This quiz and its accompanying databases provide the user with the opportunity to learn and test his/her knowledge of Identification of North American birds, their songs, their breeding distributions, and their wintering distributions. Quizzes can be set for beginner or advanced birders. In addition, photographs, song and relative abundance maps of individual species are available as a resource from links to other agencies.
Type of Material:
Database/Quiz
Technical Requirements:
HTML
Target Student Population:
Beginning to Advanced undergraduate in basic ornithology course or interested in learning to ID birds
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Quality of Content: (4)(4) = 4
Features of Excellence:
Reasonable but not exhaustive collection of materials
Good quality images, maps, sounds
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool: (3)(3) =3
Features of Excellence:
Could be used in teaching a range of topics in ornithology
Could be used as a research tool for basic reports
Useful as a drill and practice for basic ornithology courses
Could supplement an Animal Behavior or Ecology Course
Provides immediate feedback
Concerns:
Provides exercises that are simply identification/recall with no specifically helpful response.
Quiz over breeding and wintering distributions may be of limited value
Would not stand alone well without presenting a lot of material prior to the quiz
Could be improved by adding tutorials that would guide user in learning material - teach identification markings and help students see trends in distributions.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Usability: (3.5)(5) = 4.25
Features of Excellence:
Easy to navigate
Easy to use
Simple and straightforward
Concerns:
Quiz forces the user back to the main quiz page after each photograph, song, etc.
There is much more information linked to the Song Identification page, this is not immediately obvious
The database links on the song page should be moved to a more prominent location for a more integrated feel
Allow the user to step through a set of identifications rather than just one bird at a time.
Other Issues and Comments:
Overall rating: (3.5)(4) = 3.75
Creative Commons:
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