Identifying the Components of Primary School Children’s Web Interactive Informatin Retrieval Using the Meta-Synthesis Method

experience and skill in working with computers from an early age and learn that they can search for information through the web and meet their informational needs. However, they have difficulty extracting and retrieving information appropriate to their age and needs. This research aimed to identify and designate the practical elements in primary school children's interactive information retrieval on the web-based model presented by Spink and Saracevic (1998). This model is an extension of Saracevic's (1997) layered model, which covers its weak points by considering the types of feedback and the time factor. Therefore, it is chosen as the research reference model. The present research is applied and has been done with a qualitative approach. This research uses the meta-synthesis method to systematically review, analyze, and combine the qualitative findings of published research articles on interactive information retrieval and information-seeking behaviour in children. For this purpose, research articles published in reputable scientific journals were searched and analyzed. Based on the research purpose, those articles were selected and published in English or Farsi from 1998 to 2022 and investigated the web search behaviour of children 7 to 12 years old. Based on the mentioned criteria, 32 articles, including 31 English and one Persian articles, were selected. Using "MAXQDA" software, the components of children's search on the web were extracted and coded based on the qualitative findings of these articles, and a total of 225 codes were extracted. Then, the primary codes were categorized based on the research reference model's layers, and each category's components were determined. 30 elements for interactive information retrieval on the web for children were identified based on the codes extracted from the selected studies. Some of these components are: "pleasure and entertainment" and "despair and frustration" from the affective aspect, "knowledge and skill", "search style" and "how to judge relevance" from the cognitive element, "how to choose query terms" and "techniques used to reformulate the query" in the context of the query, "search engine usability" and "cognitive skills support" from the aspect of user interface design for children and "safe and appropriate content" and "content's aligning with children's reading comprehension level" from the element of content provided to children. Finally, the identified components were presented as the research reference model. The identified components serve as a practical framework for modelling children's interaction with information systems. They can be instrumental in developing education programs for children in search and interactive information retrieval on the web and in designing information retrieval systems for children. By considering the influencing factors in interactive information retrieval by children, these components can be effectively applied in real-world scenarios.