Abstracts - Earli

systems (Dustdar & Gall, 2003). Therefore, providing support for humans to locate task-objectiverelevant information could be beneficial, leading to shorter information search time and a swiftertask accomplishment. From the literature it is not clear, however, how this support could beprovided. There is a paucity of data concerning the mechanisms humans employ to present andlocate relevant information. The present work addresses this shortcoming by proposing andempirically testing a data-driven psychological model of localising relevant information inunstructured data sets.Students’ and teachers’ judging behaviour when searching the World Wide Web for information.Amber Walraven, Open University of the Netherlands, NetherlandsSaskia Brand-Gruwel, Open University of the Netherlands, NetherlandsEls Boshuizen, Open University of the Netherlands, NetherlandsSolving information problems is a complex cognitive skill that students of all ages are supposed tohave. However, research has shown that many students have problems with this skill. Judging andselecting information is especially problematic for children as well as adults (Britt & Aglinskas,2002). This study focuses on the way students and teachers of third year pre-university classessearch, judge and select information on the WWW. Special attention is given to the criteriastudents and teachers use to judge and select information. Twenty-three students and twelveteachers received two tasks from different domains (physics, geography or language). Afterreading the task, participants wrote down their prior knowledge about the subject matter involved.Then, they had 30 minutes per task to find information to accomplish it. Useful information foundon the WWW could be copied into a Word-file. Tasks were made individually and participantswere instructed to think aloud. A day later, participants gathered in groups for a discussion. In thisdiscussion the criteria they used for selecting information were elaborated on. Results show thatthe criteria students mention are not always the same criteria they use while solving informationproblems. Criteria such as audience, author, references and goal were only mentioned and notused. Students also admit that they do not use these criteria while searching the WWW. Teachersare more aware of the origin and author of a site while searching information, but this is only truefor tasks in their own subject area. When they lack prior knowledge, judging information becomesmore difficult. Britt, M.A., & Aglinskas, C. (2002). Improving students’ ability to identify and usesource information. Cognition and Instruction, 20(4), 485-522.K 1231 August 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 3.67 BékésySymposiumStudents’ values, moral and democratic education in multiculturalsocietiesChair: Cees Klaassen, Radboud University, NetherlandsOrganiser: Cees Klaassen, Radbound University, NetherlandsDiscussant: Geert ten Dam, University of Amsterdam, NetherlandsThe aims of the symposia are to present potential educational strategies, contents and frameworksfor the development and empowerment of the multi dimensional systems of values, moral and– 609 –