What was I looking for? The influence of task specificity and prior knowledge on students' search strategies in hypertext
Interacting with Computers, 15 (3):
409--428 (June 2003)DOI: 10.1016/S0953-5438(02)00064-4
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of task specificity and prior knowledge on university students' search strategies and incidental learning of a hypertext structure. Psychology and geography students were asked to search a hierarchical hypertext from each domain in order to answer four content-related questions. Question specificity (single vs. multiple target questions) was manipulated. Search time and search patterns showed a limited influence of discipline expertise on students' search strategies. However, strategies were consistent within question types and participants. Moreover, participants had a better incidental memory for the structure of the document in their specialty. The results support a model of document search as a generalized process with a limited influence of domain-related knowledge.