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Peer Review

APABook

Reviewed:
Oct 12, 2020 by Library and Information Services
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.8 stars
Content Quality: 4.5 stars
Effectiveness: 4.8 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:

This site provides a variety of materials pertaining to citation and the evaluation of sources. Citation resources include a variety of online APA formatting and citation tutorials, style guides, FAQs, and a sample paper; and evaluation resources include video tutorials and a list of tips for identifying scholarly articles online. This site could serve as a valuable APA reference resource for high school or undergraduate college students.

Type of Material:

Reference material

Recommended Uses:

This site can be used as a resource tool or the basis for a lesson on citing sources.

Technical Requirements:

Resource works in all browsers for PC and Android; one external link requires Flash

Identify Major Learning Goals:
  • Learn why and when to cite sources
  • Evaluate sources with the CRAAP test
  • Learn what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it
  • Become familiar with APA style resources
Target Student Population:

College Lower Division, High School

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic web navigation skills

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:
  • Acknowledges upcoming APA format changes and provides links to relevant update information
  • Tutorial videos and evaluation tips offer concise, relevant information
  • The guide as a whole could be a highly useful resource across many disciplines
  • Combination of text and video elements appeals to varied learner dispositions
Concerns:

It was not clear that it was neccessary to view the APA style tutorial in addition to the Introduction to Citation video. The quiz was based primarily on the APA style tutorial. The APA Blog may be more dense than students will want to read.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:
  • The quiz effectively incorprates questions on both the theory and mechanics of source citation
  • This site is more of a resource aggregator, and serves a more supplemental, reference purpose. So, while it does not necessarily "teach" skills or concepts, it does a good job at providing access to external pedagogically focused resources, and at, perhaps, reinforcing ideas learned in other environments.
  • Site assumes little to no prerequisite knowledge in terms of citations. The Introduction to Citation video on the APA Citation page provides a comprehensive and widely accessible overview of the idea and practice of citing sources.
Concerns:

It was not clear that it was neccessary to view the APA style tutorial for a complete understanding of APA citations so a student might overlook this tutorial.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:
  • The minimalist layout of this guide facilitates ease of navigation
  • The platform provides a variety of methods for users to either contact someone for additional help, or to navigate to other tutorials and help resources.
  • The progress tracker during the quiz and immediate scoring/feedback upon completion are helpful tools and indicators for users.
Concerns:

The APA style tutorial is restricted to IE or Firefox and requires that the end user pay attention to the warning under the link. It is not clear the the APA style tutorial is critical to passing the quiz because it is listed with the other resources and appears to be just another resource.

Other Issues and Comments:

The APA style tutorial should be in its own box and it should be made clear that this is at the heart of this tutorial and neccessary to complete the quiz. 

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