Performance Objectives

1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will determine if the content of the page matches the domain.
   1. Given a browser with a web page loaded, students will identify the page's domain.
      1. Given a browser with a web page loaded, students will correctly identify the URL of the web page.
      2. Given the URL of a web page, students will correctly locate the computer name within the URL.
      3. Given the computer name of a web page, students will correctly identify the domain.
      4. Given the domain of a web page, students will correctly determine if the domain indicates that the computer represents an educational institution, US government agency, commercial company, non-profit organization, US military installation, network access provider, other US entity, or an entity in another country.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will correctly indicate whether the web page represents an individual or a group of people.
      1. Given the URL of a web page, students will identify characteristics that indicate whether the page represents a person or group of people.
         1. Given a URL containing a tilde (~), students will identify the web page as a potential personal web page.
         2. Given a URL containing a directory named /users/, /homes/ or /people/, students will identify the web page as a potential personal web page.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, along with the domain of that web page, students will identify whether there are any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site.
      1. Given a web page loaded in a graphical web browser containing material which is inconsistent with the domain of the page loaded in a browser, along with the domain of that web page, students will identify the page as one of unreliable. For example, given the web page http://www.nasa.com, which claims to be an official site sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, loaded in a web browser, students will identify the page as unreliable because the domain (.com) does not match the content (an apparently official government site).
      2. Given a personal web page loaded in a graphical web browser, along with the URL of that page, students will identify the page as one of questionable credibility.
      3. Given a web page loaded in a graphical web browser containing material which is consistent with the domain of the page loaded in a browser, along with the domain of that web page, students will identify the page as one consistent with its domain. For example, given the web page located at http://www.kent.edu/, which contains information regarding and apparently representing Kent State University, students will correctly conclude that the page is consistent with its domain, because the content (information about Kent State University) matches the domain (.edu).
2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will correctly determine whether the author, as represented in the page, is a credible source for the information presented in the web page.
   1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will identify the author of the web page if possible.
      1. Given a web page loaded in a browser which identifies the author by name, students will identify the author of the page.
      2. Given a web page loaded in a browser which contains no information about the author, students will conclude that the author is unknown.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will determine the author's position, education, and experience if possible.
      1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains the author's position, education, and experience, students will identify the author's position, education, and experience.
      2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains no information about the author's position, education, and experience, students will conclude that the author's credentials are unavailable.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will recognize any existing contact information for the author.
      1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded with the author's email address, phone number, or postal address, students will recognize the existence of contact information for the author, and so indicate.
      2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains no information about the author's email address, phone number, or postal address, students will conclude that contact information for the author is not provided, and will so indicate.
   4. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will correctly classify the author as a credible, questionable, or noncredible source based on the existence of the author's name, credentials, and contact information.
      1. Given a web page with no information about the author or the group sponsoring the page, students will indicate that the author is a probably not a credible source.
      2. Given a web page containing the author's name, but no other information about the author, students will indicate that the author is probably not a credible source.
      3. Given a web page containing the author's name and contact information, but without any information about the author's credentials, students will indicate that the author's credentials are questionable, but not necessarily unreliable.
      4. Given a web page containing the author's name, contact information, and credentials appropriate for the information presented, students will indicate that the author is a credible source.
3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will identify the date of last revision of the web page, if given, and indicate its implications on the page's credibility, if any.
   1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains a revision date, students will identify the date of last revision.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will indicate whether the information provided on the page is time-sensitive or not time-sensitive.
      1. Given a web page loaded in a browser containing information that is likely to change over time, students will indicate that the information is time-sensitive.
      2. Given a web page loaded in a browser containing information that is not likely to change over time, students will indicate that the information is not time-sensitive.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will indicate whether the information available about the last revision date detracts from the page's credibility.
      1. Given a web page containing information which is not time-sensitive, students will indicate that the page's reliability is not affected by the revision date.
      2. Given a web page containing information which is time sensitive and no revision date, students will conclude that the information presented is of questionable reliability.
      3. Given a web page containing information which is time sensitive and an old revision date, students will conclude that the revision date detracts from the page's reliability.
      4. Given a web page containing information which is time sensitive and a recent revision date, students will indicate that the web page was revised recently enough to contain credible information.
4. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will identify the content of the page as reliable or unreliable, and explain the rationale for their decision in a 100 word paragraph.
   1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will indicate whether the information presented fits the students' prior knowledge of the subject.
      1. Given a web page containing information which is consistent with the students' prior knowledge, students will identify the page as being consistent with their prior knowledge.
      2. Given a web page containing information about which the student has no prior knowledge, students will identify the page as being consistent with prior knowledge.
      3. Given a web page containing information which is inconsistent with the students' prior knowledge, students will identify the page as being inconsistent with their prior knowledge.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will indicate whether the page is well-written.
      1. Given a web page with or without grammatical errors, students will note the existence and frequency of grammatical errors.
      2. Given a web page with or without spelling mistakes, students will note the existence and frequency of spelling mistakes.
      3. Given a web page with or without mistakes in punctuation, students will note the existence and frequency of mistakes in punctuation.
      4. Given a web page with mistakes noted as previously stated, students will identify the page as well-written or not well-written.
         1. Given a web page with more than one mistake per hundred words, students will identify the page as poorly written.
         2. Given a web page with one or fewer mistakes per hundred words, students will identify the page as well-written.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, students will identify the information presented as fact or opinion.
   4. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded, along with the students' identifications listed above (items 1-3), students will classify the the content of the page as likely reliable, questionable, or likely unreliable, and explain the rationale for their decision in a paragraph of 100 words.
      1. Given a web page in which the information presented does not fit the student's prior knowledge, and in which the information presented is not supported by another page, students will identify the page as likely unreliable.
      2. Given a web page in which the information presented fits the student's prior knowledge, and in which the information presented is supported by another page, students will identify the page as likely reliable.
      3. Given a web page in which the information presented is not well-written, students will identify the page as having questionable reliability.
      4. Given a web page in which the information presented is opinion or contains evidence of author bias, students will identify the page as having questionable reliability.
      5. Given a web page which falls into more than one of the above categories, students will identify reliability based on the lowest reliability indicated above.
      6. Given a web page which is found to be of questionable reliability in two or more of the cases (1-4), students will identify the page as being likely unreliable.
      7. Given a web page which is not found to be of questionable or likely unreliable reliability above (1-6), students will identify the page as being likely reliable.
5. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains links to similar pages, students will follow the links associated with the page, and indicate whether the quality of the content found reflects positively or negatively on the original page.
   1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains links to similar pages on different sites, students will identify the links to similar the similar pages.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains links to similar pages on different sites, students will follow the links and indicate whether the information found appears to be credible.
      1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, students will indicate whether the page matches the domain.
      2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, students will indicate whether the content is related to the page linked from.
      3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, students will indicate whether author is a credible source.
      4. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, students will indicate whether the date of revision affects the credibility of the page.
      5. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, which has an appropriate domain, relevant content, a reliable author, and an appropriate date of revision, students will indicate that the page appears to be reliable.
      6. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which is linked from a page being assessed, which does not have an appropriate domain, relevant content, a reliable author, or an appropriate date of revision, students will indicate that the page appears to be unreliable.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded which contains links to similar pages, students will indicate whether the links on a page make that page more credible.
      1. Given a web page with two or more apparently reliable links, students will indicate that the links add credibility to the page.
      2. Given a web page with two or more apparently unreliable links, students will indicate that the links detract from the credibility of the page.
      3. Given a web page with fewer than two reliable or unreliable links, students will indicate that the links do not affect the credibility of the page.
6. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded for which any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site have been identified, the author's credentials have been assessed, any implications of the date of revision on the credibility of the page have been established, the content of the page has been assessed, and the implications of the links on the reliability of the page have been noted, students will conclude that the web page is suitable, unsuitable, or questionable for research needs.
   1. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded for which any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site have been identified, the author's credentials have been assessed, any implications of the date of revision on the credibility of the page have been established, the content of the page has been assessed, and the implications of the links on the reliability of the page have been noted, which has been identified as unreliable in any of the categories listed above, the student will identify the page as unsuitable for research needs.
   2. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded for which any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site have been identified, the author's credentials have been assessed, any implications of the date of revision on the credibility of the page have been established, the content of the page has been assessed, and the implications of the links on the reliability of the page have been noted, which has been identified as questionable within more than two of the categories listed above, the student will identify the page as unsuitable for research needs.
   3. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded for which any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site have been identified, the author's credentials have been assessed, any implications of the date of revision on the credibility of the page have been established, the content of the page has been assessed, and the implications of the links on the reliability of the page have been noted, which has been identified as questionable within one or two of the categories listed above, the student will identify the page as suitable for research needs, but to be used with caution.
   4. Given a computer running a graphical web browser with a world wide web page loaded for which any inconsistencies between the content of the page and the address of the site have been identified, the author's credentials have been assessed, any implications of the date of revision on the credibility of the page have been established, the content of the page has been assessed, and the implications of the links on the reliability of the page have been noted, which has neither been identified as unreliable nor questionable in any of the categories listed above, the student will identify the page as suitable for research needs.

Return to the EvalWEB Instructional Design.

© 2001-2005 Albert L. Ingram, Ph.D.