University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2011 Users’ Help-Seeking Behaviors within the Context of Computer Task Accomplishment: An Exploratory Study Lei Wu [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Wu, Lei, "Users’ Help-Seeking Behaviors within the Context of Computer Task Accomplishment: An Exploratory Study. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2011. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1143 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Lei Wu entitled "Users’ Help-Seeking Behaviors within the Context of Computer Task Accomplishment: An Exploratory Study." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communication and Information. Peiling Wang, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Dania Bilal, Robert T. Ladd, Vandana Singh, Carol Tenopir Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Users’ Help-Seeking Behaviors within the Context of Computer Task Accomplishment: An Exploratory Study A Dissertation Presented for the Doctoral of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Lei Wu August 2011 ii Copyright © 2011 by Lei Wu All rights reserved. iii Dedication To my mother, my father, my step-father, and my husband iv Acknowledgements The dissertation work is a long and sometimes sore journey. I am so thankful for many people who made the journey worthwhile and enjoyable. I first thank my advisor, Dr. Peiling Wang, for being so supportive and patient in her guidance, through not only my dissertation process, but also my entire Ph.D. study. She gave me the flexibility to shape my own research abilities, and also provided me with insightful and intellectual help all of the time, encouraged me in difficult situations, and directed me away from potential mistakes. My sincere appreciation also goes to my committee members: Dr. Carol Tenopir, Dr. Dania Bilal, Dr. Vandana Singh, and Dr. Tom Ladd. They encouraged my dissertation ideas, answered my questions, and provided suggestions for shaping the dissertation work. This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance of my advisor and committee members. Dr. Teresa Hutchens served on my comprehensive committee and proposal committee before her retirement. Her valuable comments helped me tremendously in shaping my proposal and in improving my scholarly writing. I also would like to thank many friends who listened to me and answered to me with their love and generous support throughout the whole process, particularly during my most stressful moments. I am particularly grateful to Ho-Young (Anthony) Ahn, Arsev Aydinoglu, Ben Birch, Huan Chen, Kitty McClanahan, and Stephanie Kelly. Finally, I am so grateful for my family members. My mother and stepfather kept sending their encouragement through once-a-week calls from China, which served as a great motivation for me in this journey. My loving husband Wei Xiong provided his v unconditional support in every aspect of my life, which became the source for my greatest power in accomplishing the work. vi Abstract This study investigated computer users’ help-seeking behaviors within the context of accomplishing a novel and challenging computer task. In addition, this study examined how different help-seeking behavioral variables relate to both personal factors and outcome measures in an exploratory manner. Finally, a structural model examined the effect of personal factors on task performance through the mediating function of help- seeking effectiveness. A total of 67 undergraduate students participated in the study. Participants were asked to perform a challenging task in Microsoft Word. The usability software MORAE was used to record the interactions between participants and computer systems. Participants had access to five help sources: “F1 help,” “reference book,” “the Web,” “video tutorial,” and “lab assistant,” which differ in media type (electronic vs. non-electronic) and interactivity levels (high vs. low). This study found that participants showed a wide range of help-seeking behaviors. Some participants were more active in seeking help than others. Participants also engaged in different help-seeking patterns when using different help sources. A dominant help- seeking strategy was to stay with the same source used in the previous help-seeking episode. Help-seeking behavior affected task performances, but personal factors had no significant effect on help seeking or task performances. Based on the findings, the research value of this study, its practical implications, its limitations, and future research directions are discussed. vii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2 Literature Review.............................................................................................. 4 The Phenomenon of Help Seeking ................................................................................. 4 Help-Seeking Studies in Traditional Classroom Settings............................................... 5 Help-Seeking Studies in the Human Computer Interaction Context.............................. 7 Help-Seeking Studies in Computer-Assisted Learning Settings ................................ 8 Help-Seeking Studies in Information Retrieval Systems.......................................... 10 Help-Seeking Studies within the Context of Computer Task Accomplishment....... 12 The Help-Seeking Process and the Information-Seeking Process................................ 13 Features of Help Sources .............................................................................................. 17 Personal Factors Related to Help-seeking Behaviors ................................................... 19 Gender....................................................................................................................... 19 Prior Experience........................................................................................................ 21 Self-Efficacy ............................................................................................................. 24 Anxiety...................................................................................................................... 26 Summary................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3 Conceptual Model and Research Questions.................................................... 30 Conceptual Models ....................................................................................................... 30 The Task-Evoked Help-Seeking Process Model ...................................................... 30 The Help-Seeking Factors Model ............................................................................. 32 Task-Evoked Help-Seeking Structural Model.......................................................... 33 Measurements ............................................................................................................... 35 Behavior Variables.................................................................................................... 36 Personal Factors........................................................................................................ 37 Task Outcome Variables:.......................................................................................... 38 Chapter 4 Research Method............................................................................................. 39 Study Design................................................................................................................. 40 Task Description ....................................................................................................... 40 Help Sources ............................................................................................................. 41 Facilities and Equipment........................................................................................... 42 Participants.................................................................................................................... 44 Study Procedure............................................................................................................ 45 Variables and Data Collection Instruments .................................................................. 47 Data Analysis................................................................................................................ 51 Data Preparation........................................................................................................ 51 Data Analysis...........................................................................................................