INFORMATION-SEEKING PROCESSES AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan BHSc. in Accounting (Hons) Master of Science in Information Management School of Business Information Technology & Logistics College of Business RMIT University August 2013 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. SHAMILA MOHAMED SHUHIDAN 22 August 2013 Acknowledgements Alhamdulilah (Praise be to God), to whom I pray and seek guidance, for giving me the strength to complete this memorable expedition. This thesis is dedicated to all my beloved: especially to my late father, Hj.
Mohamed Shuhidan Ariffin. His words of inspiration and encouragement in finishing this thesis were never ending till now and still linger on. I thank my mother, Hjh. Maimun, my parents in-law, Hj.
Abd Hakim and Hjh. Khadijah, siblings and family-in-law for all their support, attention, sacrifices, prayer and unconditional love. My heartfelt thanks to my beloved husband, Azma Asnawishah and my children, Aiman, Amree and Alisha for always being there with me to encourage and care, and for understanding and giving me the strength to endure this journey. My gratitude is also expressed to all my friends for their continuous help and support along my PhD journey.
My greatest gratitude to Associate Professor Peter Macauley and Dr Sue Reynolds, my two wonderful supervisors for their continuous encouragement, guidance and support of my research. Thank you for your informative suggestions and brilliant ideas, for being understanding mentors, giving me the flexibility to work at my own pace, sharing the tears and helping me to make it through the ups and downs. Your vast experience in this field offered me very valuable and constructive advice to make this thesis come to fruition. Thanks to my main sponsor, the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and my employer, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for supporting me all the way in finishing this thesis.
I would also want to thank my faculty members and the Dean of Faculty of Information Management, UiTM Shah Alam, RMIT School of Business Information Technology & Logistics staff members, and RMIT School Graduate Research Office (SGR) for their words of wisdom and encouragement. I acknowledge the assistance of a proof-reader and statistician, and thank them also Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page iii for encouraging me to write and helping me with my English writing. I also thankful to all the participants and respondents of this research, and many thanks to schools involved, without their contributions, this thesis will not be completed and success. Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page iv Abstract Interest in information behaviour and information seeking has encompassed the school context.
As the Internet has become one of the most important sources of information in supporting primary children’s learning environments, information behaviour and information-seeking by children has become a key issue which requires more in-depth research. Research in the present study was carried out in Australia and Malaysia. This research shows how children seek information within a school context, particularly the processes taken for information-seeking. The research also identifies the challenges faced by school children in seeking information from the Internet.
The research adapted Kuhlthau’s (1993) model of the six stages of the information search process – initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection and presentation – in order to address the research objectives. The research involved three phases of data collection. The first phase involved a broad survey (quantitative data) in order to allow generalisation of results from a primary school population to identify the usage, knowledge and challenges of using the Internet in the school setting. The next phase was observation.
As the research focused on the information-seeking processes undertaken by primary school children, observation was the best way to carry out the investigation. It involved observation of children seeking information from the Internet as they performed information-seeking tasks in 20-minute sessions. Three sets of tasks were set. The observations were aided by the use of a checklist and note taking.
The checklist was based on the Kuhlthau (1993) model of information search process (ISP), and the note taking served as a memory aid that contained extensive detail from the observations. The final phase of the research involved interviews (qualitative data) with the teachers, directed at determining the primary school children’s information behaviour and how they undertook information- seeking in the school settings. Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page v The research provides an understanding of information-seeking processes among primary school children and makes recommendations for librarians and information technology specialists on the design elements of information retrieval systems and online materials for primary school children based on the behavioural and information-seeking approaches used by the children and their teachers. A modified model of information-seeking processes is proposed.
These modifications incorporate the use of the Internet in seeking information in the school environment. Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page vi List of abbreviations ABS Australia Bureau of Statistics CIA Central Intelligence Agency DEECD Department of Education and Early Childhood Development FUSE Find, Use and Share Education ICT Information and communications technologies ISP Information search process KSSR Kurrikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah MAMPU Malaysian Administrative Modernizations and Management Planning Unit MCMC Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission NAPLAN The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy PMR Penilaian Menengah Rendah RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology or RMIT University SCONUL Society of College, National and University Libraries SPM Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences STPM Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia UPSR Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah VELS Victorian Essential Learning Standards YDPA Yang Di Pertuan Agong Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page vii Table of contents 1 Overview and Context of the Research .2 Rationale for the Research 1 1.6 Research Methodology and Approach 5 1.8 Contribution of Research 7 1.10 Organisation of the Thesis 10 1.11 Summary 13 2 Setting the Cultural Context and Background of Australia and Malaysia.1 Political and Economic Systems in Australia 17 2.1 Political and Economic Systems in Malaysia 19 2.4 The Education System in Australia 21 2.1 Overview of Primary Education in Victoria, Australia 23 2.5 The Education System in Malaysia 24 2.1 Overview of Primary Education in Malaysia 27 2.6 Internet Usage in Australia and Malaysia 29 2.1 Internet Usage in Schools 33 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page viii 2.7 Culture and Education 36 2.1 Definition and Elements 36 2.2 Elements in Culture 36 2.3 How Cultural Dimensions Affect Online Education 38 2.4 Culture in Malaysia and Australia 40 2.8 Summary 42 3 Literature Review .2 Information-Seeking – Definition and Concepts 44 3.3 Information-Seeking Processes and Children 46 3.1 Children’s Intellectual Development and Information Processing Theory 47 3.4 Models in Information-Seeking 52 3.2 The Ellis Model 53 3.5 Johnson’s Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking 56 3.1 Conceptual Framework Development 63 3.6 Internet Use by Primary School Children 67 3.7 Children’s Knowledge, Literacy and Research Skills in Using the Internet70 3.8 Tasks and Learning Processes 72 3.9 Teachers’ and Teacher Librarian Guidance 74 3.10 Information-Seeking and Culture 77 3.11 Summary 78 4 Research Methods and Approach .1 Introduction 79 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page ix 4.2 Mixed Methods Approach 80 4.4 Case Study Research 86 4.5 Data Collection Techniques 90 4.7 Procedure for Data Collection 97 4.1 Questionnaires and Observation Procedures 97 4.8 Development of Themes 98 4.1 Phase 1: Initial and Pilot Study 105 4.2 Phase 2: Data Collection 106 4.3 Phase 3: Data Analysis 107 4.11 Validity and Reliability 109 4.12 Summary 110 5 Primary School Children’s Information-Seeking Process: Students’ Perspectives .2 Section A - School Children’s Background 112 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page x 5.1 Having Computer and Internet Access at Home (Computer vs Internet) 114 5.3 Section B - School Children’s Knowledge, Usage and Challenges of the Internet 115 5.1 Purpose of Using the Internet in the School Environment 117 5.2 Type of Information 121 5.3 Type of Resources 124 5.4 Assistance in Finding Information on the Internet 125 5.5 Challenges in Finding Information on the Internet 126 5.6 Favourite Search Engine 129 5.4 Section C - Information-Seeking Process 130 5.6 Non-Parametric Analysis 132 5.7 Summary 136 6 Observation of Primary School Children’s Information-Seeking .2 Case Profile - Australia 139 6.9 AUS4 161 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page xi 6.3 Case Australia (Observation) Summary 168 6.5 Case Profile : Malaysia 169 6.7 MSIA18 and MSIA29 186 6.7 Case Malaysia (Observation) Summary 191 6.8 Summary 192 7 Teachers’ Perspectives of Primary School Childrens’ Information Seeking .2 Information-Seeking Process of Primary School Children in Australia195 7.3 Case Australia (Intereview) Summary 202 7.4 Information-Seeking Process for Primary School Children in Malaysia208 7.2 Selection Stage 213 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page xii 7.5 Case Malaysia (Interview) Summary 221 7.2 Research Context of Findings and Discussion 229 8.3 Cross-Case Analysis: Observation and Interview Findings 232 8.1 Cross-Case Analysis: Interpretations from Observation of Students’ Information-Seeking Processes 233 8.2 Summary of Cross-Case Observation Analysis 250 8.3 Cross-Case Analysis of Teacher Interviews 251 8.4 Summary of Cross-Case Analysis of Teacher Interviews 261 8.4 Cross-Case Thematic Analysis (Australia and Malaysia Cases) 262 8.1 Similarities in Findings 264 8.2 Differences in Findings 266 8.5 “What are the processes undertaken by school children when searching for information for academic purposes from the Internet?” 270 8.6 “What are the successful factors and challenges that primary school children face when searching information from the Internet for academic purposes?” 272 8.2 Information Need 276 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page xiii 8.5 Challenges in Finding Information from the Internet 281 8.1 ISP Framework Element: Input – Users (Children/Students) 287 9.2 ISP Framework Element: Input – Information Environment (Internet Usage) 288 9.3 ISP Framework Element: Input – (Task/Assignment) 289 9.4 ISP Framework Element: Process - Information-Seeking Processes Based on Kuhlthau’s Model 291 9.5 ISP framework Element: Output – Information Found by the Students/Submission of Completed Assignment 292 9.2 Barriers in the Information-Seeking Process among Primary School Children 294 9.4 Network Accessibility /Digital Divide 297 9.3 Contribution to Theory 300 9.4 Contribution to Practice 300 9.5 Limitations of the Study 303 9.6 Future Research Directions 304 9. 306 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page xiv Appendix A: Survey Questionnaires. 330 Appendix B: Observation Checklists.
333 Appendix C: Teacher Interview Questions (Semi-Structured). 336 Appendix D: Plain Language Statement. 340 Appendix E: Consent Form. 341 Information-seeking processes among primary school children in Australia and Malaysia Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan Page xv List of figures Figure 1.1: Map of Australia .2: Map of Malaysia .3: Number of schools by states and territories in 2011 .4: Type of Internet activities undertaken at home by child Internet users (2009) .5: Internet users in selected countries (per 100 inhabitants) .6: Malaysian Internet users by usage .7: Malaysian Internet users by age group (2006/2008) .8: Online educational resources (FUSE).9: Education Web TV .1: Bloom’s taxonomy by Bloom & Krathwohl, (1956) .2: New version of Bloom’s Taxonomy by Anderson & Krathwohl (2001) .