For 9-12 Graders
Joyce Valenza
Introduction |
Task | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion
Introduction
If you are like most students, you
are relying heavily on resources from the Web for your research.
Not all Web resources are created equal. If fact, there are great
variations in the quality of the resources you access. The rule
of thumb is "when in doubt, doubt." When you carefully
select your resources, when you understand their strengths and
limits, you create better products.
The Task
You will be working in groups of
four to evaluate a group of Web pages on the topic of tobacco and
smoking, or cloning or another topic of your teacher's choice.
Each of you will be examining sites from a different perspective.
You will be ranking the sites and comparing your rankings with
the rest of the class.
Resources
You will each be responsible for
completing an evaluation chart, focusing on the perspective you assume within your
group.
Your teacher will select five of
the following Web sites from one of these two controversial areas
for you to evaluate:
| Cloning
sites:
|
Smoking
and tobacco sites:
|
Hamlet
Sites (For this one, imagine you were assigned a
high school research project to develop a thesis
analyzing the character of Hamlet.):
|
Dinosaurs
(for Intermediate and Middle School Students):
|
The Process
- Your group of 4 students will
evaluate the selected Web sites.
- Divide your group into the
following four specialties to cover ground more
efficiently.
1.
Content specialist:
- Does the site cover
the topic comprehensively? Accurately?
- Can you understand
what is being said? Is it written above or below
your level of understanding?
- What is unique about
this site? Does it offer something others do not?
- Are the links
well-chosen? sufficient?
- Currency: Can you
tell: the date the information was created? the
publication date? the date the material was last
revised? Are these dates meaningful in terms of
the subject matter?
- Would you get better
information in a book? an encyclopedia?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
|
2. Authority/Credibility specialist:
- Who is responsible
for this site? Who sponsors it? Hint: truncate
each section of the URL back until you are able
to find the sponsor.
- What are his/her
credentials?
- Have the authors of
the site cited their own sources? Are the sources
documented appropriately?
- What is the domain
name? Does it end in .com, .gov, .edu, .org,
.net? Is it a personal page?
- Is that a meaningful
clue in evaluating the site? (You can't always
judge a web page by its suffix. Some commercial
sites provide solid information. Some university
sites offer less-than-serious personal pages to
graduate students.)
- Who else links to the
site? (You can perform a link check in
AltaVista or Google by entering
"link:webaddress" in the search box. Is
it linked to by reliable sites? What do other
sites say about this one?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
|
3.
Bias/purpose specialist:
- Why was this site
created? (to persuade, inform, explain, sell,
promote, parody, other?)
- Is it a personal,
commercial, government or organization site?
- Is there any bias? Is
only one side of the argument presented? Does it
appear that any information is purposely omitted?
Is there a hidden message? Is it trying to
persuade you or change your opinion? Is the bias
useful to you in some way?
- Can you distinguish
facts from opinion?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
|
4.
Usability/design specialist
- Is the site easy to
navigate (user-friendly)?
- Is there a
well-labeled contents area?
- Do all the design
elements (graphics, art, buttons, etc.) enhance
the message of the site? Is there consistency in
the basic formats of each page?
- Are there any errors
in spelling or grammar?
- Do the pages appear
clean, uncluttered?
- Do the links on the
site work?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
|
- Each student in the group
should complete his/her own organizer through the
perspective they are assigned.
- As you examine each site,
record any relevant information in your chart/organizer. Begin to rank the sites 1 through
5, with 1 being the best. It may be easier to think to
yourself, "Which are the two best sites in the set;
which are the two worst."
- Each group should select a
recorder to take notes on group discussion and a
discussion leader, whose job it will be to make sure each
member gets a chance to contribute and to lead the group
toward reaching a consensus about the best and worst
sites.
- Be prepared to
discuss/compare your group's findings and rankings with
the rest of the class during the class discussion period.
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on your
group work, your completed organizer, and your participation in
large group discussion using this rubric. Make sure your group is able to defend its choices
in the discussion ranking the sites.
Conclusion
You will find yourself using the
Internet for information. The Internet is only one of a variety
of information options. Remember that journals, books, videos and
other sources are available as well. Evaluating information is a
skill you will be using throughout your lifetime.
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to links for teachers
Last updated January
2, 2001
*Thanks to
Holly Ristau for her
contribution to the tobacco sites.
Based
on a template from The Webquest Page.