Construction of a learning environment supporting learners' reflection: A case of information seeking on the Web

In this study, we design a learning environment that supports reflective activities for information seeking on the Web and evaluate its educational effects. The features of this design are: (1) to visualize the learners' search processes as described, based on a cognitive schema, (2) to support two types of reflective activities, such as "reflection-in-action" and "reflection-on-action", and (3) to facilitate reflective activities by comparing their own search processes to other learners' search processes. We have conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of our design. The experimental results confirm that: (1) the participants' search performance in the instructional group supported by our instructional design improved effectively than in the control group; (2) they changed their ideas about important activities when seeking information on the Web, and (3) they activated their search cycles more than the control group did. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.