Concept mapping vs. web page hyperlinks as an information retrieval interface – preferences of postgraduate culturally diverse learners. [0122] (original) (raw)
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Cross-cultural understanding of content and interface in the context of e-learning systems
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Abstract The objective of this study was to identify cultural implications and differences through the perceptions of postgraduate students (male and female) at Solusi University, in Zimbabwe and assess the cultural implications and cultural differences` impact on information seeking, management and evaluation in the information environment and information practices, of an institution of higher learning. Literature has shown that there are differences between the success and failure factors in the developed and developing countries with regard to the development and use of Web-based or online information sources for learning purposes in Universities. There is very little literature, and evidence of attention given to this area of study in Zimbabwe in particular. This study is build on the premise that “information seeking” is socio-culturally bounded and that the success of use of Web-based information is highly related to – if not found at, the intersection between the implied by the perceptions of students, that is, information seekers and learners and the technology applied to achieve the desired information search outcomes. The data were collected by use of an instrument of a questionnaire that was administered among postgraduate students at Solusi University, in Zimbabwe, in 2011. The data were analysed quantitatively with SPSS version17.0 for Windows using mainly cross-tabulations and Chi-squared tests. The statistically significant differences focused on the general Web-based information seeking, management and evaluation in this information environment, and information practices used within the Solusi University. The conclusions drawn from the study were that cultural differences and implications influence the seeking of Web-based learning information and that the impact of cultural differences and implications should be examined more thoroughly in future studies, which should apply both qualitative and quantitative methods. Keywords: information seeking, management and evaluation, Web-based or online, cultural differences, cultural implications
Cross-cultural issues in user learning and the design of digital interfaces
Proceedings of The Asist Annual Meeting, 2005
Hall (1976) believes that culture is a selective screen through which we see the world and that the basic differences in the way members from different cultures perceive reality are responsible for the mis-communications of the most fundamental kind. Hofstede (1997) notes that cultural orientations are deeply embedded in cultures over hundreds and thousands of years and modern media have not dislodged these cultural orientations. Indeed, cultural norms, assumptions, values, and orientations remain crucial for understanding people from various cultures. This understanding extends to designing a variety of information retrieval systems for international access and use, including Web-based digital libraries. Since the Web is international in nature, Web design should embed ‘cultural attractors” (e.g., colors, metaphors, language cues, navigation controls, and other visual elements) that should create the’ look and feel” to match the cultural expectations of the users of a local culture (Smith, et al., 2004). The speakers will address the various roles culture plays in the design and use of system interfaces, in general, and of digital libraries in particular. They will present analyses from their current research findings on culture and its impact on information seeking, interface design, and digital library development. They will discuss methods of bridging the gap between various cultures through both providing effective user-centered system design and educating information professionals.
In this paper we look at using culture to group users and model the users' preference on cross cultural information retrieval, in order to investigate the relationship between the user search preferences and the user's cultural background. Initially we review and discuss briefly website localisation. We continue by examining culture and Hofstede's cultural dimensions. We identified a link between Hofstede's five dimensions and user experience. We did an analogy for each of the five dimensions and developed six hypotheses from the analogies. These hypotheses were then tested by means of a user study. Whilst the key findings from the study suggest cross cultural theory can be used to model user's preferences for information retrieval, further work still needs to be done on how cultural dimensions can be applied to inform the search interface design.