information seeking processes. In this study, three students were given three search tasks that were similar to their school assignments and they were asked to search the web for the tasks. To obtain data from each student’s web search, we used screen-capture software and collected audio and video records. Recordings were subsequently transcribed and analyzed. Results showed that while the students completed the easy and medium-level search tasks to a great extent, they had difficulty in completing the difficult task. In addition, students performed the tasks with various steps and durations. Emotions such as hesitation, satisfaction, frustration and anxiety were observed in the students while they were performing the tasks. The results were also discussed in terms of the characteristics of the information seeking process.