Visual search patterns, information selection, and information anxiety during online information problem solving

Abstract Online information problem solving (OIPS) is essential for 21st century information literacy which requires information selection competencies. However, students usually have problems in discriminating information from complex web sources. This study, utilizing eye-tracking technology, aims to examine the relationships among learners’ visual search patterns, information anxiety and task performance in OIPS contexts. In this study, 46 university students volunteered to participate in an OIPS task for solving a landslide problem. Student’ visual behaviors were recorded by eye-trackers during the task and information anxiety was self-reported immediately after the task. Reaction time and task performance were also recorded and scored. Pearson’s correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, cluster analyses and lag sequential analyses (LSA) were conducted. The results show that learners’ eye-tracking measures, information anxiety and task performances are significantly correlated. Specifically, visual attention paid on irrelevant web information significantly predicts learners’ information anxiety positively and task performance negatively. On the other hand, based on eye-tracking measures and reaction time, the participants can be clustered into three groups with different visual search characteristics: Confused, Slow-thinking and Fast-thinking groups. LSA results show that different information selection and attentional control strategies were utilized by different groups, especially for discriminating the relevancy of web information. This study not only bridges the associations among eye-tracking measures, information anxiety and task performances in OIPS contexts, but also successfully uses cluster analyses followed by LSAs to profile the learners’ information processing patterns.