- Email: [email protected]
Exploring the use of electronic information services with elementary students
179
Exploring the Use of Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students Marianne T E A G U E Calvert County Schools, Maryland, USA
Background
Gerald T E A G U E and Gary M A R C H I O N I N I
Until relatively recently online searching of electronic databases was not readily available or economically accessible to other than large scale organizations due to the enormous expense of equipment and services as well as the technical expertise needed to interact with the systems. With the onset of the microcomputer and growth of electronic databases the picture is rapidly changing. Within educational institutions, college and university students routinely gain access to remote information sources through the campus library system [1]. Initially the aid of a highly trained reference librarian was needed to most effectively manipulate the esoteric system. Most recently college students are able to directly access databases mounted on disk or accessible through phone modem for a fraction of the cost and with minimum assistance. The capability to conduct tailored searches using comprehensive databases in a sophisticated manner has filtered down to the secondary school level. High school students in Montgomery County, Maryland have had access to online databases through the school media center since 1983 [3]. Such access provides students with linkage to a vast resource of current information not generally available in the local school setting as well as practical experience with state-of-the-art communications technology. Ninth grade honors students also experienced success with online database searching [5]. The same type of service is
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20741, USA
The use of microcomputers to access electronic databases has made its appearance in the educational system. This powerful and sophisticated technology has filtered down from the university realm and is now being successfully utilized by secondary level students. Two exploratory studies were undertaken to determine how well elementary students could use this technology. Twenty-six gifted and talented students in grades 2-6 used an online encyclopedia to find information for use in written reports. All were successful, with the younger students comparing favorably with the older students as regards system use and information retrieval. A further study comparing efficiency and effectiveness of two additional groups of third/ fourth and sixth graders using a full-text electronic encyclopedia mounted on CD-ROM showed the older students to be somewhat more successful with this more complex technology.
Keywords: Library, Media Centre, Database, Information Retrieval, Electronic Online Searching.
Marianne Teague is a media specialist in the Maryland public school system. Her interest lies in teaching computer related library research skills.
•
!
!
tlpc
Gerald Teague is Associate Director of Education Research at the University of Maryland. College Park. He is currently involved in projects investigating children's information seeking strategies when using electronic database retrieval systems.
North-Holland Education & Computing 3 (1987) 179-184 0067-9287/87/$3.50 © 1987, IFIP
1
Gary Marehionini is Assistant Professor of Library and Information Sciences at University of Maryland. College Park. His current research focuses on developing a mental model of children's cognitive processes in using computer based systems to retrieve information.
180
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
becoming available through public libraries and to virtually anyone with access to a microcomputer and phone modem. Expense is no longer as prohibitive, databases not as limited, nor systems procedures as complicated. College and secondary level students exposed to online searching reportedly are able to interact with the now user-friendly services and manipulate the sophisticated database systems with relative ease. Whether younger students will find maneuvering through the menu-driven structure as simple has not been explored. According to Piaget's theory of intellectual development, students in the early elementary grades are in the concrete operational stage. Upper elementary students may be entering the formal operational stage. Using a remote online system with its format of hierarchical menus may require some formal operational thinking on the part of the user.
The study was linked to a scheduled classroom activity. In preparation for a required report students routinely used the media center resources to gather information. They were informed that the computer would be available to them in addition to the print materials normally used in their research. An Apple II microcomputer, printer, 300 baud modem, and communications software were situated in the media center office near a phone line. The electronic information service selected was CompuServe, a well established system providing online access to Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia. The study was conducted during Spring, 1985 under the supervision of the media specialist and two university professors with the assistance of the media aide.
Procedure
Purpose The purpose of this initial exploratory study was to determine the feasibility of teaching elementary school students to use an extant electronic database searching system. The intent was to observe how students interacted with a sophisticated and abstract online facility. Although the students were familiar with library research skins, utilizing an electronic system undoubtedly requires somewhat different skills. Identifying what unique skills and concepts are needed to use the remote service was of interest. In addition, how best to design the introductory materials and present the instruction needed to be determined. To this end, procedures were established to collect data and compare students on the primary and upper levels in elementary school.
Setting
Twenty-six students in the gifted and talented program at a suburban elementary school participated in the study. The primary group consisted of four second graders and eight third graders. The upper group had one fourth grader, ten fifth graders, and three sixth graders. Thirteen were boys and 13 girls. All students were familiar with microcomputers but had no experience with electronic databases.
The students were introduced to the concept of telecommunications in three separate, 60 minute sessions. The two groups met separately throughout the study. During the first meeting modem function and remote computer access concepts were described. The media specialist demonstrated an online system by using the school's film-booking service. A local electronic bulletin board for educators was accessed and a message was left. The following session began by reading messages from the bulletin board left in response to the public message. Each student was given the opportunity to leave a brief message and read other public messages entered between sessions. In addition, contact was made with the system operator and an exchange of greetings occurred. The session provided students with opportunities to use commands and menus in both an immediate and deferred mode. Students were then asked to define the topic of their report and write three specific questions to be addressed. During the third group meeting the CompuServe service, with the online encyclopedia, was described and a demonstration provided. Figure 1 shows a portion of the CompuServe menu. Students were given a chalkboard overview of Compuserve showing menu structure and command options. Commands used by students included the following: T - top of menu, F - forward, B -
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
CompuServe CompuServe Information Service 1. Home Services 2. Business & Financial 3. Personal Computing 4. Services for Professionals
Page CIS-]
CompuServe Home Services 1. News/Weather/Sports 2. Reference Library
Page HOM-1
CompuServe Reference Library 1. Academic Amer. Encyclopedia 2. Information on Demand
Page Horn-20
CompuServe Electronic Edition of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia 1. Electronic Encyclopedia
Page AAE-4
181
provide some insight into how elementary students view this technology. For the independent searches students were given the option of working in pairs or individually. In the primary group two students worked alone and ten worked in pairs. Four older students searched individually while ten worked together. Each unit, individual or pair, were allotted two 45 minute sessions over a three week period. The aide was available to answer routine questions but did not provide directions. During the searches the aide logged the time online and recorded miscellaneous observations. All keystrokes were capture to disk while the students were online to trace their movements. Retrieved data was dumped to the printer for use in preparing for the second session and the written reports. Following each session students were asked to complete a simple questionnaire. At the end of the study students were given a posttest and interviewed by the media specialist about their experience.
Figure 1. CompuServe Menu.
Results
Backward, SE - search, GO - move directly t o area, and H or ? - Help. Prior to a live demonstration students were asked to identify what they felt were the benefits and drawbacks of electronic encyclopedias. The comments in student words, listed in Figure 2,
Advantages Quicker Avoid page numbers Locate more information Can use printer for a personal copy More up-to-date More fun to use Can use at home ("open 24 hrs/day")
Disadvantages Cost of electricity, phone Book won't breakdown One person per station Can get hung up (disconnected) Could erase some information Computer is not portable Online doesn't have pictures
Figure 2. Student Comments About Electronic Encyclopedias.
The topics selected were typical of elementary level students. All were unidimensional, concrete concepts such as cartoon, magic, and dolphin. Some interesting and thought-provoking questions were posed by students to guide their search. As an example, for the topic of SPACE students wanted to know, " H o w do you travel around?", " C a n you live there?", and "Where does space end?" The system responded to entry of a search term in one of five ways: no articles, SEE reference, too many articles, single article text, or menu of articles. Selection of an article from among those listed resulted in either a new sublisting for broad topics or the text itself. Due to the relatively simple concepts chosen, all but two student units received either an article or menu of articles with their initial term. The following example illustrates a typical search progression through the various levels. This search was highly successful and lasted only nine minutes, yielding seven pages from nine different articles. Each indentation is another menu level. The options available at each level is in parentheses with the article topic underlined.
182
34. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
Main System Menu (6 items) - selected # 1 Home Service Menu (10 items) - selected #2 Reference Library Menu (14 items) - selected # 1 AAE Menu (4 items) - selected # 1 SE Computer (9 headings) - selected # 1 Computer (4 subheadings) 1. History of Computers 2. How Digital Computers Work 3. Applications 4. Bibliography Generally, students conducted exhaustive searches, selecting nearly all the articles evoked by the search term with little or no discrimination. M a n y used synonyms found in the first search to guide their second search. For the topic " C A T " students were forced to narrow their term, e.g. persian cat. In the case of students seeking information on U F O s the term needed to be broadened or redefined. Unfortunately, their efforts met with some frustration. N o articles surfaced for the terms U F O , Space Craft, Extra-Terrestrial, Outer Space, and Close Encounters. However, the term "Alien" produced five articles. Elation quickly turned to disappointment when the first article began: " A n alien is a foreign-born person who is not a citizen of the country in which he or she resides... (See also: Citizenship; Immigration)." With some encouragement the students entered "Unidentified Flying Object" and were rewarded with one article containing appropriate information. A log was kept of the elapsed time for each search. The younger students were able to conduct their searches as quickly as the older ones. Students used far less time than expected, with four s t u d e n t s / p a i r s finishing in one session. The primary group averaged 14.8 minutes per session while the upper group took an average of 14.5 minutes. A brief multiple choice quiz was given to each student at the conclusion of their search. Questions focused on differences between online and print encyclopedias, C o m p u S e r v e c o m m a n d s , and telecommunications concepts. Out of seven possible, the primary group mean was 5.0 and the upper group mean was 5.6. The only slightly lower average for the younger students demonstrates that they were able to learn the skills and understand the concepts nearly as well as the older students. Following each search students were asked to respond in writing to three open-ended questions:
(1) Was the search helpful in getting information? (2) What was the best thing that happened? (3) What was the worst thing that happened? The first question was answered affirmatively by all students. As regards positive outcomes, responses included: finding much information, having a hard copy, and learning about computers. Due to the sharing of a phone line a number of students were interrupted and had to start over. This was the most frequently cited drawback. Other comments included difficult words, too much information, and too little information. Given the limited amount of instruction on the system and technical difficulties it is surprising the students were generally enthusiastic and satisfied with the experience. N o differences in type of comments were noted between groups. The students reporting difficulty with vocabulary were second graders, illustrating one practical limit with using this text-intensive resource with primary level students. Three questions were asked of the students in a final interview: How did the computer help your study? Where did you get most of your information? What would you do differently next year? Students were unanimous in stating that the computer helped them locate information, with some indicating the access was quicker and data more up-to-date. The primary group gathered most of their information from the online encyclopedia. The upper group obtained information primarily from books or a combination of books and online. In future research the primary group would use the computer even more. The older students said they would change their topic. Both the balance between print and online sources and consideration of topic appropriateness demonstrates the research maturity of the older students as well as their focus on the subject rather than the medium.
Observations Students experienced some difficulty with maneuvering through the menu levels. They were able to use correct commands to make appropriate choices once the proper menu appeared on the screen but had trouble maintaining their sense of position within the menu hierarchy. In general, students were pleased with their
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
experience. Interestingly, the younger students were able to use the electronic database system as well as the older students. Several suggestions are offered for those introducing online searching, summarised from a previous publication [4]. First, become familiar with the entire system yourself, not only the section you wish to show the students. They have a tendency to explore other areas and create unique search patterns and instructions. Secondly, obtain a separate phone line for use during the searches. Disruptions are both costly and frustrating. Thirdly, provide extensive chalkboard type instruction when explaining menu structure. Help students visualize the invisible aspects of the remote system's format. And, lastly, have younger children work in pairs initially as partners provide valuable interaction. Using experienced students as peer aides will likely facilitate the process.
Further study With some assurance that elementary students can use an online system, a more complicated but potentially richer technology was introduced, that of a compact disk based encyclopedia. The first available C D - R O M disk appropriate for school use was Grolier's The Electronic Encyclopedia. The entire 20 volume full-text and comprehensive index, without pictures, occupies a total of 110 megabytes, approximately one-fifth of the disk. The accompanying software program allows searching for all occurrences of word, phrase or combinations anywhere within the entire encyclopedia, with options for specifying search parameters and word relationships. This unique feature allows searching in ways not possible manually with print materials. Software and database (updated quarterly) cost one-third that of a set of print encyclopedias, making accessibility financially feasible. Given the success of elementary students with online searching through an electronic information service, a study, detailed elsewhere [2], was undertaken to determine and compare their ability to use a more sophisticated and powerful utility. For this study, two gifted and talented classes totalling 52 students were selected. Twenty-six pairs were formed, 14 from the t h i r d / f o u r t h grade combination class and 12 from the sixth grade. All
183
students had some previous experience with microcomputers but not with any electronic searching process. Each pair was given two search problems, one closed (locating the date speed skating was introduced into the Olympics) and one open (data on women's travel in space). Following two introductory sessions, each pair was given an hour long period for each of the two questions. A research assistant observed the process and recorded the verbal exchanges, all key strokes were captured by the computer, and students registered their answers to the questions along with their search terms and sequence. Outcome measures included success in locating accurate answers, time required for searches, and number of conceptual moves such as posing a new query, narrowing or broadening a query, using synonyms, examining title lists, and reading article. Overall, 34 of the 51 (67%) of the searches were judged successful. Not surprising, the sixth graders were considerably more successful than their younger counterparts, 92% (22 of 24) as contrasted with 44% (12% of 27). While searching, 12 pairs used a proximity option to change the boundaries in which terms may appear. The seven sixth grade pairs were successful but all five primary grade pairs were unsuccessful. The mean time for all searches was 36 minutes. N o significant differences were found between the average of 39.4 minutes for the younger group and the 32.2 minutes of the older students. Likewise, comparing number of moves did not yield any significance between groups. The overall average was 21.0 with means of 22.4 and 19.5 for the younger and older groups respectively. Younger students tended to pose actual questions to the system which typically yielded no articles. As regards type of task, the mean time for the open task was greater (41.1 minutes) than that of the closed task (30.2 minutes). The difference was not surprising given that students were looking for multiple facts in the open task. Overall, students in the elementary grades were successful in using a sophisticated and powerful electronic encyclopedia. As expected the more intellectual mature sixth graders where able to function somewhat more effective and efficiently. It would seem that the advanced search features inherent in the CD-ROM version posed difficulty for the younger students and may be beyond their
184
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
c a p a c i t y to u n d e r s t a n d a n d i m p l e m e n t a p p r o p r i a tely.
References [1] Holloway, W. and Kerr, M. (1983), Online literature searching in engineering education: cost-effective and attitudinal outcomes, AEDS Journal, 12, pp. 63-75. [2] Marchionini, G. and Teague, G. (1987), Elementary students use of electronic information services: an exploratory study, J. Research on Computing in Education 20, pp. 139-155.
[3] Pruitt, E. and Dowling, K. (1985), Searching for current information online.., how high school library media centers in Montgomery County, Maryland are solving an information problem by using DIALOG, Online, March, pp. 47-60. [4] Teague, M., Teague, G., and Marchionini, G. (1986), The high tech road to research, The Computing Teacher, November, pp. 8-10. [5] Wozny, L. (1982), Online bibliographic searching and student use of information: an innovative teaching approach, School Library Quarterly, 11, pp. 35-12.
Exploring the Use of Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students Marianne T E A G U E Calvert County Schools, Maryland, USA
Background
Gerald T E A G U E and Gary M A R C H I O N I N I
Until relatively recently online searching of electronic databases was not readily available or economically accessible to other than large scale organizations due to the enormous expense of equipment and services as well as the technical expertise needed to interact with the systems. With the onset of the microcomputer and growth of electronic databases the picture is rapidly changing. Within educational institutions, college and university students routinely gain access to remote information sources through the campus library system [1]. Initially the aid of a highly trained reference librarian was needed to most effectively manipulate the esoteric system. Most recently college students are able to directly access databases mounted on disk or accessible through phone modem for a fraction of the cost and with minimum assistance. The capability to conduct tailored searches using comprehensive databases in a sophisticated manner has filtered down to the secondary school level. High school students in Montgomery County, Maryland have had access to online databases through the school media center since 1983 [3]. Such access provides students with linkage to a vast resource of current information not generally available in the local school setting as well as practical experience with state-of-the-art communications technology. Ninth grade honors students also experienced success with online database searching [5]. The same type of service is
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20741, USA
The use of microcomputers to access electronic databases has made its appearance in the educational system. This powerful and sophisticated technology has filtered down from the university realm and is now being successfully utilized by secondary level students. Two exploratory studies were undertaken to determine how well elementary students could use this technology. Twenty-six gifted and talented students in grades 2-6 used an online encyclopedia to find information for use in written reports. All were successful, with the younger students comparing favorably with the older students as regards system use and information retrieval. A further study comparing efficiency and effectiveness of two additional groups of third/ fourth and sixth graders using a full-text electronic encyclopedia mounted on CD-ROM showed the older students to be somewhat more successful with this more complex technology.
Keywords: Library, Media Centre, Database, Information Retrieval, Electronic Online Searching.
Marianne Teague is a media specialist in the Maryland public school system. Her interest lies in teaching computer related library research skills.
•
!
!
tlpc
Gerald Teague is Associate Director of Education Research at the University of Maryland. College Park. He is currently involved in projects investigating children's information seeking strategies when using electronic database retrieval systems.
North-Holland Education & Computing 3 (1987) 179-184 0067-9287/87/$3.50 © 1987, IFIP
1
Gary Marehionini is Assistant Professor of Library and Information Sciences at University of Maryland. College Park. His current research focuses on developing a mental model of children's cognitive processes in using computer based systems to retrieve information.
180
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
becoming available through public libraries and to virtually anyone with access to a microcomputer and phone modem. Expense is no longer as prohibitive, databases not as limited, nor systems procedures as complicated. College and secondary level students exposed to online searching reportedly are able to interact with the now user-friendly services and manipulate the sophisticated database systems with relative ease. Whether younger students will find maneuvering through the menu-driven structure as simple has not been explored. According to Piaget's theory of intellectual development, students in the early elementary grades are in the concrete operational stage. Upper elementary students may be entering the formal operational stage. Using a remote online system with its format of hierarchical menus may require some formal operational thinking on the part of the user.
The study was linked to a scheduled classroom activity. In preparation for a required report students routinely used the media center resources to gather information. They were informed that the computer would be available to them in addition to the print materials normally used in their research. An Apple II microcomputer, printer, 300 baud modem, and communications software were situated in the media center office near a phone line. The electronic information service selected was CompuServe, a well established system providing online access to Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia. The study was conducted during Spring, 1985 under the supervision of the media specialist and two university professors with the assistance of the media aide.
Procedure
Purpose The purpose of this initial exploratory study was to determine the feasibility of teaching elementary school students to use an extant electronic database searching system. The intent was to observe how students interacted with a sophisticated and abstract online facility. Although the students were familiar with library research skins, utilizing an electronic system undoubtedly requires somewhat different skills. Identifying what unique skills and concepts are needed to use the remote service was of interest. In addition, how best to design the introductory materials and present the instruction needed to be determined. To this end, procedures were established to collect data and compare students on the primary and upper levels in elementary school.
Setting
Twenty-six students in the gifted and talented program at a suburban elementary school participated in the study. The primary group consisted of four second graders and eight third graders. The upper group had one fourth grader, ten fifth graders, and three sixth graders. Thirteen were boys and 13 girls. All students were familiar with microcomputers but had no experience with electronic databases.
The students were introduced to the concept of telecommunications in three separate, 60 minute sessions. The two groups met separately throughout the study. During the first meeting modem function and remote computer access concepts were described. The media specialist demonstrated an online system by using the school's film-booking service. A local electronic bulletin board for educators was accessed and a message was left. The following session began by reading messages from the bulletin board left in response to the public message. Each student was given the opportunity to leave a brief message and read other public messages entered between sessions. In addition, contact was made with the system operator and an exchange of greetings occurred. The session provided students with opportunities to use commands and menus in both an immediate and deferred mode. Students were then asked to define the topic of their report and write three specific questions to be addressed. During the third group meeting the CompuServe service, with the online encyclopedia, was described and a demonstration provided. Figure 1 shows a portion of the CompuServe menu. Students were given a chalkboard overview of Compuserve showing menu structure and command options. Commands used by students included the following: T - top of menu, F - forward, B -
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
CompuServe CompuServe Information Service 1. Home Services 2. Business & Financial 3. Personal Computing 4. Services for Professionals
Page CIS-]
CompuServe Home Services 1. News/Weather/Sports 2. Reference Library
Page HOM-1
CompuServe Reference Library 1. Academic Amer. Encyclopedia 2. Information on Demand
Page Horn-20
CompuServe Electronic Edition of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia 1. Electronic Encyclopedia
Page AAE-4
181
provide some insight into how elementary students view this technology. For the independent searches students were given the option of working in pairs or individually. In the primary group two students worked alone and ten worked in pairs. Four older students searched individually while ten worked together. Each unit, individual or pair, were allotted two 45 minute sessions over a three week period. The aide was available to answer routine questions but did not provide directions. During the searches the aide logged the time online and recorded miscellaneous observations. All keystrokes were capture to disk while the students were online to trace their movements. Retrieved data was dumped to the printer for use in preparing for the second session and the written reports. Following each session students were asked to complete a simple questionnaire. At the end of the study students were given a posttest and interviewed by the media specialist about their experience.
Figure 1. CompuServe Menu.
Results
Backward, SE - search, GO - move directly t o area, and H or ? - Help. Prior to a live demonstration students were asked to identify what they felt were the benefits and drawbacks of electronic encyclopedias. The comments in student words, listed in Figure 2,
Advantages Quicker Avoid page numbers Locate more information Can use printer for a personal copy More up-to-date More fun to use Can use at home ("open 24 hrs/day")
Disadvantages Cost of electricity, phone Book won't breakdown One person per station Can get hung up (disconnected) Could erase some information Computer is not portable Online doesn't have pictures
Figure 2. Student Comments About Electronic Encyclopedias.
The topics selected were typical of elementary level students. All were unidimensional, concrete concepts such as cartoon, magic, and dolphin. Some interesting and thought-provoking questions were posed by students to guide their search. As an example, for the topic of SPACE students wanted to know, " H o w do you travel around?", " C a n you live there?", and "Where does space end?" The system responded to entry of a search term in one of five ways: no articles, SEE reference, too many articles, single article text, or menu of articles. Selection of an article from among those listed resulted in either a new sublisting for broad topics or the text itself. Due to the relatively simple concepts chosen, all but two student units received either an article or menu of articles with their initial term. The following example illustrates a typical search progression through the various levels. This search was highly successful and lasted only nine minutes, yielding seven pages from nine different articles. Each indentation is another menu level. The options available at each level is in parentheses with the article topic underlined.
182
34. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
Main System Menu (6 items) - selected # 1 Home Service Menu (10 items) - selected #2 Reference Library Menu (14 items) - selected # 1 AAE Menu (4 items) - selected # 1 SE Computer (9 headings) - selected # 1 Computer (4 subheadings) 1. History of Computers 2. How Digital Computers Work 3. Applications 4. Bibliography Generally, students conducted exhaustive searches, selecting nearly all the articles evoked by the search term with little or no discrimination. M a n y used synonyms found in the first search to guide their second search. For the topic " C A T " students were forced to narrow their term, e.g. persian cat. In the case of students seeking information on U F O s the term needed to be broadened or redefined. Unfortunately, their efforts met with some frustration. N o articles surfaced for the terms U F O , Space Craft, Extra-Terrestrial, Outer Space, and Close Encounters. However, the term "Alien" produced five articles. Elation quickly turned to disappointment when the first article began: " A n alien is a foreign-born person who is not a citizen of the country in which he or she resides... (See also: Citizenship; Immigration)." With some encouragement the students entered "Unidentified Flying Object" and were rewarded with one article containing appropriate information. A log was kept of the elapsed time for each search. The younger students were able to conduct their searches as quickly as the older ones. Students used far less time than expected, with four s t u d e n t s / p a i r s finishing in one session. The primary group averaged 14.8 minutes per session while the upper group took an average of 14.5 minutes. A brief multiple choice quiz was given to each student at the conclusion of their search. Questions focused on differences between online and print encyclopedias, C o m p u S e r v e c o m m a n d s , and telecommunications concepts. Out of seven possible, the primary group mean was 5.0 and the upper group mean was 5.6. The only slightly lower average for the younger students demonstrates that they were able to learn the skills and understand the concepts nearly as well as the older students. Following each search students were asked to respond in writing to three open-ended questions:
(1) Was the search helpful in getting information? (2) What was the best thing that happened? (3) What was the worst thing that happened? The first question was answered affirmatively by all students. As regards positive outcomes, responses included: finding much information, having a hard copy, and learning about computers. Due to the sharing of a phone line a number of students were interrupted and had to start over. This was the most frequently cited drawback. Other comments included difficult words, too much information, and too little information. Given the limited amount of instruction on the system and technical difficulties it is surprising the students were generally enthusiastic and satisfied with the experience. N o differences in type of comments were noted between groups. The students reporting difficulty with vocabulary were second graders, illustrating one practical limit with using this text-intensive resource with primary level students. Three questions were asked of the students in a final interview: How did the computer help your study? Where did you get most of your information? What would you do differently next year? Students were unanimous in stating that the computer helped them locate information, with some indicating the access was quicker and data more up-to-date. The primary group gathered most of their information from the online encyclopedia. The upper group obtained information primarily from books or a combination of books and online. In future research the primary group would use the computer even more. The older students said they would change their topic. Both the balance between print and online sources and consideration of topic appropriateness demonstrates the research maturity of the older students as well as their focus on the subject rather than the medium.
Observations Students experienced some difficulty with maneuvering through the menu levels. They were able to use correct commands to make appropriate choices once the proper menu appeared on the screen but had trouble maintaining their sense of position within the menu hierarchy. In general, students were pleased with their
M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
experience. Interestingly, the younger students were able to use the electronic database system as well as the older students. Several suggestions are offered for those introducing online searching, summarised from a previous publication [4]. First, become familiar with the entire system yourself, not only the section you wish to show the students. They have a tendency to explore other areas and create unique search patterns and instructions. Secondly, obtain a separate phone line for use during the searches. Disruptions are both costly and frustrating. Thirdly, provide extensive chalkboard type instruction when explaining menu structure. Help students visualize the invisible aspects of the remote system's format. And, lastly, have younger children work in pairs initially as partners provide valuable interaction. Using experienced students as peer aides will likely facilitate the process.
Further study With some assurance that elementary students can use an online system, a more complicated but potentially richer technology was introduced, that of a compact disk based encyclopedia. The first available C D - R O M disk appropriate for school use was Grolier's The Electronic Encyclopedia. The entire 20 volume full-text and comprehensive index, without pictures, occupies a total of 110 megabytes, approximately one-fifth of the disk. The accompanying software program allows searching for all occurrences of word, phrase or combinations anywhere within the entire encyclopedia, with options for specifying search parameters and word relationships. This unique feature allows searching in ways not possible manually with print materials. Software and database (updated quarterly) cost one-third that of a set of print encyclopedias, making accessibility financially feasible. Given the success of elementary students with online searching through an electronic information service, a study, detailed elsewhere [2], was undertaken to determine and compare their ability to use a more sophisticated and powerful utility. For this study, two gifted and talented classes totalling 52 students were selected. Twenty-six pairs were formed, 14 from the t h i r d / f o u r t h grade combination class and 12 from the sixth grade. All
183
students had some previous experience with microcomputers but not with any electronic searching process. Each pair was given two search problems, one closed (locating the date speed skating was introduced into the Olympics) and one open (data on women's travel in space). Following two introductory sessions, each pair was given an hour long period for each of the two questions. A research assistant observed the process and recorded the verbal exchanges, all key strokes were captured by the computer, and students registered their answers to the questions along with their search terms and sequence. Outcome measures included success in locating accurate answers, time required for searches, and number of conceptual moves such as posing a new query, narrowing or broadening a query, using synonyms, examining title lists, and reading article. Overall, 34 of the 51 (67%) of the searches were judged successful. Not surprising, the sixth graders were considerably more successful than their younger counterparts, 92% (22 of 24) as contrasted with 44% (12% of 27). While searching, 12 pairs used a proximity option to change the boundaries in which terms may appear. The seven sixth grade pairs were successful but all five primary grade pairs were unsuccessful. The mean time for all searches was 36 minutes. N o significant differences were found between the average of 39.4 minutes for the younger group and the 32.2 minutes of the older students. Likewise, comparing number of moves did not yield any significance between groups. The overall average was 21.0 with means of 22.4 and 19.5 for the younger and older groups respectively. Younger students tended to pose actual questions to the system which typically yielded no articles. As regards type of task, the mean time for the open task was greater (41.1 minutes) than that of the closed task (30.2 minutes). The difference was not surprising given that students were looking for multiple facts in the open task. Overall, students in the elementary grades were successful in using a sophisticated and powerful electronic encyclopedia. As expected the more intellectual mature sixth graders where able to function somewhat more effective and efficiently. It would seem that the advanced search features inherent in the CD-ROM version posed difficulty for the younger students and may be beyond their
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M. Teague et al. / Electronic Information Services with Elementary Students
c a p a c i t y to u n d e r s t a n d a n d i m p l e m e n t a p p r o p r i a tely.
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[3] Pruitt, E. and Dowling, K. (1985), Searching for current information online.., how high school library media centers in Montgomery County, Maryland are solving an information problem by using DIALOG, Online, March, pp. 47-60. [4] Teague, M., Teague, G., and Marchionini, G. (1986), The high tech road to research, The Computing Teacher, November, pp. 8-10. [5] Wozny, L. (1982), Online bibliographic searching and student use of information: an innovative teaching approach, School Library Quarterly, 11, pp. 35-12.