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Peer Review

Microbiology and Immunology On-line

Reviewed:

Apr 29, 2004 by Biology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.7 stars
Content Quality: 5.0 stars
Effectiveness: 4.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Overview:

This is a comprehensive site on immunology, microbiology, and parasitology. It
is richly illustrated with line drawings, photographs, animations, and videos.
In addition to the web based materials, many of chapters include Powerpoint and
PDF supplements (though some have restricted access). It is written as five
books: Immunology, Bacteriology, Virology, Mycology, and Parasitology. It is a
resource for the authors' medical school curriculum, so it is prepared to meet
those particular needs.
Type of Material:

Online text book with some interactive elements
Recommended Uses:

Reference material for students and instructors
Technical Requirements:

A modern browser will work for most of the content, but there is Java based
navigational elements, and also Quicktime Movies, Flash and Shockwave
animations, Powerpoint files, Microsoft Producer presentations, and PDF
documents.
Identify Major Learning Goals:

To provide relevant information related to medical microbiology
To provide access to illustrations and animations that can enhance understanding
of major concepts
Many of the chapters include specific learning goals.
Target Student Population:

This is intended for medical schools students, but would be of value to other
medical training programs and for advanced students in the disciplines covered.
With careful selection, sections would also be valuable for other students of
biology.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Introductory microbiology concepts

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Detailed, well organized content that is well documented with visuals
  • High quality images and animations
  • Links to external web materials to increase the richness of the resource
  • Link for user feedback to improve the resource.
  • Appears to be updated frequently

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Many chapters include learning objectives, key words, or both
  • Self-assessments allow students to test their understanding of the material
  • The visual aids are generally of superb quality and well labeled.
Concerns:

  • There is wide variation in the style of materials ranging from outlines to
    full narratives.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The navigation is straight forward and consistent throughout the site.
  • Most of the site is visually appealing and easy to read.
  • The site is searchable (though newer portions are not yet included in the search).
Concerns:

  • A few pages are cluttered, use poorly contrasting colors and are difficult
    to interpret.
  • Not all clickable links are visually identifiable as links.
  • It would be a nice feature to be able to navigate to the previous or next chapter without returning the main page of the "book".
  • Links to outside web sites do not automatically open in their own window so it
    is easy to drift far from the site
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