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Peer Review

The Habitable Planet

Reviewed:

Mar 28, 2015 by Biology
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Ratings

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

The Habitable Planet is a multimedia course for high school teachers and adult learners interested in studying environmental science. The Web site provides access to course content and activities developed by leading scientists and researchers in the field. The course consists of 13 independent units authored by leading practitioners in their respective disciplines and together they bring to life a complete course in Environmental Science.
Type of Material:

  • Online Course
  • Tutorial
  • Simulation
Recommended Uses:

Supplement existing General Science, Biology, or Environmental Science curriculum
Technical Requirements:

Java and Flash
Identify Major Learning Goals:

The user should learn about current issues in environmental science. Including: oceans, atmosphere, ecosystems, population, climate change, resources, energy among other topics. Users may earn graduate or continuing education credit.
Target Student Population:

Designed for teachers, educators, and adult learners with a science background who want to learn more about current issues in environmental science College or graduate students, advanced high school students, or even professional scientists
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic knowledge of elementary science vocabulary

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Multimedia-- Interactivity keeps users interested in the material
  • Well researched and accurate
  • Narrations by experts add credibility to material
Concerns:

  • There is a lot of material to work through or to search for specific topics

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • objectives are listed
  • prerequisite knowledge that is required is listed
  • there are a lot of resources provided to get the message across
  • The images shown are colorful and engaging
  • The blend of text, video clips, animations, and still images makes the material interesting and engaging
  • Narrations by scientists who are experts in their fields help users focus on key concepts
Concerns:

  • It is difficult to separate out the resources for specific use.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The information is well organized and easy to understand
  • Very easy to navigate to the different major sections of site
  • The information is organized and follows a logical order
Concerns:

  • None
Other Issues and Comments:

  • This is a very good site with a lot of information.
  • There are 13 chapters and each chapter is further broken down into sections.
  • There are 5 interactive labs.
  • There are videos, photographs, graphics, animations.
  • There is a lot of stuff to go through but the site breaks them down to manageable pieces.
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