How Effectively Do We Use Search Engines?

Brent Atkinson

CEP 806

IssuesLast year I had my students create

researched based websites on endangered animals. They were given eight days in the computer lab to use

the internet to find answers to a variety of general questions about their

selected animal. During those eight days I found many students getting “lost” in a search engine, unable to

efficiently find the needed information. At the end of the eight days, many

students were far from being through with their research.

Arising QuestionsObserving students using search engines lead me to the following questions:

1. Do students effectively use key words in their searches

2. How often do students use advanced search features to help focus their results?

PredictionsBased on past observations I was able

to make the following predictions:

•If given a question to answer, students type the entire questions into the

search field

•Students are unaware of advanced search features, such as using quotes

or a minus (-) sign in their searches

Explanation of PredictionsI believed students would type the entire

question for one main reason:

The advertising of Ask.com (formerly askjeeves.com) on television will have lead them to believe a search engine is

a “smart” device that can actually answer questions for you.

Explanations, continuedMy belief that students do not use advanced search options came

directly from my observations last year. Whenever I tried to help a

student find an answer and showed them the “advanced

search” link, they expressed that they had never seen that link

before.

Importance of Effective SearchesThe issue of effectively using internet searches is extremely important to our work on research projects. I teach in a school of 1250 students. We have one open computer lab and one traveling laptop cart. This means each teacher is able to use a maximum of 12 days in

the computer lab each year. As you may be imagining, we need to use our

time efficiently.

Importance of Effective Searches

If I can learn how to better prepare my students for finding information before

we enter the computer lab, our research time can be streamlined and

we would have either more time to create the actual website or an entirely different unit could be planned, using

the computers.

Inquiry Plan

Data was collected using two devices:

1. Students completed a questionnaire on search

engine use.2. Students were observed using

search engines to answer given science based question.

Inquiry PlanThis inquiry project was conducted with 110 eighth grade students from four different class periods as research samples.

The sample students were:•Between 12-14 years old•Male and Female •Caucasian, African-American, Asian, and Hispanic•From many different academic achievement levels

Survey Results and Analysis

Search Engine Preference:

81%

6%

4%

4%5%

Google

Yahoo

Ask

Other

No Response

Survey Results and Analysis

Although what search engine a student chooses to use is not of much consequence

when searching the entire web for information, knowing that 81% of students use Google would help in preparation for

searching. I would use Google as my model when teaching students about search

engines, then explain that similar features are found on other search engines as well.

Search Engine Preference:

Survey Results and AnalysisWhat words will students type?

To help answer this question, I categorized the students’ responses

into three groups:

•Key Words•Key Words with Common Words

•Whole Questions

Survey Results and AnalysisKey Words – The student selected only the

important words from the given question.Student example from survey Q1: metric prefixes

Key Words with Common Words – The student did not type the entire question, but included many unnecessary, common words in their

search .Student example from survey Q1: other metric prefixes smaller than

milli- larger than kilo

Whole Question – The student typed the given question, word for word.

Student example from survey Q1: What are some of the other metric prefixes that are smaller than milli- and larger than kilo-?

Survey Results and AnalysisStudent Search Words Results:

25%

41%

34%Keywords

Keywords with CommonWords

Whole Questions

Survey Results and AnalysisAs you see, only 25% of students are effectively

searching using only Key Words. If the three metric prefix example searches from students are typed into Google, the “Key Word” search returns 1,124,000 web

pages. The Key and Common word search returns 38,900 pages and the Whole question search returns

41,800 pages.

When shown the search results, the students quickly saw that it was easier to find the answer to the

question using the Key Words approach. When the students tried the other searches, they found the same

thing. Searches containing only Key Words made finding information much easier and they were able to

find more pages that confirmed original findings.

Survey Results and Analysis

The survey also showed:

•Only 25.5% of students have used the “advanced search” feature on a search

engine

•Only 14% of students know what quotations around search words will do

•Only 8% of students know what a minus (-) sign in a search will do

Insights

Analyzing the preceding data, I see that my original predictions held pretty true. Most of the students (75%) are not using search

engines in the most effective manner. The students who were including more than just Key Words were taking much longer to

find the answers to the questions when given access to the internet. Many were unable to get all the answers in the given

amount of time. The students using just Key Words answered all questions quickly and easily, with lots of time to spare.

While I was observing students search and asking them questions, the majority of students replied that the information they were using to answer the given questions was actually

coming form Google (or the search engine used). Only a handful of students replied that the information was coming from a

website outside of the search engine.

InsightsThat last statement poses a new question:

Do students even know how search engines work? I think they might believe Google is similar to a site like Wikipedia, that houses

the information you are looking for. They are not aware that Google simply brings third party websites to our fingertips (or mouse clicks). Having that knowledge may allow

them to better understand why typing a whole question does not bring back the best results.

InsightsI believe that since many adults had to teach themselves how to search we assume that

students “just know” very similarly to how they seem to “just know” how to use new

technologies.

If given time, students will figure out efficient search strategies, but if we actually spend

time to teach these strategies we will help the students to figure out their “search style”

sooner, allowing them to make better use of the massive amount of information available

on the internet,

Insights

The biggest thing I will take away from this research will be the importance of spending time away from computers

and internet access to plan your research attack.

Students are, in general, not proficient searches and if given free range when in the computer lab they will struggle to

find answers to questions.

SuggestionsFrom this inquiry project, I would suggest to any

teacher who is planning an internet based research project to take two days in the classroom to plan

searches.

Day One: Give the students their questions (or have them develop their own questions) and have them brainstorm Key Words to search for and have them

write them down. Collect the students’ responses and give them feedback.

Day Two: Return the student work and let them see your feedback. Pick out a few examples to show to the class using a data projector. Also show the students

the “advanced search” option on Google.

Suggestions

The students will enter the computer lab the next day with a plan and will likely get a lot more work done. They will also have strategies (advanced search) for when their original Key Words do

not produce the desired information.