Using  the  CRAAP  Test  to  Evaluate  Websites  

Sarah  Myhre  Department  of  Educa4onal  Technology  

University  of  Hawaii  at  Mānoa  Honolulu,  Hawaii  

U.S.A.  smyhre@hawaii.edu  

Sarah  Myhre  • Distance  Educa4on  and  Instruc4on  Librarian  at  Honolulu  Community  College,  Honolulu,  Hawaii  •  Finishing  requirements  for  a  masters  degree  in  Educa4onal  Technology  •  Love  to  travel  • Born  and  raised  in  Hawaii  

Me  at  the  Colosseum  in  Rome,  Italy  

Where  are  you?  

Who  are  you?  A.  Teacher/Professor  B.  Librarian  C.  Student  D.  Instruc4onal  Designer  E.  Other  

College  Students  vs.  the  Internet  

hMp://www.theonion.com/    

Purpose  The  purpose  of  this  instruc4onal  design  project  is  to  develop  and  evaluate  a  web-­‐based  instruc4onal  module  on  how  to  cri4cally  evaluate  websites  intended  for  use  as  a  resource  in  academic  work  such  as  papers  and  presenta4ons.    

Image From: http://parkland.libguides.com/content.php?pid=204392&sid=1706570

Evaluating  Websites…  • Not  a  new  idea  • Website  Evalua4on  Checklist:  •  Accuracy,  Authority,  Objec4vity,  Currency,  Coverage  

•  Limita4ons  of  website  evalua4on  checklist  •  Non-­‐academic  sources  •  Confusing  ques4ons  

• CRAAP  Test  •  Currency,  Relevance,  Authority,  Accuracy,  Purpose  

Currency:  The  4meliness  of  the  informa4on.  

•  When  was  the  informa4on  posted  or  published  online?  •  Is  the  informa4on  current  or  out  of  date  for  your  topic?  •  Are  the  links  func4onal?  

Relevance:  The  coverage  and  depth  of  the  content  and  its  importance  for  your  needs.  

•  What  is  the  depth/coverage  of  the  informa4on?  •  Who  is  the  intended  audience?  Children?  Researchers?  

Consumers?  •  Have  you  looked  at  a  variety  of  other  sources?  

Authority:  The  source  of  the  informa4on.  

•  Who  wrote  the  informa4on  and  what  are  their  qualifica4ons?  •  Has  the  author  published  works  in  a  more  tradi4onal  format  like  

books  or  journal  ar4cles?  •  Is  the  author  associated  with  an  organiza4on?  A  university?  A  

company?  A  non-­‐profit?  •  Is  there  contact  informa4on  on  the  website?  •  What  does  the  URL  reveal  about  the  author  or  the  source?  

Accuracy:  The  reliability  and  correctness  of  the  informa4on.  

•  Are  there  cita4ons  for  the  informa4on  provided  on  the  website?  •  Is  the  page  or  the  language  on  the  page  objec4ve  and  free  of  

emo4on?  •  Are  there  any  spelling,  grammar,  or  other  typographical  errors?  

Purpose:  Reason  the  website  exists.  Presence  of  bias  or  prejudice.  

•  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  website?  To  inform?  To  teach?  To  sell?  To  entertain?  To  persuade?  

•  Are  there  poli4cal,  ideological,  cultural,  religious,  ins4tu4onal,  or  personal  biases  and  are  the  biases  clearly  stated  on  the  page?  

Methods  • ARCS  Model  to  mo4vate  students  •  AMen4on  •  Relevance  •  Confidence  •  Sa4sfac4on  

University  of  Hawaii  Students  • Par4cipants  •  University  of  Hawaii  •  Students  •  Faculty/Staff  

Web-­‐based  Module  • Ra4onal  • Websites  are  online  

• Crea4on  • Weebly  •  Google  Docs  •  iFrames  

h:p://www.idio?ca.com/cranium/encyclopedia/content/civilwar.htm    

Data  Collection  • Pretest  • Post-­‐test  

•  Embedded  Test    • Quan4ta4ve  Data  • Qualita4ve  Data  

Compared  to  each  other  to  gage  par4cipant  performance.  

Compared  to  each  other  to  gage  par4cipant  understanding    of  concepts.  

Design  Problems  • Data  Collec4on  

• Post-­‐test  Ques4on  3  (Relevance)  

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1)  The  CRAAP  test  provides  a  list  of  criteria  to  aid  with  the  evalua?on  of  __________.  (books,  journal  ar?cles,  websites,  magazine  ar?cles,  or  all  of  the  above)  

8)  True  or  False.  A  website  must  always  be  current,  relevant,  authorita?ve,  accurate,  and  have  a  clearly  stated  purpose  in  order  for  it  to  be  appropriate  to  use  as  a  source  in  academic  work.  

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2)  Browse  the  website  below.  Is  the  informa?on  on  the  website  current  enough  for  your  purposes?    3)  Browse  the  website  below.  Would  this  website  be  relevant  to  your  topic?  

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4)  Browse  the  website  below.  Was  the  website  created  by  an  authorita?ve  source?  

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5)  Browse  the  website  below.  Is  the  informa?on  on  the  page  accurate?  

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6)  Browse  the  website  below.  Does  the  purpose  of  the  website  fit  your  informa?onal  needs?  

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7)  Do  you  feel  comfortable  using  this  source  for  a  graded  research  paper?  

Conclusion  •  Quan4ta4ve  vs.  Qualita4ve  Data  

•  Further  research  

Thank  you!   Questions?