Assigment 2
Your next major assignment is the review essay. For this assignment, you will need to select a website and then compare the site to a set of criteria.
There are five main criteria for evaluating websites as shown in this GCU Library tutorial: https://lc.gcumedia.com/mediaElements/evaluating-websites-tutorial/v2.1/. Watch the tutorial and take notes about the five criteria while you are watching it.
Which three of the five criteria do you find to be the most important? Do they seem like enough to evaluate a website? How would you define each criterion? Why is each one important?
Review.Outline.docx
Structure for this Essay
Introduction – Explains the topic and states the main argument of the essay. The thesis should identify the website, the criteria, and whether it met those standards.
Second Paragraph – Summarizes the website. Alternatively, this could be done in the introduction.
Third Paragraph – Evaluates the website against criterion 1. Explains why this criterion is important. Provides specific examples from the website to demonstrate how it matches up to the criterion. It may also contain an outside resource to justify the evaluation.
Fourth Paragraph – – Evaluates the website against criterion 1. Explains why this criterion is important. Provides specific examples from the website to demonstrate how it matches up to the criterion. It may also contain an outside resource to justify the evaluation.
Fifth Paragraph – – Evaluates the website against criterion 1. Explains why this criterion is important. Provides specific examples from the website to demonstrate how it matches up to the criterion. It may also contain an outside resource to justify the evaluation.
Sixth Paragraph – Starts with restating the thesis statement. Recaps the main points of the essay and provides closure. It does not start with a phrase like “In conclusion.”
Posted assignment from classmate
I think all five elements for evaluation are important, but if we just choose three, I would go with accuracy, coverage, and authority. Accuracy first because when evaluating a site, we need to discard or not use the sites with blatant lies. Even if I only know about one lie or falsehood, I should already not trust the sight and their fact-checking skills. A website could be riddled with misinformation, so I need to check the citations. The second is coverage; if the site covers my topic at surface level but doesn’t go in-depth with any detail, it might not be the best site to use. Just like checking for accuracy when assuring proper coverage, I need to check the citation usage and citation links to be sure that everything used is adequately supported. Also, under coverage, I need to ensure the site looks scholarly or at least presentable because my purpose is finding information to use in an academic paper. Authority is third because it further supports the evaluation of accuracy and coverage. After finding the author, a quick google search helps verify the validity of their qualifications.
While still important, I didn’t use currency because accurate, credible sources can be used indefinitely. We still quote the great minds of history. I didn’t use objectivity because the website’s arguments could be biased with supported true facts. An example of a good bias would be mothers against drunk driving (MADD). They are biased in that it was started because mothers lost their children in car crashes due to other people driving drunk, but the fact is that drinking alcohol impairs the driver.