Is it all just Google? The research behaviour of education masters students

Abstract

This study investigated the research behaviour of education masters students. It focused on whether demographic variables such as age, gender, working status, and previous information technology experience influenced information seeking. It also investigated how education students looked for the information they needed for their study, what sources they used, what strategies they used to interrogate those sources, and how they managed and evaluated the information they gathered. The research has been viewed through the lenses of library and information science and education, and used the cognitive approach common to both disciplines. There is a large body of international literature on student information seeking, rather less on the other aspects of the research process, and virtually none in New Zealand on either aspect. Research has shown that the student research process is dominated by the use of electronic tools for finding, using and managing information. This study focused almost entirely on the use and impact of such tools. A mixed methods research design consisting of a questionnaire followed up by six in depth interviews was used to investigate the research behaviour of education masters students. The findings indicated that New Zealand students relied both on print and electronic sources. Like their international counterparts, New Zealand students made frequent use of the internet, but it was not the source they used most often. Course readings, textbooks and the library electronic resources were used more frequently. The participants in this study reported high levels of success using electronic sources, but this was countered by difficulties they reported in managing and evaluating information. The findings suggest that there is a need for instructional support for masters students in the areas of information seeking and in other areas of the research process. The support needs to be seamless and requires the integration of existing services and resources from within the University, as well as the development of new learning opportunities for masters students.