Student internet usage, perceptions, and training needs: implications for campus leaders.

Marxen, Vajdieh M. ; Marxen, Dale E. ; Baird, Jane E. 等

INTRODUCTION

As Internet usage on college campuses escalates, many questions arise for those who are entrusted with the leadership role in training campus Internet users. At many universities, campus librarians assume this role (e.g. Pascoe, Applebee & Clayton, 1996; Cannon, 1996), while at other universities these duties may be assumed by technology specialists or left to professors to handle in their courses on an as-needed basis. For whomever assumes this role, several questions need to be addressed in regard to how the Internet is being utilized and what types of training are needed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Internet use. For example, are students primarily using the Internet for e-mail, or are they making use of Internet resources on the World Wide Web (WWW) for course assignments and research? How do students evaluate the reliability of information on the WWW? Would increased training encourage students to use the Internet more frequently or assist them in using the Internet more effectively?

Few studies have examined student Internet usage and perceptions of the value of Internet information. Accordingly, several studies (Perry, Perry & Curlin, 1998; Lubans, 1998; Tillotson, Cherry, & Clinton, 1995) have called for increased evaluation of student Internet usage. While the explosion of information resources on the Internet, the development of utilities such as Gopher, and especially the development of the World Wide Web increased the level of access to Internet information resources (Rosenthal & Spiegelman, 1996), prior studies indicate the Internet was used by college students largely to send and receive e-mail (Tillotson et al., 1995; Cannon, 1996; Perry et al., 1998). The literature also includes calls for increased student training on Internet usage (Tate, 1996; Pask & Snow, 1995; Cannon, 1996; Lubans, 1996; Malone & Videon, 1997). Given the rapidly increasing amount of information on the WWW and the apparent increase in student use of the Internet, it is critical for campus leaders to continuously monitor and assess student Internet use and training needs. This paper reports results of a survey designed to determine whether students are now taking more advantage of available Internet resources than evidenced in prior studies and to determine whether Internet related training is needed at the University level.

In the next section, prior literature regarding student Internet use will be discussed. Next, a discussion of the survey and data-gathering method will be presented, followed by results of the survey. Results are compared by class rank (i.e. freshmen) to determine if student Internet usage and training needs differ depending on the student's year in school. Lastly, implications of the findings for librarians, technology specialists, and professors are discussed.

EXTANT LITERATURE

There are few published studies exploring the nature of student Internet use. Those studies addressing the types of activities students undertake via the Internet all indicate e-mail as the primary reason for students connecting to the Internet. For example, Tillotson, Cherry, and Clinton (1995) conducted an on-line survey at the University of Toronto. The majority of the 505 student respondents reported using the Internet for personal use (46 percent), with only 14 percent using the WWW for research and eight percent using it to complete other course assignments. Graduate students reported a higher usage for research compared to undergraduates. Cannon (1996) surveyed several hundred undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and found that 52 percent used the Internet. Of those using the Internet, 73 percent used e-mail, while only 31 percent used the Internet for research. However, the more Internet experience students had, the more they used the Internet for research. Lubans (1998) surveyed freshman using an on-line questionnaire and found that, when asked how often they used the WWW compared to other reference sources, half of the students indicated they used the WWW 20 percent of the time and other resources 80 percent of the time, while 14 percent said they used the WWW 80 percent of the time and other resources 20 percent of the time. The WWW and other resources were used equally by 26 percent of the students. Perry, Perry and Curlin (1998) surveyed 548 undergraduates and found that 43.8 percent used the Internet at least once per week, with 80 percent using e-mail and 48.3 percent accessing information through the Internet.

In regard to students who use the Internet for research and assignments, extant research indicates problems in efficiency and effectiveness of Internet searches. Tillotson et al. (1995) found that students had limited success in finding the information they searched for on the Internet, with 46 percent finding nothing they were looking for, and only 23 percent finding at least a satisfactory amount of needed information. He and Jacobson (1996) randomly surveyed 96 Internet users at the State University of New York, Albany library. Those using the Internet for research were mainly searching for documents (76 percent). The majority of users found the Internet to be very useful (55 percent) or somewhat useful (42 percent). Only three percent did not consider the Internet useful. While 45 percent of all respondents indicated that they could find what they needed on the Internet, and only 36 percent of the participants cited the Internet as the most important resource. Lubans (1998) found that, when students were asked about how the WWW affected their research, 60 percent responded that the WWW increased the number of sources they found, while only 20 percent thought the WWW improved the quality of their work.

The lack of success in Internet information retrieval and the predominance of e-mail usage could point to a need for Internet-related training on college campuses. Cannon (1996) found that only six percent of students surveyed reported having formal training in Internet use. Kaczor and Jacobson (1996) also found that the majority of users (54 percent) learned the Internet by themselves, while only 14 percent reported having formal instruction on Internet use. Similarly, Lubans (1998) found that 88 percent of student respondents learned to use the Internet mainly by "surfing" on their own.

Other authors have noted a need for increased assistance in searching methods to prepare students to find needed information out of the vast amount of resources available through the Internet (Pask & Snow, 1995; Malone & Videon, 1997). Malone and Videon (1997) examined citation patterns in undergraduate papers and found evidence that students who took Internet training classes referenced more electronic resources in their papers compared to students lacking instruction, indicating that training might increase the students' utilization of Internet resources.

A need for training students regarding accuracy of Internet information sources has also been strongly advocated in the literature. Several authors have argued for the need for training on how to assess quality in Internet-based information, since much of that information is not subject to any quality review prior to publication (Tate, 1996; Pask & Snow, 1995; Cannon, 1996; Lubans, 1996).

In summary, studies to date indicate that the majority of students taught themselves how to navigate the Internet and used the Internet primarily for e-mail or recreation. Also, students reported difficulty in finding what they needed when using the Internet to search for information. Additionally, studies have pointed to the need for training in improving effectiveness and also determining the reliability of information. With Internet usage increasing rapidly, this study seeks to determine if students now use the Internet more for research, how successful they feel they are in doing so, and whether they perceive that training would improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their Internet usage.

METHODOLOGY

An original survey was developed, because there was no existing survey that addressed the extent and nature of student Internet usage as well as the need for Internet training. Ideas for several of the questions came from surveys by Tillotson et al. (1995) and He and Jacobson (1996). The survey instrument was pretested by several librarians, graduate students, and undergraduate students and was revised based on their recommendations.

User characteristics and Internet activity were assessed using 24 questions. The questions included basic demographic information (class, status, major, age, and gender), as well as background information concerning the students' years of experience using the Internet. To determine the nature of Internet use by students, questions addressed their frequency of Internet use, the percentage of time the Internet is used as opposed to more traditional resources and why the Internet would be used instead of other resources. To determine if students question the reliability of Internet information, they were asked how satisfied they are with the information's reliability and how they determine if the information is reliable. Additional questions addressed the students' success in finding needed information on the Internet and their perceptions of the usefulness of the Internet as a resource. To address the issue of training, students were asked how they learned to use the Internet, their level of expertise in using the Internet, and whether training would increase the frequency or improve the effectiveness of their Internet usage. The survey questions are reproduced in the Appendix. As this study was intended to be an exploratory study for the purpose of information gathering only, no hypotheses are proposed.

During the spring of 1998, the surveys were distributed to students in preselected classes representing a wide range of disciplines. Unlike prior studies using on-line surveys, the surveys were completed during class time to allow non-Internet users and infrequent users to participate in the survey and thereby sample the student population as a whole rather than only Internet users. A total of 289 surveys were distributed and completed. Responses were summarized using SPSS for Windows software. Comparisons were made for responses by class rank using one-way Analysis of Variance for continuous variables and Chi-square analysis for categorical variables to determine if significant differences existed.

RESULTS

Demographics

Students were asked to answer questions regarding their gender, class level, major, years of Internet experience, frequency of Internet use, and means of accessing the Internet. Demographic details are summarized in Table 1. A slight majority of subjects in this study (57 percent) were female. As may be expected by the underlying student populations, the great majority of subjects (87 percent) were undergraduates. A portion of the students were enrolled in each of the existing colleges at the university, with the highest percentage coming from the College of Business.

As indicated in Table 2, 20 percent of the respondents had less than one year of Internet experience, while the majority (59 percent) had from one to three years of experience. One person had seven years of Internet experience. When asked about the frequency of their Internet usage, 35 percent of the students reported using it everyday, 30 percent reported using it several times a week and 18 percent reported using it once a week. Only one percent had never used the Internet. The most frequent method of accessing the Internet was from home via modem, followed closely by use of the academic computer center on campus. A small number of students (10 percent) gave a variety of other responses, which included accessing the Internet using a friend or relative's computer. Many students accessed the Internet from more than one location, so that the totals do not add to I 00 percent.

Internet Use

The students were asked which of several types of activities they used the Internet for, with the option to add other items not listed. They were instructed to check all items that applied. Of all the respondents, 83.2 percent reported using the Internet when completing homework assignments, 78.3 percent used e-mail for personal use, 71.0 percent used the Internet for recreation, 43.0 percent used e-mail for homework purposes, 39.5 percent searched for employment or career-related information, 28.3 percent downloaded software, and 13.3 percent used the Internet for a variety of other purposes. Chi-square analyses indicated that the only responses which differed significantly at a .05 level, based on year in school, were in regard to looking for employment and career-related information and the "other" category, which represented work and investment-related tasks. A higher percentage of seniors and graduate students indicated these activities, as compared to the underclassman.

When seeking information for classroom assignments, the mean percentage of time various information sources were used was: Internet, 33.5 percent; books, 32.3 percent; journals, 27.9 percent; librarian, 3.8 percent; and other, 2.5 percent. ANOVA results indicated that the use of the Internet did not vary significantly by the students' year in school. However, seniors reported using books the least, while freshmen used them the most often (p=.008). The reported use of journals was higher for upperclassmen and graduate students (p=.01).

The students were asked why they use the Internet for research as opposed to other, more traditional information sources. The two major reasons for using the Internet were: (1) information is more current (chosen by 76.1 percent of respondents), and (2) information is easier to retrieve (71.6 percent). In addition, 37.4 percent indicated that Internet information is more comprehensive, 20.1 percent reported that information can be retrieved faster, and eight percent said they use the Internet because it is more enjoyable than using traditional sources. Chi-square analyses indicated no significant differences by year in school, although a slightly greater percentage of underclassman thought the Internet information was more comprehensive, as opposed to the upperclassmen and graduate students (p=.06).

The students were asked several questions eliciting their perceptions of the Internet's usefulness as a resource and their degree of success in finding what they need on the Internet.

The responses are summarized in Table 3. All responses were based on a 7-point Likert scale, with a seven being the most positive response. Overall, students in all class levels considered the Internet a fairly important (mean = 5.43) and useful (mean = 5.09) resource, but did not indicate as strongly that the Internet was the most important resource (mean = 4.28). On average, students reported a moderate degree of success in finding needed information through the Internet, but these responses varied significantly by class level. There was a consistent trend whereby the reported degree of success in finding most of the information needed for assignments decreased by year in school, with the freshmen being most satisfied (p=.02). The groups did not differ significantly in terms of their ability to find specific information using the WWW search tools. Similarly, all groups were equally likely to use the Internet when faced with a difficult assignment.

When the students were asked to compare the time they spent searching for information on the Internet to that spent searching other sources, the results were: 46 percent spent less time, 32.2 percent spent the same amount of time, and 19.4 percent spent more time, while 2.4 percent did not answer the question. Results did not differ by year in school. This indicates that although the students were not always effective in finding what they wanted, they viewed the Internet as more efficient than other traditional resources.

Perceived Reliability of Internet Information

The average satisfaction with the reliability of the information found on the Internet, on a scale from one (Very Unsatisfied) to seven (Very Satisfied), was 5.09, indicating moderate satisfaction. Although freshmen were most satisfied (mean = 5.29) and graduate students were least satisfied (mean = 4.87), the differences were not statistically significant. When asked how they determine Internet information reliability, 65.7 percent of the students said they determine the reliability of the information by the reputation of the organization that provides the information, 50.2 percent reported that they compare it with other data sources, 41.9 percent rely on their instructor to provide them with a reliable site, 21.5 percent always assume the Internet is reliable, and 3.8 percent gave miscellaneous individual responses, none of which was repeated. The results differed significantly by group for the responses to "I always assume it is reliable (p=.01), with the percentages lower for upperclassmen and graduate students than for underclassman, and "by the reputation of the organization or source of the information," with percentages increasing by class level (p=.01). That is, underclassman were more likely to always assume the information is reliable, whereas upperclassmen are more likely to look at the quality of the organization or source presenting the information.

Training, Expertise and Ease of Use

The students indicated that they had learned most of what they know about the Internet by teaching themselves (87.2 percent), although 35.3 percent reported having some formal classroom instruction. Only 6.6 percent of respondents indicated receiving instruction by librarians and 1.4 percent received instruction from the academic computing center on campus, while 17.6 percent had received some assistance from friends or relatives. The groups differed significantly in terms of assistance from friends or relatives, with a much greater percentage of freshmen reporting assistance from those sources. The survey results indicate that 76.1 percent of the respondents perceived that additional training would result in more effective use of the Internet, while only 45.3 percent reported that additional training would encourage more frequent Internet use. Responses did not vary significantly by year in school. On a scale from one (Very Difficult) to seven (Very Easy), the mean was 5.27 for the ease/difficulty of learning to use the Internet. There was no significant between-group difference. The majority of the students (68.9 percent) ranked themselves as intermediate-level Internet users, while 21.8 percent indicated they were beginners and only 6.9 percent considered themselves experts (2.4 percent did not answer the question). There was no significant difference among class levels.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the user population surveyed for this report, students were most apt to be using the Internet for their homework and research, whereas in past studies students were most apt to be using the Internet for e-mail only. While the majority of students do heavily use the Internet for e-mail and recreation, they are also using the Internet for homework and research because they view Internet-based information as more current and easier to retrieve than information from other sources, such as books and journals. These results, when compared to prior studies, suggest that students are now more aware of the resources available on the WWW. This result was consistent for all the students, indicating students are not increasing their Internet usage as they progress through school. When assignments require the students to do research, students use the Internet more often than any other resource, but only 33 percent of the time.

The students were moderately satisfied with the reliability of information provided on the Internet. While some students reported employing various methods of checking its reliability, such as knowing an organization's reputation or comparing the information to other data sources, many are relying on the recommendations of their instructors, and an alarming 21.5 percent indicated they always assumed the information is reliable. This is cause for concern, since information posted on the WWW is not often subject to review for accuracy. Some students are apparently not aware that they cannot trust all information on the WWW, and others simply rely on their instructors to tell them what is reliable. The degree to which a problem exists depends on the types of information students are extracting from the WWW. There are an increasing number of journals available on the WWW, and many libraries now offer access to their resources through the Internet. Since these types of resources involve an editorial process, reliability should not be an issue. However, anyone can post information to the WWW, regardless of their expertise. As students increasingly rely on the Internet for research, it is critical to increase awareness of potential problems with information reliability. Students need to be prepared to critically evaluate information to effectively utilize the WWW in their careers, when they will not be able to rely on instructors to tell them which sites are reliable. One positive result was that the upperclassmen and graduate students did not assume the information was reliable as often as the underclassman did.

Most of the students in this study learned to use the Internet by themselves, thought it was fairly easy to learn, and considered themselves intermediate-level Internet users. Results indicated that the students need some assistance in becoming successful at finding needed information on the WWW. This was even more evident at the upper class levels, possibly due to those students having more complex or open ended assignments, as opposed to specific, directed assignments at the freshmen and sophomore levels. The majority of respondents indicated that additional training would not influence the frequency with which they use the Internet, but indicated that training would increase the effectiveness of their Internet usage. Another interesting finding was that, even though students did not report a high degree of effectiveness and efficiency in searching for information on the WWW, 46 percent reported that finding information on the Internet required less time than searching in more traditional sources. This suggests that students view the Internet as an efficient resource for information retrieval.

These results suggest that a proactive approach is needed in establishing Internet training at the college level. Merely directing students to make use of the Internet in completing course assignments may not prepare them to use the resources effectively and efficiently. However, prior research has indicated that even when training is offered on campus, students may not take advantage of it (Kaczor & Jacobson, 1996), so creative ways need to be employed to encourage or require Internet training. One method of doing so would be to incorporate Internet training into the curriculum. For this to be successful, there must be someone responsible for the leadership role on campus. Whether this is best done in a separate course taught by librarians or technology specialists, or incorporated into other required courses, is an area for future study. Regardless, librarians or technology specialists would be most likely involved at least in training of faculty, if not training of the students. Strong leadership is needed in order to ensure that all students and faculty are trained in efficient and effective use of electronic resources and in methods to critically evaluate the sources of Internet information. Without proper technology leadership, students may face the inefficiency of learning on their own, and may develop misconceptions about the quality of various Internet sources. The results of this study indicate that training is needed as early as the freshman year.

LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Despite the fact that a multi-institution survey to assess students' Internet usage would be more comprehensive, this study was limited to one university. However, there is nothing to indicate that students at this university differ from those at other four year public institutions. Additionally, since there was a 100 percent response rate, there is no nonresponse bias potential that is common with other surveys. Survey methodology elicits the perceptions of the respondents only; this study did not attempt to measure actual Internet use or training deficiencies of students. This study does not explore differences in Internet use and training needs based on other variables such as gender, age, or academic major. Further study of the benefits of different types of training, how it should be administered, and by whom, are warranted.

APPENDIX

Survey Questions

1. What is your academic status?

-- Freshman

-- Sophomore

-- Junior

-- Senior

-- Graduate Student

-- Other (please specify) --

2. What is your major? --

3. What is your age? --

4. What is your gender? --

--Female

--Male

5. How often do you use the Internet (e.g. e-mail, World Wide Web)?

-- Every day

-- Several times a week

-- Once a week

-- Once a month

-- Rarely

-- Never (Please skip the remaining questions)

6. Where do you access the Internet? (Please check all that apply)

-- Academic computer center

-- College/Departmental computer lab

-- Home, via modem

-- MSU Library

-- Work

-- Other (please describe) --

7. How long have you been using the Internet? --

8.. Why do you use the Internet? (Please check all that apply)

-- To do my homework

-- To send e-mail for personal use

-- To send e-mail for homework or academic research

-- Downloading software

-- Recreation

-- Looking for employment or career-related information

-- Other (please describe) --

9. How did you learn to use the Internet? (please check all that apply)

-- Self-taught

-- Classroom instruction

-- One-on-one assistance from a librarian

-- Session by librarian

-- Academic Computing Center workshops)

-- Other (please describe) --

10. Please indicate the ease/difficulty of learning to use the Internet by circling the appropriate number on the following scale:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

11. When seeking information for classroom assignments what percentage of the time do you use: (The sum total of all responses should be 100%)

-- The Internet

-- Books

-- Journals, newspaper and magazines

-- Librarian

-- Other (please describe) -- 12. Why would you use the Internet instead of other information sources? (check all that apply)

-- Information is easier to retrieve

-- Information is more comprehensive

-- Information is more current

-- Information can be retrieved faster

-- Retrieving information is more enjoyable

-- Other (please describe) --

13. How satisfied are you with the reliability of the information you find on the Internet?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

14. How do you determine the reliability of the information you find on the Internet? (check all that apply)

-- I always assume it's reliable

-- If the instructor provides the site I assume it's reliable

-- By the reputation of the organization or source of the information

-- I compare it with other data sources

-- Other (please describe)

15. Would additional training encourage you to use the Internet more frequently?

-- Yes

-- No

-- Not sure

16. Would additional training help you to use the Internet more effectively?

-- Yes

-- No

-- Not sure

17. What impact has using the Internet had on the time you spend searching for information compared to only using traditional search methods (e.g. on-line library catalogs, printed books and magazines)?

-- More time

-- Same time

-- Less time

18. 1 feel that I can find most of the things I need for my research or assignments on the Internet.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

19. Data and other information on the Internet have become the most important resources for my research or assignments.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

20. 1 consider the Internet an important information resource.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

21. How often do you use the Internet when you have a difficult assignment or research topic?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

22. The Internet is useful to me for completing my research and/or homework.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

23. More often than not, I can find exactly what I want by using Internet search tools such as Lycos, Yahoo, or Infoseek to find specific information.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

24. How would you rate your expertise to use the Internet?

-- Expert

-- Intermediate

-- Beginner

REFERENCES

Cannon, K. (1996). Undergraduates and Electronic Resources: Patterns of Usage and Understanding. Unpublished Master's Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

He, P. W. & Jacobson, T.E. (1996). What are they doing with the Internet? A study of user information seeking behaviors. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, I (1), 31-51.

Kaczor, S. A. & Jacobson, T. E. (1996). Bibliographic instruction for the Internet: Implications of an end-user survey. Research Strategies, 14 (4), 214-223.

Lubans, J. (1998, April). How first-year university students use and regard Internet resources. Duke University [On-line], p. 14. Available: http://www.lib.duke.edu/staff/orgnztn/lubans/firstyear.html

Malone, D. & Videon, C. (1 997). Assessing undergraduate use of electronic resources: A quantitative analysis of works cited. Research Strategies, 15 (3), 151-158.

Pascoe, C., Applebee, A. & Clayton, P. (1996). Tidal wave or ripple? The impact of Internet on the academic. Australian Library Review, 13, 147-155.

Pask, J. M. & Snow, C.E. (1 995). Undergraduate instruction and the Internet. (The library and undergraduate education). Library Trends, 44 (2), 306-318.

Perry, T. T., Perry, L. A. & Hosack-Curlin, K. (1998). Internet use by university students: An interdisciplinary study on three campuses. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, 8 (2), 136-141.

Rosenthal, M. & Spiegelman, M. (1996). Evaluating use of the Internet among academic reference librarians. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 1 (1), 53-67.

Tate, M. (1996). Teaching critical evaluation skills for World Wide Web resources. (includes informational Web page checklist). Computers in Libraries, 16 (10), 49-55.

Tillotson, J., Cherry, J. & Clinton, M. (1995). Internet use through the University of Toronto library: Demographics, destinations, and users' reactions. Information Technology and Libraries, 14 (3), 190-198.

Vajdieh M. Marxen, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Dale E. Marxen, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Jane E. Baird, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Robert C. Zelin II, Minnesota State University, Mankato

TABLE 1
DEMOGRAPHICS

 Number Percent

Gender
Female 166 57
Male 123 43

Class Rank
Freshman 26 9
Sophomore 57 20
Junior 88 30
Senior 84 29
Graduate and Post-baccalaureate 34 12

College
Business 109 37.7
Education 73 25.3
Social and Behavioral Science 49 17.0
Science, Engineering and Technology 30 10.4
Arts and Humanities 11 3.8
Allied Health and Nursing 5 1.7
Undeclared 12 4.1

TABLE 2
STUDENT BACKGROUND WITH INTERNET

 Number Percent

Years of Internet Experience
<1 57 20
1-2 84 30
2-3 88 29
3-4 38 13
4-5 11 4
5-6 7 2
7 or more 1 0

Frequency of Internet Use
Every day 101 35
Several times a week 86 30
Once a week 53 18
Once a month 15 3
Rarely 32 11
Never 2 1

Means of Accessing the Internet
Via modern from home 174 60
Academic Computer Center on campus 152 53
Other campus computers 66 29
Computers at work 40 14
Other 29 10

TABLE 3
INTERNET USAGE: MEAN RESPONSES

 Mean Mean Mean
Statement (Fresh) (Soph) (Juniors)

I consider the Internet an 5.15 5.36 5.57
important information source. *

The Internet is useful to me for 4.88 4.86 5.27
completing my research and/or
homework. *

Data and other information on 4.12 4.35 4.24
the Internet have become the
most important resources for my
research or assignments *

I feel that I can find most 4.81 5.00 4.99
of the things I need for my
research or assignments on the
Internet *

More often than not, I can find 5.00 5.20 5.10
exactly what I want by using
Internet search tools to find
specific information. *

How often do you use the 4.88 4.71 5.14
Internet when you have a
difficult assignment or
research topic? **

 Mean Mean Mean
Statement (Seniors) (Grads) (all)

I consider the Internet an 5.41 5.52 5.43
important information source. *

The Internet is useful to me for 5.26 4.72 5.09
completing my research and/or
homework. *

Data and other information on 4.37 4.14 4.28
the Internet have become the
most important resources for my
research or assignments *

I feel that I can find most 4.67 4.16 4.79 ***
of the things I need for my
research or assignments on the
Internet *

More often than not, I can find 4.96 4.72 5.00
exactly what I want by using
Internet search tools to find
specific information. *

How often do you use the 5.10 4.72 4.97
Internet when you have a
difficult assignment or
research topic? **

* On a Scale from One (Strongly Disagree) to Seven (Strongly Agree)

** On a Scale from One (Never) to Seven (Always)

*** Between-group differences significant at the .05 level