To read this content please select one of the options below:

Employing a visualized searching system to assist elementary students’ tactics and success of storybook searching

Po-Yao Chao (Department of Information Communication, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li, Taiwan)
Chia-Ching Lin (Graduate Institute of Science Education and Environmental Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
Ming-Shiang Wu (Department of Information Communication, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li, Taiwan)

Online Information Review

ISSN: 1468-4527

Article publication date: 12 June 2017

620

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a visualized search system utilizing graphical images to represent the story elements and concepts to help elementary students describe and seek their desired storybooks; and second, to explore the effect of the proposed visualized search system on elementary students’ tactics, success, and motivation for seeking storybooks.

Design/methodology/approach

A quasi-experimental approach was conducted with a sample of 61 elementary students in this study. The students’ tactics, motivation and the success of their storybook searching were addressed as dependent variables for further comparisons of the visualized searching system and a conventional keyword searching system.

Findings

The results revealed that the students in the experimental group exhibited more frequent tactics and greater motivation for storybook searching than those in the control group. Further χ2 analysis indicated a significant relationship between the searching interface and the success of the students’ storybook searching.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a new visual search approach which allows young children to search for storybooks by describing an intended storybook in terms of its characters, objects, or the background colors of the cover page. The findings provide some evidence of the effectiveness of the visualized searching interface in terms of promoting young children’s learning through storybook searching and reading activities.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under Grant Number MOST 103-2511-S-155-001-MY2, MOST 105-2511-S-017-002, MOST 103-2511-S-008-001-MY3.

Citation

Chao, P.-Y., Lin, C.-C. and Wu, M.-S. (2017), "Employing a visualized searching system to assist elementary students’ tactics and success of storybook searching", Online Information Review, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 412-427. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-01-2016-0029

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles