Engineering Graduate Students’ Literature Searching Behaviors

Abstract

In this paper, we drew on Kuiper, Volman and Terwel’s (2008) three aspects of web literacy skills (searchig, reading, and evaluating) and investigated engineering graduate students’ literature searching strategies. Through in-depth interviews and think-aloud protocols, we compared strategies employed by twenty-two engineering graduate students in Taiwan. The findings showed that the students’ literature searching behaviors included searching, reading, and evaluating sources for their research purposes. Implications for enhancing information literacy of engineering students are suggested.