Reflective Online Search Education

• Applicant: Dr. Carolin Hahnel
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521486530

Online information search (OS) competencies are a central component of information literacy, which is essential for participation in modern, highly interconnected information societies. However, little is known to date about how such competencies can be taught effectively, considering interindividual differences in the search process. The preliminary work of the applicants emphasizes the variety of more or less successful search strategies that adolescents and young adults use in their search for information. They also point to heterogeneous learning needs and prerequisites that have not yet been systematically addressed and researched in the teaching of OS competencies. The ROSE project uses the findings from LOIS and its digital technology to capture individual search strategies and investigates how they can be used in a formative assessment with process feedback to teach (reflective) OS competencies in the classroom. In the first phase of the project, the requirements for an instructional intervention for teaching OS competencies in lower secondary education will be identified together with teachers in focus groups and, consequently, the intervention materials integrating the technology-based LOIS approach will be developed. In the second phase of the project, a quasi-experimental pre-post design will be used to quantitatively explore how effective the developed ROSE intervention is compared to a comparative intervention without the LOIS technology. For the pre-post measurement, a simulation-based instrument to assess OS competencies will be developed and piloted, alongside the first phase of the project. The third phase of the project investigates how teachers implement ROSE in everyday classroom practice and which teacher and contextual factors predict a high-quality implementation. Using a mixed-methods design, teachers will be surveyed on how exactly they implement ROSE in their everyday teaching. Based on the described research program, ROSE will provide insights into the effectiveness of an innovative technology-based instructional method for teaching OS competencies in the classroom as well as insights into necessary conditions for a successful implementation in everyday teaching. ROSE exploits the potential of modern use of process data and makes it useful for school-based learning and the implementation of challenging but promising instructional methods (formative assessment). ROSE does not only investigate the effectiveness of the intervention with a highly-controlled design (phase 2), but also captures the necessary teacher attitudes and competencies that are central for a successful implementation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Franziska Baier-Mosch
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Luca Botturi; Professorin Dr. Silvia Giordano; Dr. Martin Hermida