EDT 598

Webquest Evaluation: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" :  http://warrensburg.k12.mo.us/webquest/baseball/ 

WebQuest Evaluation

Overall Visual Appeal: The graphic elements used in this WebQuest were sufficient, but could have definitely been better.  The better the graphics on a webquest, the easier it will be to attract students to the task at hand. (2pts)

Navigation and Flow: This WebQuest is laid out very efficiently for students. Their tasks are divided up into individual roles, and each role has clear expectations of what to do. Very few places to get tripped up or lost. (4pts)

Mechanical Aspects: Links work, but other advertisements pop up on one of them which can slow the flow of the WebQuest down. The rest of the links work perfectly, and the websites open within the original WebQuest page which is a nice feature. (3pts)

Motivational Effectiveness of Intro: If students are a fan of baseball then the introduction immediately pulls them in and grabs their attention. However, if a student is not interested in sports, then it does lose its appeal somewhat. (3pts)

Cognitive Effectiveness of the Intro: The intro is very clear as to what the goal of the activity is, however it does not initially state what skills they have learned in class will be applied throughout (though it does state this later in the WebQuest) (2pts)

Connection of Task to Standards: This WebQuest was developed by a teacher in Missouri, and she took the time to show specifically how every aspect of the WebQuest was tied into Missouri’s specific state standards for mathematics and statistics. (4pts)

Cognitive Level of the Task: As the Gaskill article pointed out, “the scaffolding structure of WebQuests allows students to transform new information and understand it better” (Gaskill 133). What better way to do this than through a topic students already enjoy outside of the classroom. As stated before, if the learner is a fan of baseball, then it is very significant to their lives. (3pts)

Clarity of Process: Directions are clear cut for each learner and the individual role they play in the group. It is next to impossible to get lost as the self-directing steps are meticulously laid out. (4pts)

Scaffolding of Process: The activities laid out are clearly laid out and related to one another. If followed properly, they will allow students to make the transition from basic knowledge to higher level thinking quite easily. (6pts)

Richness of Process: As previously stated, different roles are explicitly laid out for learners to help understand different perspectives and share the responsibility of the success of the group. As stated in the Gaskill article, “the possibility for collaborative work …helps learners in the development of social abilities, which is an important skill for achieving goals for both inside and outside classrooms” (Gaskill 133). (2pts)

Relevance  and Quantity of Resources: The resources provided to the students to complete this WebQuest are tied directly to state standards, but also tied to specific concepts studied up to this point of the year in any statistics class. (4pts)

Quality of Resources: The resources provided seem reliable. Being a baseball buff, I would have provided students with the Elias website for statistics to complete this WebQuest, as they are the gold standard of accumulating and keeping baseball records. The one’s provided though seem reasonable enough. (4pts)

Clarity of Evaluation Criteria: A detailed rubric is provided to students in the WebQuest itself. It breaks the activity up into 4 core processes and the tasks that fall under each one. On top of that, it explains what is required to achieve a certain score at each level. (6pts)

Total Score:  47/50