Criteria to Analyze Chemistry Educational Web Sites

A review of requirements for chemistry educational Web sites was carried out to establish a list of criteria. High school chemistry teachers can use the criteria listed below to evaluate particular Web sites for use in their classes.

Many Web sites will not meet all the criteria for an effective educational tool as listed in this paper but that does not mean these sites cannot be used effectively in the classroom. Compensation can be made by creating assignments that incorporate the missing criteria. For example, a scavenger hunt may be developed that involves finding information from a variety of links. This activity would incorporate an interactive mode of learning through a variety of learning styles.

Figure 1. Home page of General Chemistry Online.

It is important to thoroughly explore a Web site before using it in your classroom. Look for all the learning possibilities available through the site and make sure downloads are available to view all graphics incorporated in the site and to do so reasonably quickly. A long wait time decreases the effectiveness of a teaching tool. Web sites with many graphics take more time to download than other Web sites. The type of modem and the number of online users also affect connection to the site. I timed the download time of General Chemistry Online. It took less than 5 seconds to download from my home computer, approximately 30 seconds to download from the computer lab at the high school where I teach, and close to 1 minute at the University of Pittsburgh. The increase in time was most likely a result of the number of online users. It is also important to make sure that the address is written correctly and the site is still available at that address. The Internet is constantly changing and locations of Web sites frequently change.

Summary

Using the Internet in the high school chemistry classroom can be an effective educational tool. The criteria in this paper emphasize individual learning styles, different levels of learning, and active learning. By using these criteria, the Internet in the classroom can be an effective method of fulfilling the learning goals for today's students.

Literature Cited

1. Zielinski, T. J.; Shibata, M. Trends Anal. Chem. 1996, 15, 429.
2. Twigg, C. A. EDUCOM Rev. 1994, 29.
3. Tissue, B. M. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 65-71.

Criteria to Analyze Educational Web Sites

· The Web site must incorporate an interactive mode. Interactions can include submission of answers for feedback in a tutorial, an interactive game, or a self-paced demonstration. Figure 1 shows the home page of the General Chemistry Online site. This site provides many self-paced and interactive options for obtaining information. These options include self-paced tutorials and two sources to find answers to questions, which are listed as "Just ask Antoine!" for individual questions and a link to "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions".

· The Web site must include options for exploration. These must include links to look up background information for remediation, forward links for exploration of more advanced topics, and linear links to explore related topics of particular interest to the individual (1). Chem 101 Home Page offers a link entitled "Chem 101 Lucky 7 Chem Sites", which contains previewed and recommended Web sites for students who wish to do some further exploration on the Web.

· The Web site must have several levels of difficulty to meet the students' levels of understanding. It must also incorporate more than one way of learning the information to meet different styles of learning, for example, quantitative and qualitative approaches to chemistry concepts or written and visual illustrations of concepts (2). The WebElements site has a wide variety of teaching tools to meet individual learning needs. It has audio pronunciations of the element names in male and female voices in several different languages. It takes a visual approach using several photographs and online film clips of demonstrations using the elements. The text is easy to read and is arranged by specific subject areas instead of as a full page of descriptive text. This site is appropriate for a range of ability levels. I used it effectively with both my learning support eighth grade physical science class and my eleventh grade honors chemistry class.

· The Web site must list offline resources for self-study after class or away from the computer (1). Chem 101 Home Page has a Chem 101 Credits link that provides offline references to be used for further investigation or to be given to those who do not have access to the Internet.

· The Web site must provide time for reflection. The students must have time to understand the concepts and seek answers independently (3). The World Wide Web site "Applications: CSUDH Chemistry Department" provides time for reflection within its tutorials. If an answer is incorrect, it must be changed and resubmitted; three trials are permitted before the correct answer is given.

· The Web site must have formative and summative assessments (e. g., tutorial quizzes) so students can measure their own progress. The General Chemistry Online site contains several online quizzes and self-grading exams for assessment. The quiz answers are submitted at the end of the quiz or exam for evaluation. The quiz or exam is graded on line and returned. Along with the list of correct answers are explanations of why the answer is correct and why the other answers are incorrect.