Evaluating Web Sites: A Critical Information Skill.

The evaluation of World Wide Web resources has become a critical information skill for students. Because of the uniqueness of these resources, new tools are required that assess not only the content validity and mechanical functionality of a Web site, but also its motivational quality. This paper describes the development and validation of a set of Web evaluation tools, the Website Motivational Analysis Checklist (WebMAC), designed for use by students in grades 1-12, that are based on motivation theory and provide multiple feedback mechanisms. Research questions included: What motivation theory or theories are most appropriate as a basis for the comprehensive evaluation of Web sites? and Do the WebMAC instruments adequately and validly test the motivational quality of Web sites? A survey of the motivational literature was conducted to investigate the first question. A comprehensive, well-researched theory that could be adapted to the assessment of electronic environments (particularly Web sites) was sought. Formative evaluation methods that included iterative testing of the instruments were implemented with graduate and undergraduate students, educators, and children, while factor analyses were conducted to confirm the theoretical basis of the instrument. These provided evidence for the second question. (Contains 10 references.) (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Evaluating Web Sites A Critical Information Skill Ruth V. Small, Ph.D. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY