Link to Teacher Page

http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/evalwebstu.html

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:

Smoking and tobacco sites*:

• American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation http://www.no-smoke.org/
• R.J. Reynolds: Tobacco Issues http://www.rjrt.com/pages/TIframeset.html
• American Lung Association (Tobacco Control section) http://www.lungusa.org/tobacco/
• Smoking from all Sides http://www.cs.brown.edu/~lsh/smoking.html
• Tobacco Free Initiative (World Health Organization) http://tobacco.who.int/
• Smoking Use Among Teens http://informatics.dent.umich.edu/health/service/teenhealth/teensmoking/index.html
• Smoking and Cancer http://www.oncolink.com/causeprevent/smoking/
• A website from British Columbia to prevent tobacco use among students http://www.tobaccofacts.org/
• Tobacco Free Kids website  http://tobaccofreekids.org/
• Big Drug's Nicotine War http://www.forces.org/evidence/pharma/index.htm
• Coalition for a Tobacco Free Midlands  http://www.tobaccofreemidlands.com/
• Phillip Morris Tobacco Company page on Youth Smoking Prevention http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/DisplayPageWithTopic.asp?ID=75
• Children Opposed to Smoking Tobacco  http://www.costkids.org/

Cloning sites:

• *Clones-R-Us http://www.d-b.net/dti/
• *Scientific American Explorations: A Clone in Sheep's Clothing http://www.sciam.com/explorations/030397clone/030397beards.html
• *Cloning: Special Report: New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/cloning/
• *I Can Do That! Cloning http://www.eurekascience.com/ICanDoThat/cloning.htm
• Australian Gene Ethics Network http://www.geneethics.org/
• Americans for Cloning Elvis http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1673/
• *Human Cloning Foundation http://www.humancloning.org/
• Should Human Cloning Be Banned http://www.hotwired.com/synapse/braintennis/97/37/index0a.html
• *Conceiving a Clone (ThinkQuest) http://library.advanced.org/24355/
• Christians for Cloning Jesus http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8611/page2.htm
• Cloning: are Humans Next? http://www.worldbook.com/fun/bth/cloning/html/cloning.html

Hamlet Sites (For this one, imagine you were assigned a high school research project to develop a thesis analyzing the character of Hamlet.):

• Enjoying Hamlet by William Shakespeare http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm
• Klingon Hamlet http://www.kli.org/stuff/Hamlet.html
• Hamlet and his Other http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/articles/psyart1999/silhol01.htm
• Essays on Hamlet http://www.hamletessays.com/
• Hamlet http://library.thinkquest.org/19539/hamlet.htm
• SparkNotes Hamlet http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/
• Hamlet and his Problems http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw9.html
• Characters of Shakespear's Plays (William Hazlitt) http://utl2.library.utoronto.ca/www/utel/criticism/hazlittw_charsp/charsp_ch9.html
• The Hamlet Paradigm http://www.hamlet.org/j_s_mamoun.html
• If you subscribe to GaleNet, examine Psychology of Hamlet

Gettysburg Set: ( select five):

Gettysburg National Military Park http://www.nps.gov/gett/home.htm
Gettysburg: The Turning Point in the Civil War http://tqd.advanced.org/2751/
Battle of Gettysburg (Brian Williams) http://www.mindspring.com/~murphy11/getty/
Three Days at Gettysburg http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/EMS/Gettysburg/Gettysburg.html
Battle of Gettysburg http://users.lr.net/~duda/
General George Gordon Meade Archive http://adams.patriot.net/~jcampi/welcome.htm
The Battle at Gettsyburg: 360 Degree Panoramic Images http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/gettysburg.html
Gettysburg Revisited http://home.sprynet.com/~carlreed/
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania http://www.800padutch.com/gbgmain.html
Gettysburg, Unofficial Visitors' Guide http://www.gettysburgguide.com/
Battle of Gettysburg http://members.xoom.com/echooneone/main.htm

Black Death Set:

Plague and Public Health in Renaissance Europe http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/osheim/intro.html
The Black Death: Bubonic Plague http://www.byu.edu/ipt/projects/middleages/LifeTimes/Plague.html
History of Western Civilization: The Black Death http://history.idbsu.edu/westciv/plague/
Black Death (Discovery Channel Online) http://www.discovery.com/stories/history/blackdeath/blackdeath.html

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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Last updated September 2, 2001

*Thanks to Holly Ristau for her contribution to the tobacco sites.

Based on a template from The Webquest Page.