A study of children’s search query formulation habits

The strategies children use for digital information search in educational settings are rarely explored. Open questions remain on such fundamental issues as to which information-seeking strategies children employ, how they construct queries, and if the strategies that are taught are effective when using modern search engines. We conducted an observation study with school children to gain insights into these questions. As a result of this study, we identified query-creation and query-reformulation strategies that children use

How kids see search: a visual analysis of internet search engines

Through previous studies into children’s internet search practice, we have gained insight into the taught strategies, information behaviour, and common errors children experience while searching. This paper analyses the visual structure of commonly-used internet search engines (ISEs) to explore how the interface and interaction design of ISEs may influence the search practices of children. Common features of ISEs are identified and the effects of query construction techniques on the visual presentation of information are reported. We use our observations to provide guidelines for the design and development of ISEs for childre