WebQuest Evaluation
This template is based on version 1.03 of the WebQuest Rubric as modified by Laura Bellofatto, Nick Bohl, Mike Casey, Marsha Krill, and Bernie Dodge and last updated on June 19, 2001.

Name: Christopher J. Celfo Date:   11/12/02
Title WebQuest Evaluated:  Still Got The Blues
URL of WebQuest Evaluated:  http://olkovikas.tripod.com/bluesquest/


Score Explanation

Overall Aesthetics (This refers to the WebQuest page itself, not the external resources linked to it.)

Overall Visual Appeal
(0-4 pts.)

  2 The site could definitely use some improvement visually. The colors are dull, and there is no use of graphics or images. In general, the site could have been more appealing to the eye.
Navigation & Flow
(0-4 pts.)		  2 The overall navigation and flow is average. The general layout of the pages was not bad. However, several of the links are very misleading. Different words are linked on each page, and it is difficult to determine where the links are taking you.  For example, in the following sentence from this site, the underlined words are actual links to other pages. "Research several blues legends. Find important events in their lives and how they contributed to the development of the blues." Seems very confusing doesn't it?  .. 
Mechanical Aspects
(0-2 pts.) 		 1  A few links were not functional, and the graphic on the homepage did not appear. Also, several of the links take you to pages which open very slowly. I was working on a cable modem, and still the pages took a while to open. Other than these problems, things ran quite smoothly. 

Introduction

Motivational effectiveness of Introduction (0-2 pts.)

  0.5 Extremely unmotivating. It gives an incredibly brief history of the blues, and a rather poor one I might add. I believe the typical High School Student would lose interest after reading the introduction. I believe the use of some sound bytes of Blues music, or some pictures of Blues legends definitely would have added to the intro.

Cognitive effectiveness of the Introduction
(0-2 pts.)

 1 The introduction states that the students are to explore various aspects of the Blues and by doing this they will "begin to appreciate and understand American art and America"  In my opinion, this very vague and it does not give students enough detail of what they will learn from the webquest. It also is not known whether students have any pre-knoledge about the subject aside from what is provided in the introduction. Students should be exposed to the blues and its music before the webquest is introduced.


Task (The task is the end result of student efforts... not the steps involved in getting there.)

Connection of Task to Standards
(0-4 pts.)

2.5 The task seems to relate pretty well to some of  the State standards of New Hampshire, but not others. I do not believe that this webquest will effectivly make students use critical thinking skills. The author has surely designed they webquest with some of the State standards in mind. However, he should have been more specific in showing exactly how the assignment will incorporate each individual standard.


Cognitive Level
of the Task
(0-6 pts.)

  4 The main task is for students to create a magazine designed to educate people on the blues. It seems that the task is simply to gather information about the subject. It doen't seem to incorporate any higher-level thinking skills.


Process (The process is the step-by-step description of how students will accomplish the task.)

Clarity of Process
(0-4 pts.)

 3 
In general, the process is very clear. It is very apparent as to what is expected of the students. The students are to chose one of four roles, and research information about the blues while assuming a specific role. I think it is very creative how the author gave students the option as to what perspective they were going to take.
Scaffolding of Process
(0-6 pts.)		 2  The development of the process is extremely poor. The steps are not very clear, and the activity does not take the students anywhere. It simply has them doing research about different areas of the blues. Once the research is complete, the students are to write their magazine using Microsoft Word. In short, what is supposed to be a webquest is simply a research paper on the blues. 

Richness of Process
(0-2 pts.)

  1
Although students will learn a great deal about the blues from this activity, the process needs a bit more development. Students shoul be asked more engaging questions to make them use critical thinking skills. Students also should be given more opportunity to share their feelings about the blues, and to give opinions on the subject.

Resources (Note: you should evaluate all resources linked to the page, even if they are in sections other than the Resources block. Also note that books, video and other offline resources can and should be used where appropriate.)

Relevance & Quantity of Resources
(0-4 pts.)

  3  The resources were all very relevent to the subject of the Blues. However, there were not a great deal of different resources provided. As mentioned above, many different words were highlighted as links. However, most of the links direct you to the same page. I know first hand that there are a plethora of resources on the interenet about the Blues that could have been included. 

Quality of
Resources
(0-4 pts.)

  2.5 Some of the resources provide a great deal of information about the Blues. Many of the pages are composed by knowledgable sources. On a few of the pages however, it is unclear as to who composed the page, and where the information was obtained from. A few of the resouces were very scarce in the information they provided.

Evaluation

Clarity of Evaluation Criteria
(0-6 pts.)

  3 The evaluation criteria is rather vague. It states that half of the grade is made up of the students writing score and the other half is for the quality of the magazine.  It shows that students can score 0-6 points for the writing portion of their grade. It then shows that the quality of the assignment grade is made up of three 17 point sections. The criteria is somewhat specific in showing what is expected of the students as far as quality and writing goes.  However it confuses me as to how the breakdown of points adds up.   

Total Score
(0-50 pts.)

  27.5 This webquest needs a great deal of improvement. To start, the intoduction needs to be more stimulating. The links should be more clear. The author needs to further develop the process to incorporate more use of student's critical thinking. The evaluation breakdown needs to be clearer. In general a good activity for researching the blues, but does not effectively work as a webquest.