The measurement of learning conceptions in web-searching

Jui Feng
Fo Guang University
Jiaosi Shiang, Yilan County, Taiwan

Meilun Shih
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan

Chia-pin Kao
Southern Taiwan University
YongKang City, Tainan County, Taiwan

This paper discusses a study aimed at developing a scale for assessing current university students’ learning conceptions of web-searching. An initial pool of 20 items was developed, and then these items were tested on 407 university students in Taiwan. The final scale for assessing the learning conception of web-searching (LCWS) includes 18 items, with a reliability of 0.96. The LCWS scale may provide educators with valuable information for teaching university students systematically about how to learn from web-searching. Also, for researchers, the scale may be an effective and efficient tool for further investigation of the relationships between university students’ conceptions of learning, approaches to learning, and learning outcomes on web-searching. Finally, the scale score provides students with feedback on their learning conceptions of web-searching and may enable them to be more aware of, and rethink, their web-searching situations and approaches.