Peer Review

World Life Expectancy

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Dec 12, 2017 by Sociology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: World Life Expectancy is the latest in a series of Educational Experiences developed by LeDuc Media. The Site’s purpose is to stimulate meaningful research on this important subject through leading Academic Institutions worldwide, while displaying the data in ways the less informed visitor can understand and use. Gathering meaningful Life Expectancy data from every corner of the Globe is an expensive and time-consuming process and with the help of our sponsors, we intend to continue to make it available for free. Our goal is to assist people everywhere in living longer and more productive lives
Type of Material:: Collection of maps showing mortality by country for a range of causes.
Recommended Uses:: This would be good material for any course that discusses health or mortality including introductory health classes, introductory geography classes, demography/population courses, and similar courses.
Technical Requirements:: Internet and current browser.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Students who use this website will be able to: quickly view and compare data on life expectancies both at the national and international level, access data on various causes of death and examine how different countries compare, and review research on a variety of topics related to health, life expectancy and other similar topics.
Target Student Population:: All levels of courses on aging, international studies, courses on death, healthcare, and health in general.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Need to know how population ratios are marked and displayed.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The visualizations are superb. There is a good range of causes of death, and the adjusted rates are visible next to each map. In addition to this, the rates for each country become visible by hovering the cursor above the selected country.
Concerns:: There are no stated instructions, and there is little context regarding the causes of death (for example, the definitions of the causes). Students may or may not know what Diabetes Mellitus is. A link to a definition would be helpful. Citations for data sources are in fine print at the bottom which means some may be skeptical of the source of the data.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The material is well presented. It is immediately possible to compare causes of death by country, region, or level of development. The site is clear and succinct which makes it easier to utilize in assignments. The information is not structured as a stand-alone learning exercise but it could certainly be used in a variety of classes and contexts.
Concerns:: The material is presented in a relatively unadorned manner. An instructor would need to build their own assignment(s) around the material. Some of the facts and figures assume that individuals have some basic knowledge of various diseases and terms as well as understanding of how various national health figures and rates are calculated.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Visual arrangement and organization easy to understand; extensive collation of massive database sources.
Concerns:: How the numbers work, how population is counted, how death rates are registered and so on are not explained.

Other Issues and Comments:: These maps would have a place in any number of courses. They are engaging and thought provoking. There does not seem to be any internal review process, single author appears to have done the writing.
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