Evaluations

Evaluation #4: http://www.mathematicsuniversity.com/index-2.html

This is an unofficial site that goes by the title of, "Mathematics University". The idea is to create a website that provides information regarding the art of teaching mathematics and how to perfect it. The website creator, Matt McManus, tries to help math teachers improve their teaching methods. He created a site that contains helpful ideas, information, and links to support math teachers. His goal for this website is to provide information that will contribute to a better teaching style for those that aspire to instruct math.

Organization/Structure: The first aspect that I noticed were the headings up top which function as the links to navigate the website. This does not seem like the best strategy as a layout design. The links are a bit too high and it almost seems as if it is “outside” of the site. The first thought that came to mind, was that it was a mistake. Obviously, this was not a mistake, but the links do appear outside of the website layout.

The homepage appears to have links scattered throughout and this could pose as a problem. For a first-timer, this page is confusing because some of the text appears to be hyperlinks due to the color. Hyperlinks are commonly associated with blue text that stands out from the rest. They are also associated with dark/bolded text as well. In this site, there is text that appears this way, but are not actually links. This certainly confused me at first, as I had to hover throughout the site to decipher which were links and which were not. There are too many occurrences where the user has to guess where a hyperlink is located. This issue can be easily avoided if they maintained a consistent text style to prevent confusion.

With the exception of the header links (up top), the links on the homepage could have been grouped together rather than scattered. They could have been created into a small category in one place. Another solution, but less favorable, is to leave the scattered links and post the same links into a common area. This would allow the users to find the links quicker.

                                                                                                My score: 4/5

Navigability: The website's organization could have been improved to help the navigability of this site. The easy part in navigating through this site is the use of the heading links up top. Other than that, the rest is a minor challenge to find what you are looking for. This is mostly due to the random links and "hidden links". Hidden links are those that may not appear to be a link, but actually are (Castro, 2007). Other than that, the site's navigability is not too bad. The homepage hurts this variable the most because of the inconsistencies.

                                                                                                My score: 4/5

Information Clarity: As stated earlier, the website was a bit confusing and misleading with their use of hyperlinks. It required some guessing to determine which pieces of text actually led to a link. Those that were hyperlinks appeared to have multiple types of font/text styles which show unnecessary inconsistency. It is preferred to keep the links in a similar format to give users the idea of where the links are. At the same time, this would minimize the confusion.

                                                                                                My score: 3/5

Currency: There is a part in the website that reads "Coming soon" in one of their sections. The issue with this is that it does not give an expected year for completion, and the user has no idea how long it has been "coming soon". It says, "This section will be available December 1st", but we have no indication of what year they refer to. It is always helpful to at least give an expected date regarding the completion of a section.

On that same page ("coming soon"), there is a statement that reads, "...enjoy the following clip...click on it to play", yet there is no clip to even click on. This is an example of a broken/missing link. It is best to avoid leading users to false links; otherwise the site will lose credibility and just simply tarnish its image. Other than that, there does not seem to be heavy activity regarding updates or current information. The maintenance seems to be lacking as proof from the previously mentioned issues that exist.

                                                                                                My score: 3/5

Accuracy: The website's goal is to provide helpful information and data for aspiring math teachers. Such information is intended to improve the teaching ability of these individuals and this website does provide the data and resources necessary. The site is a little on the small side, but it delivers information to help reach its goal. The creator does a good job conveying his ideas and shows he is a legitimate source to follow.

                                                                                                My score: 5/5

Potential Improvements: There are improvements that could have been made to a few variables. The organization/structure could have been modified in a couple ways. The links up top could have been placed in an area where it does not appear "left out" or outside of the central focus. These links appear out of place in the manner that they are arranged.

Another improvement could have been addressed with their hyperlinks throughout their site. This is evident mostly on the homepage, but hyperlinks should contain a consistent font style to prevent the user from having to guess. This avoids any confusion and allows the person to find what they are looking for in a faster manner.

The other issue with this site is its currency. The material and information on some pages appear to be ambiguous in terms of their maintenance. It is not certain as to whether the site is being monitored in any fashion or routine. The "coming soon" page should add a more specific date, because there is no year label. This is not a clear message to send the users and may cause them to not return to the site. There was also a video link mentioned but evidently, it did not exist. These types of mistakes are easy to fix, however, they can be costly towards the user's satisfaction.

Overall Score: 19/25

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Created by: Charles Villamar ©
cv154773@albany.edu