Investigation of Factors Affecting Student's Mental Model Completeness Level of Google Web Search Engine

A user's mental model is his/her mental image of the system and how it operates. Studies have demonstrated that user's information seeking behavior is different and this difference is depended on the user's mental models of the system. Indeed, people’s thinking, behavior, and activities are guided by their mental models in the interactive contexts. Furthermore, there are different factors that influence mental model formation of the system. So, this study aims to investigate the factors affecting master students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine.
From the methodological perspective, this research is a practical one based on the survey method. The research sample consisted of 30 master students from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad majoring in engineering science and social/human sciences who were selected purposefully and participated voluntarily. The main tools for gathering data are semi-structured interviews (based on mental model completeness scale (Li, 2007)), group embedded figure test, Kolb learning style inventory and information literacy questionnaire. Therefore, student's mental models scores were measured by interviewing and after that the relationship between their scores and other research variables was investigated according to the following questions:1. Is there a significant relationship between students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine and their cognitive style?
2. Is there a significant difference between students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine and their learning style?
3. Is there a significant relationship between students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine and their information literacy?
4. Is there a significant difference between students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine and their academic fields?
5. Is there a significant difference between students̓ mental model completeness level of Google web search engine and their gender?
FINDINGS: The results showed that there was a significant relationship between student's mental model completeness level and cognitive style. In other words, field independent students had more complete mental models than field dependent students. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between student's learning style and mental model completeness level. It was also observed no significant relationship between their mental model completeness level and information literacy, but there was a significantly, positive and moderate relationship between their mental model completeness level and information retrieval component. Also, there was a significant difference between student's academic field and mental model completeness level, so that the students majoring in engineering sciences had better mental models than students majoring in social/human sciences. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between student's gender and mental model completeness level.
According to the findings, it is important to consider factors affecting mental models in designing user-friendly interfaces, personalization of systems and user training. In such a way, our systems and user trainings become more effective. By designing systems based on the cognitive style, users can develop better mental models, have more effective search strategies and be more satisfied. Furthermore, investigating the relationship between learning style, information literacy, gender and mental model requires more researches with more participants.