How do gender, Internet activity and learning beliefs predict sixth-grade students' self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry?
: Sormunen Eero, Erdmann Norbert, Otieno Suzanne CSA, Mikkilä-Erdmann Mirjamaija, Laakkonen Eero, Mikkonen Teemu, Hossain Md Arman, González-Ibáñez Roberto, Quintanilla-Gatica Mario, Leppänen Paavo HT, Vauras Marja
Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
: 2023
: Journal of Information Science
: JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SCIENCE
: J INF SCI
: ARTN 01655515211043708
: 49
: 5
: 1246
: 1261
: 16
: 0165-5515
: 1741-6485
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515211043708
: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F01655515211043708
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/67410563
Today's students search, evaluate and actively use Web information in their school assignments, that is, they conduct an online inquiry. This current survey study addresses sixth-grade students' self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry, and to what extent free-time and school-related Internet activity, gender and learning beliefs explain these. The questionnaire was administered in 10 schools to 340 sixth-graders in Finland. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed three elements of self-efficacy beliefs: self-efficacy in Web searching, the evaluation of sources and synthesising information. Furthermore, attitudes towards online inquiry loaded into two factors: a positive and a negative attitude towards online inquiry. A structural equation model was used to analyse the effects of the explanatory variables on the factors. The results of this work suggest that gender and free-time Internet use predict most sixth-graders' self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry.
UTU Research Portal