The Effect of Problem-Solving Skills and Self-Efficacy on Information Seeking Behavior of Graduate Students in the Fields of Management and Knowledge and Information Science

To determine the effect of problem-solving skills and self-efficacy on the information-seeking behavior of graduate students in management, information science, and Knowledge.

The current research is applied in terms of purpose and by survey method. The students in this research were selected by random sampling. To collect information in the current study, three general self-efficacy questionnaires with 17 questions, Hepner's problem-solving skills questionnaire with 32 questions, and a researcher-made information-seeking behavior questionnaire with 31 questions were used. According to the results of Cronbach's test, the reliability of the information-seeking behavior section is (0.73). The problem-solving skill section is (0.71), and the validity of the questionnaires has been examined and approved by 7 experts in the fields. Out of 3278 people, the questionnaires were randomly distributed among graduate students (master's degree and doctorate) of nine public universities in Tehran and a total of 234 responses were received.Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Due to the normality of the data, the regression test was used to identify the effect of problem-solving and self-efficacy on information-seeking behavior.

According to the Pearson test results, there is a positive and significant relationship between the components of self-efficacy and information-seeking behavior, and there is also a positive and significant relationship between the components of problem-solving skills and information-seeking behavior, as well as between self-efficacy and problem-solving skills.Based on the obtained results, the level of problem-solving skills and self-efficacy as well as information-seeking behavior of students is average. Among the three components of problem-solving skills, (personal control) has the highest value, and (confidence in problem-solving) has the lowest value. Among the components of self-efficacy, the highest value is related to (tendency to initiate behavior) and the lowest value is related to (persistence in homework). Also, among the components of information-seeking behavior, the highest value is related to (the nature and type of information sought) and the lowest value is related to (motivation).

According to the findings, the low value of the component of trust in solving problems shows the lack of ability of a person to solve problems. Because people do not trust their ability to solve the problem and avoid reaching the right answer and solving the problem with self-control. The lower component of insistence on the task compared to other components of self-efficacy is a sign of not accepting failure by the person and starting the next behavior. Since a person does not tolerate failure, after spending a little time on the path if no progress is made, he quickly replaces the previous path with another path to avoid failure. Also, due to the higher value of the information-seeking behavior component compared to its other components, it shows that the type and subject of information sources is a determining factor of the search. Because students do not have the motivation and desire to reach the desired subject through different methods and subjects, they try to identify only the desired subject and collect information about the same subject. Also, the results of the findings show that since the confidence in solving problems among students is low, they do not have enough motivation to reach information and as a result, they do not persist in doing their work and homework and leave it half-finished.