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Peer Review

Antibiotic Susceptibility

Reviewed:
Mar 31, 2016 by Biology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Quality: 4.2 stars
Effectiveness: 4.5 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:
The Antibiotic Susceptibility is a site that provides good information about bacteria and how they become resistant to antibiotics. It is completely interactive. This is an interactive PowerPoint presentation that demonstrates how antimicrobial therapies eliminate pathogens. It emphasizes the importance of taking the full dose of antibiotics prescription even when the patient feels better after the first few doses.
Type of Material:
This site is an interactive tutorial that helps users learn how to correctly use antibiotics and how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.
Recommended Uses:
The material can be used in a classroom as a supplemental approach or a tutorial to show how bacteria can build resistance towards antibiotics.
Technical Requirements:
The website animations require Adobe Flash Player plugin and Java.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Users will learn about antibiotic resistant bacteria and the proper way to administer antibiotics. They will learn the importance of taking the full does of antibiotics to eliminate bacterial infection.
Target Student Population:
The target population is middle school, high school, and lower division college students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
There are no prerequisites for this site, although some knowledge of biology and familiarity with basic biology vocabulary will help in understanding what is presented.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:
  • The information is accurate and provides a good basic background about the material
  • The interactive material is interesting and useful
  • The images are good quality and flows harmoniously
  • The information is accurate and provides a good basic background about the material
  • The message is short, clear, and to the point
  • Animations are well done and show good detail
  • Some interactivity keeps users interested in the material
  • Animations and simulations are straightforward
Concerns:
  • It would be helpful if there were a study guide that accompanied the material
  • It would make the presentation more engaging if the terms "antimicrobials" and "susceptibility" are defined at the start of the presentation
  • The animation tends to be boring without any narration

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:
  • This site presents a unique way of learning
  • It would be a very good tool to use for supplementing classroom teaching
  • The material is logically presented
  • The interactive tools makes learning more enjoyable and interesting
  • Material promotes conceptual understanding
  • The images shown are colorful and engaging
  • This is a good site for getting an idea of what might be happening in nature
Concerns:
  • Objectives are not clearly stated
  • Learning objectives are not clear
  • The simplistic diagram may not appeal to students who may expect to see images of actual microbes

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:
  • Animations flows very easily
  • The site is easy to find
  • The information is well organized and follows a logical order
  • Information is easy to understand
  • Navigation is intuitive
  • No defective links or major bugs were found
  • Web page downloaded quickly initially (but see concerns)
Concerns:
  • Navigation through this site appears to be slower than other sites
  • Ads on page made it confusing as to what to click and took up a lot of the page
  • The website is a little slow at loading each of the different parts
Other Issues and Comments:
The author has done a great job with this site. There are minor glitches with the transitions of the material but not enough to take away from it's use. This tutorial will be much more effective if the animation is accompanied by a voice over or narration.
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