Meta-analyzer: A web-based learning environment for analyzing student information searching behaviors

The rapid progress of computer and network technologies has attracted educational researchers to study the strategies and the effects of applying information technology in learning activities. One difficulty that has been identified for applying information technology in education is the lack of a learning environment that can thoroughly record the logs of using information technologies, such that the teachers can adjust their learning strategies after reviewing the learning behaviors of the students. In this paper, we propose a web-search learning environment based on the meta-index approach, which is able to assist the teachers in analyzing student learning and information seeking behaviors while using search engines for problem solving. An experiment on 79 teachers and 1,343 elementary and junior high school students has been conducted to evaluate the possible benefits of our approach. Experimental results from both the teachers and students showed that the developed learning environment is perceived as quite helpful to the students in conceptualizing the problems to be coped with, as well as in improving their problem-solving ability.