EvalWEB Instructional Design
Instructional Design
The performance objectives are divided into seven clustors. Each of the clusters corresponds to a major performance objective, along with the subordinate objectives for it. The exception is the assessment of content objective, which is divided into two clusters. The following table illustrates how these clusters will address Gagné's nine events of instruction.
| Cluster A | Cluster B | Cluster C | Cluster D | Cluster E | Cluster F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain Attention | Most students have first-hand experience with dishonesty online. Ask how they can use information from the web if lying is such a big problem online. | Show students a web page in which the information presented is well-written, but which seems to contradict common sense. | Show students an inaccurate web page in which the information presented is well-written, but which contains no information about the author. | Show students a web page which contains reliable information, but which is out of date. | Show students a web page which contains many links, some of which lead to irrelevant or outdated information. | Present students with a list of conclusions that may have been reached in clusters A-E and point out the fact that drawing a conclusion may not be easy. |
| Inform Learner of Objective (Relevance) | Explain that the reliability of some web pages can be determined by looking at the site's address. | Explain that the
content of web pages should be compared with
previous knowledge, and assessed for author bias
before trusting its reliability. Explain that poorly written web pages are often an indication of unreliability. |
Explain that web pages are only as reliable as their authors, and determining the credibility of the author can help assess a web page. | Explain that some web pages contain information which is time-sensitive, and the age of the page must be considered in determining reliability. | Explain that, just as people are sometimes judged by the company they keep, so are web pages. | Explain that, with the information collected, the student must ultimately decide whether the page is suitable for research use, unsuitable, or questionable. |
| Stimulate recall of Prerequisites | Review the definition of a URL: the location of a piece of information on the internet. | Review the fact
that errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation
make documents less readable. Review the fact that author bias exists when an author's personal opinions influence how the page is written. |
Review the fact that information which is likely to change frequently is time sensitive. | Review the fact that links provide connections to other web pages. | Review the items covered in clusters A-E. | |
| Present Stimulus | Present some URLs
from various domains, explain what type of
information each is likely to contain. Explain that the URLs of personal web pages often contain a tilde (~) or a /people/ or /homes/ directory. |
Explain that more
than one mistake per hundred words in spelling,
grammar, and punctuation make the reliability of
a page questionable. Explain that pages which contradict what is already known about a subject should be questioned, and pages which contain evidence of author bias or opinion should be considered in such context. |
Explain that pages where the author is not identified, or where the author is only identified by name are not likely reliable; pages which contain the author's name and a way to contact him or her (email or post address, phone, etc.) are questionable; pages which contain this information plus an indication of the author's credentials are credible. Explain that the author could be an organization instead of a person. | Explain that pages which are time sensitive should have a date of last revision somewhere on the page. Pages which are time sensitive which do not have a revision date, or which have an outdated revision date, should be questioned. | Explain that pages which contain links to other sites in other domains which contain valuable information are typically more reliable than pages which do not have any links, and pages which have poor or nonworking links have less reliability than pages with none at all. | Explain that web pages which are unreliable in any category are unsuitable for research needs; pages which are questionable in more than two categories are unsuitable; pages which are questionable in one or two categories should be used with caution; pages which are reliable in all categories are suitable for use without reservation. |
| Provide learner
Guidance (Confidence) |
Present a table of domain codes, including .edu, .com, .net, .gov, .org, .mil, .us, and other, which indicates the type of site. | Present a summary indicating that pages which dispute prior knowledge are unreliable, and pages which are poorly written or which contain evidence of author bias should be questioned. | Present a table showing what is needed for credible, non credible, and questionable pages. | Present a summary indicating that pages which are time sensitive and have an old revision date or no date at all should be questioned. | Present a summary indicating the effect of links on reliability; remind students that only links to different sites apply. | Present a table indicating under what circumstances pages are suitable, unsuitable, or questionable for research use. |
| Elicit Response | Present five URLs; ask students to identify the type of site. Ask students to indicate which ones could be personal web pages. | Present a web page, and ask students to determine if the content is reliable, based on how well-written the page is, how the page compares to the students' current knowledge, and evidence of author bias. | Present two web pages and ask students to determine the author's credibility. | Present two web pages and ask students to indicate whether each is positively affected, negatively affected, or not affected at all by the revision date (or lack of one). | Present two web pages with links and ask students to indicate whether the links positively or negatively affect the reliability of each page. | Present the conclusions derived from two previous examples and ask students to rate the suitability of the pages. |
| Provide Feedback (Satisfaction) |
Display the student's answers along with the correct answers and the rationale for them. | Display the correct answers, along with the students' answers and a list of reasons. | Display the student's answers along with the correct answers and the rationale for them. | Display the correct answers with the students' answers, along with a justification of each. | Display the correct answers along with a justification of each. | Display the correct answers, along with a justification of each. |
| Assess Performance | Present URLs from three different domains, and ask students to identify the type of site. | Present students with a different web page, and ask them to assess the content more completely, justifying their answers in a paragraph. | Present a different web page, and ask the students to assess the credibility of the author based on the information presented on the page. | Present a different web page, and ask students to determine how reliability is affected by the revision date. | Present a different web page, and ask students to determine how its reliability is affected by links. | Present hypothetical conclusions for clusters A-E for two web pages, and ask students to draw a conclusion on the suitability of each page. |
| Enhance Retention and Transfer | In later units,
when students are performing online research, ask
what implications are made about pages with
inappropriate domains. |
When students find questionable web pages while researching, ask them to assess the content of the page. | When students ask how to document a page where there is no apparent author, ask whether the page should be documented and used as a source. | As students are researching, remind them that the date an item was written or revised could affect its reliability. | As students write their own web pages, remind them that links to other useful information will add to their credibility. | As students continue to use the web as a research source and publishing medium, continually remind them of the need for reliability. |
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The finished project is located at http://www.hudson.edu/hms/comp/evalweb.