Instruction to promote information-problem solving on the Internet in primary and secondary education students: a Systematic Literature Review

Students in contemporary primary and secondary education often face information-based problems and need to find information themselves and process this information for learning. It is hardly a surprise that nowadays students search the Internet for information in order to solve these problems and complete a learning task. Teachers on the other hand often have the assumption that students are sufficiently skilled to do so, because they browsing the Internet on a daily basis. However, research shows the skills necessary for effective information-problem solving (IPS) and more specific the skills to evaluate sources and information are often underdeveloped. It is widely acknowledged that instruction in IPS is needed, because searching and selection trustworthy information for learning is a complex skill. In this chapter, we present a systematic review concerning effects of instructional programs that intend to foster students’ information-problem solving skills and especially students’ skills to evaluate sources and information. Furthermore, it is analyzed which instructional design principles are used in the design of the instructional programs.