Peer Review

Molecular Expressions

Material Detail page

Bookmark

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: Nature of electromagnetic radiation, refraction, reflection, diffraction, interference, polarization and therefore, the need to understand the anatomy of the microscope.
Type of Material:: Collection or reference material.
Recommended Uses:: Middle School, High School, College, and professional levels.
Technical Requirements:: Browser navigation.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: To understand the physical principles behind the function of microscopes.
Target Student Population:: Middle School, High School, and College and Professional levels
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Basic principles of physics.

Rating:
Strengths:: A well-designed program with enough technical data to help to understand the physics of light and color.
Concerns:: The availability of a modern microscope in the classroom would bring these resources to life.

Rating:
Strengths:: The site is VERY comprehensive in providing information about modern microscopes and their importance in science research. Almost any information about microscopes can be found in this collection. An important bonus is that each image is associated with a description of the techniques used to capture the image. Very few photomicroscopic images on the web provide this kind of information that is needed by science teachers wjo must teach about microscopes they may never have used.
Concerns:: Not having the adequate equipment in the classroom might keep some students from associating the images displayed with the life-sized objects. Unfortunately, the images (for example in the Darkfield Microscopy Image Gallery) show detail that a scientist would deem important, but the narratives associated with the images describe what goes on at a macro level, not what is seen in the image. The authors might want to make the resource more useful to non-science majors who are not trained to look at microscopic images by adding a brief description of the content that should be noted on each image.

Rating:
Strengths:: The web site is well organized with a clear navigation structure. Interactive Java Tutorials are very effective at teaching about the variables that must be considered for each type of microscopy.
Concerns:: It is unclear why the site alternates between black/gold color scheme and white/blue color scheme. The changes introduce the unmerited worry that links take one away t=from these valuable resources.

Other Issues and Comments:: The statement that "No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders" is unfortunate for teachers who may work with students learning to acknowlegde copyright holders during classroom instruction. This extreme level of restriction is especially surprising since "any material, information or other communication you transmit or post to this website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. FSURF will have no obligations with respect to materials submitted by our users, and will be free to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use submitted materials and all data, images, sounds, text, and other items embodied therein for any and all educational, commercial or non-commercial purposes." Such a one-way flow of resources AWAY from the learner is atypical for educational materials.
Creative Commons: