Guideline # 3: Inquiry 1SS3: Internet Assignment - Evaluating Two Web Sources

Most books and refereed journal articles found in the local library are assessed by academic experts, and revised by their authors, before being published. Students therefore have some confidence in their academic quality before using them in course papers. Internet material may also be used in student course assignments. However, Internet content is often not evaluated by professional experts before being published to the Net. Although some of it will already come pre-evaluated by academic experts in a rigorous review process, especially in journals, refereed electronic journals are a minority of total Internet content (five per cent is perhaps a high estimate). This means that you, the student, will have to use your critical thinking skills outlined in the coursepak to evaluate most Internet material before deciding whether to use it in your course assignments and research papers.

  1. The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop such skills that should prove useful in almost all the courses you take during your educational career. You will write a 700 word essay evaluating two pieces of material (one to several pages each). You will search for and locate your selections on the World Wide Web (WWW) ). It is strongly recommended that they be on the same topic as your research proposal and the major research paper you will write for this course. They must come from two different web sites. They should be authored by different people, sponsored by different organizations, and mounted on different servers.
  2. Below are two tables. The first table lists 16 general questions to ask when assessing whether to use, in course assignments, a piece of material found on the Internet, such as in a World Wide Web site. We suggest that you incorporate these criteria in your essay for this assignment.
  3. To help keep track of your evaluation, a scoring system is suggested. This scoring ranges from 0 for very poor internet content to 100 for excellent material. We suggest that you include this table in your assignment. The second table suggests a textual description of the scoring, from A to F.
  4. You will notice that most of these criteria will be helpful in also evaluating hard copy material found in libraries and bookstores.
  5. One selection should be what you consider to be a high quality piece of material found on the world wide web. It should receive an A or a B on your scoring. The other selection should be of poorer quality - less than a B score.
  6. Using the criteria and scoring below, in your 700-word essay, give your reasons for your choice of the two selections. Use the critical thinking skills in Richard Paul and Linda Elder (1996) Helping Students Assess Their Thinking and Universal Intellectual Standards found in your custom courseware, and the criteria below, as a guide in your writing. In the conclusion to your essay, you should give a summary of why you evaluated one selection higher than the other.
  7. Include as an appendix a hard copy of the two pieces of Web material. You must include the web address or the Universal Resource Locator (URL) on each selection.

16 Student Questions To Query Internet Material

Scoring Range

Your Score

Low

High

1. PURPOSE: Does the Internet material help you achieve the purpose for which you want to use it in your course? How well does it advance your course goals? (Give a low score for material that is irrelevant to your course objectives)

0

10

2. SCOPE: How important is the particular Internet material you are viewing in the context of other material on the same subject at other Internet locations, and in hard copy format in your local library? (Give a low score for significant subject-matter omissions from the Internet material?)

0

5

3. EVIDENCE: Are claims supported by evidence? (evidence can be statistical or descriptive). Is the evidence convincing? Is the evidence appropriate for the claims being made? (Give a low score for the lack of evidence or for poor or inappropriate evidence)

0

10

4. LOGIC: Are arguments logically reasoned and developed? (Give low score for arguments based on ideology, faith, or vested interest).

0

10

5. CONCEPTS: Are the key ideas and concepts clearly stated and appropriate for the material in the Internet site? (Give a low score for the absence of clearly defined concepts, poorly defined concepts, or concepts which are not very useful for your course objectives)

0

10

6. REFERENCES: Is the Internet material properly referenced to other material, which can be checked in your local library or on the internet? Are there appropriate and high quality hyperlinks to other content on the internet? (Give a low score for the absence of references, or improperly cited references, or for poor references.)

0

5

7. METHODOLOGY: How good is the methodology used to develop the material before it was published to the Internet? (Is there any discussion of methodology? Is it appropriate for the subject matter of the Internet material?) (Give a low score for the absence of any discussion of what methodology was used to develop the internet material; low scores can also be given for poor or inappropriate methodologies).

0

5

8: VALIDITY: How accurate are the facts in the Internet site? (Give low scores for significant mistakes or errors in the material?)

0

5

9. BALANCE: How balanced is the material? Are pro and con arguments presented? Are alternative points of view presented and considered fairly? Are claims and evidence considered which challenge the main argument or thesis of the Internet site? (Give low scores to material that argues for one point of view without considering possible alternatives).

0

5

10. AUTHORITY: Is the author of the material an expert in the field in which it is published to the Internet? (Judge this by her or his professional training, experience in the field, and related publications. Make sure the name of the author is on the site, and there is a way to contact the author through an e-mail address or a surface mail address.) (Give a low score to internet material missing the name and contact of its author, or for cases in which the author is not qualified to write on the topic).

0

5

11. GATEKEEPING: Did the material pass through a rigorous external evaluation before it was published to the Internet? (How would you rate the professional expertise of the external body that evaluated the internet material? Was the material peer reviewed?) (Give a low score to material that was published by an author or organization without being reviewed by any external professional body).

0

5

12. SPONSORSHIP: Did a professional scientific body, research centre, or educational institution sponsor the site? (Give a low score to a site sponsored by an organization having a vested interest in the content of the material, such as a commercial organization promoting its own product, or an advocacy organization [religious organization; political party; community organization; etc] trying to convince you of its point of view).

0

5

13. DESIGN: How well organized is the Internet material? Are logical sections and subsections divided by titles and sub-titles? Is the organization of the material easy to follow and understand? (Give a low score to pure text or graphics not logically divided into sections or by themes).

0

5

14. ACCESS: How easy was it for you to access the Internet material? (Give a low score if you had difficulty loading the internet document, or printing out material from the site? )

0

5

15. NAVIGATION: How easy was it for you to navigate or get around the Internet site? Did you understand how the site was put together? Did it make sense? Is there an internal index or table of contents that facilitates navigation of the material? Was a site map available? (Give a low score for the lack of an index or table of contents, or for one difficult to use).

0

5

16: CURRENCY: How up to date is the site? When was the page produced? When was the site put online? When was it last updated? How often is it updated? How critical is currency for the category or purpose of the site? (Warning: a daily news site must be updated every day. But one would not expect this of a historical database. Give a low score for current information that is not updated, but a higher score for historical archives that are not updated frequently).

0

5

TOTAL SCORE:

0

100

Interpretation of Internet Content Evaluation Scores

A: 80-100

Excellent material; use it, giving the rationale for how it fits your course objectives.

B: 70-79

Very Good material: use it with some caution. Clearly state the cautionary measures you are taking to compensate for its weaknesses.

C: 60-69

Good material: use it only with great caution; put more emphasis on material from other internet or non-internet sources.

D: 50-59

Poor material: only use it under exceptional circumstances; clearly justify your use.

F: 0-49

Very poor material: do not use it. If you insist on using it, make a very strong case for your decision. Be willing to back up your arguments regarding the special circumstances justifying its use, such as the inclusion of magazine articles as illustrative empirical evidence.


Back to Guidelines

Back to Course Outline

Back to Inquiry Home

© Copyright Carl Cuneo Last Revision: December 22nd, 1999