Planning is an important contributor to open and deep learning on the Web, which is crucial for learning and problem solving in ill-structured domains. Situated in the context of online ill-structured problem solving, this study explores (a) the planning processes undergraduate learners develop during the course of online searching and learning, (b) the possible connections between learners' online planning processes and their epistemic beliefs, (c) how learners' planning processes connect to their actual search moves, and (d) how online planning and epistemic beliefs shape learners' problem-solving performance. Think-alouds of learners holding different epistemic beliefs were analyzed to address the research questions. The results show that (a) learners developed three primary levels of plans for their online searching and learning; (b) learners holding expansive epistemic beliefs exhibited more complexity in a wider range of aspects involved in plan development compared to learners holding reductive epistemic beliefs; (c) learners demonstrated different search approaches to executing their plans; (d) online planning and epistemic beliefs exerted a combined influence on learners' problem-solving performance. The findings contribute to our understanding of planning in online searching and learning and its connection to epistemic beliefs. The proposed three-level model of planning lays the groundwork for future studies to delve more deeply into the role of planning in online searching and learning, especially in complex and ill-structured learning contexts. The findings also provide practical implications for the instruction of online searching and learning strategies.
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