The Impact of Task-Based Information Searching on Students' Learning

Currently, in the researches of library and information sciences, the relationship between the process of searching and learning is discussed a lot. It seems that the search to learning has led to exploratory search and exploratory search has helped users discover concepts in order to overcome their uncertainty and finally, achieve learning. What has been neglected is the extent to which searching process affects learning and the degree of knowledge change until one reaches the level of expertise. Hence, the present study was compiled on research findings with the aim of determining the impact of the information search process based on work tasks on learning. For this purpose, a semi-experimental one-group design with pre-test and post-test was used in 2021. The statistical population was the nursing students of the Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in their sixth semester, and 38 of these students randomly participated in this study. First of all, an educational workshop with the aim of getting familiar with drawing conceptual map and a search training workshop were held. Afterwards, the students were assigned two tasks and they were asked to draw their conceptual maps before and after searching. In order to describe and analyze the information in this research, conceptual map scoring (a type of quantitative content analysis) was used to determine the degree of learning, the Euclidean algorithm was used to assess the degree of knowledge change until reaching the level of expertise, and the pairwise comparison method was used to evaluate the difference in the degree of learning before and after the search. The outcomes indicated that the mean difference before and after the search was significant in both scenarios (P<0.001). Also, there was a significant difference between the mean scores before and after the search and the score of the conceptual map, with high confidence. However, it was low, compared to the rate of learning growth according to the expert score. Besides, the difference between the mean of the conceptual map in the complex and simple scenarios was not significant. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of search as a learning method, so it is suggested that librarians and information professors introduce searching as a learning method along with other methods to increase awareness and develop creative thinking skills in the academic community.