The relationship between social problem solving with acceptance and use of Web-based resources in educational-research activities adopting a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Problem-solving is one of the most important issues in the field of psychology. It seems that solving social problems as an external variable has an important role in the acceptance of information technology. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between social problem solving and the use and acceptance of web-based resources in educational-research activities based on acceptance and technology model.

The present study is an applied research that adopted a survey method. The statistical population of the study consisted of students of medical sciences of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University. The data collection tools were two social problem-solving questionnaires and a researcher-made questionnaire based on the TAM. The data analysis was based on multiple regression and SPSS 22 software.

The findings of the present study indicated that the social problem-solving variable as the external variable of the TAM had an effect on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use web resources. Also, all the structures of the TAM were able to explain the actual use of Web resources.

Overall, results showed that social problem solving has a direct relationship with the use of web resources to meet the educational and research information needs of medical students. As such, these students use the social problem-solving style when they face problems.