Peer Review

Vietnam War

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Aug 25, 2002 by History

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This Spartacus Educational web site is an index of other sites on the Vietnam
War and offers no interpretation or explanation of the conflict. Site links
lead to a variety of web sites designed for popular audiences and military buffs
but fails to provide sophisticated analyses. Most of the information is from
the perspective of the United States. There is the inclusion of some Vietnamese
documents, a limited history on Vietnam, and casualty figures from various
countries indicate an attempt to offer broader view.
Type of Material:: The web site is a menu of other sites and is organized by categories. Some of
the categories are: narratives, timelines, personal accounts, statistics,
military information, visual images, events and issues, biographices,
interviews, further research, and resident historican. The quality varies from
link to link. Most sources are secondary.
Recommended Uses:: The material is recommended for high school research projects on the United
States experience in the Vietnam War. Faculty need to review the site and
provide commentary on how to and what to use and for what purpose. The
narrowness of the perspective needs to be pointed out to students using the
site.
Technical Requirements:: None.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: To help students do internet research on the Vietnam War. No guidance is
offered on how to conduct general research and/or on the Vietnam War. The
section on "possible investigations" is blank.
Target Student Population:: Middle and High School audience.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Students need a broad historical background on the Cold War and post World War
II Indochina. Students need to be trained in how to evalute perspective and the
quality of historical documents.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This site makes extensive use of secondary sources. There are some interviews
with soldiers who served in Vietnam. The site is largely a collection of
memoirs and reflections by American participants on how they experienced the war
or what they felt about war related issues that led to domestic controversy in
the United States. The United States perspective predominates although there
are attempts to include some Vietnamese documents, some Vietnamese history and
casualty figures from various countries to offer a broader view.
Concerns:: The site does not provide information about the antecedents to United States
involvement in the war. The war's antecedents in French efforts to reimpose
colonialism in Indochina during World War II or the way the United States'
intervention in Vietnam fits into the larger picture of the Cold War are not
explored in depth.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The site provides students with the opportunity to locate on-line material on
the Vietnam War. Faculty are provided the flexibility to create their own
learning assignments based on the site's information.
Concerns:: The site does not fulfill the site's title. There is no guidance on how to
undertake possible investigations in a link that goes nowhere. Some of the
materials, particularly oral accounts by war participants, the war photos, and
some of the documents are of value for high school students. Teachers need to
preview the site to determine how to integrate it into the learning process.
Students should be informed about the mixed quality of the site and the
narrowness of the perspective.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The site is easy to navigate and it is difficult to get "lost."
Concerns:: The problem is site maintenance. At least 25 links were found to be dead. The
site does not offer direction about how to use or evaluate the material. The
site primarily offers a menu of other sites organized by categories. These are
clearly laid out in outline format.

Other Issues and Comments:: The site provides basic survey knowledge of the Vietnam War. The site is more
appropriate to Middle and High School students than students at the college
level. It's greatest advantage is offering a variety of resources on other web
links. Students will need a broader historical background on the Cold War and
post World War II Indochina and skill training in how to evaluate the depth and
quality of a historical website. The site repackages material already on the
internet without much discrimination or careful efforts at integration of the
material.
Creative Commons: