Website Evaluation

In selecting a website to evaluate for my mid-term project, I decided to search for websites in a subject matter that I was most familiar with and would be able to provide a unique learning opportunity for my students. Being a special education inclusion teacher working with high-school math students I have heard my students’ concerns over the years regarding the SAT test, particularly with the math section. I decided to focus on a website that I thought best used the technology of the internet in its approach to helping students prepare for this section of the exam.

I selected satmathpro.com a website that was developed by Colleen King, a high school math teacher, who designed it to help students prepare specifically for the math component of the SAT. SAT Math Pro contains more than 120 video lessons and 300 interactive practice problems that target key areas such as algebra, geometry, data analysis and number properties. I evaluated this website following Kathy’s Schrock’s, “ Critical Evaluation of a Web Site Secondary School Level” guidelines for this project.

To access and review the SAT Math Pro website, I used the Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (IE 6.0) and connected to the internet using DSL.


Technical and Visual Aspects

TheSAT Math Pro website is focused on helping students improve their abilities to solve the variety of math problems that they would face on the SAT exam. The layout and design of the website is kept simple and clean. I have found that the website relies on Adobe’s Shockwave Flash (a.k.a. Flash) for many of its display and navigation features. The one issue that I had with the website was that all the Flash elements, such as the navigation menu, always seemed to have a “Click Here to Activate” message when I would first click on them. It became a little annoying because I would sometimes have to click my selection twice.

The website navigation menu is a Flash element that displays a simple animation of a spinning CD next to each selection when the mouse cursor is over it. Flash is also used to generate random math problems on the home page, which a student can submit their answer and be provided immediate feedback and guidance on how to solve. But, I thought the best value and usage of Flash was in the Assess and Practice sections of the website.

The Assess and Practice pages use a similar design in how they interact with the student. Information about the sections and the links associated to a particular test or practice set are shown. By clicking on a link the student is then taken to the page, which then displays an interactive menu (Flash). The menu provides a description of the types of questions that will be given and any additional options or features that are available to the student. The menu also displays information on time limits, the total number of questions, and the types of questions (all were multiple-choice). The student can click on the “Instructions” button to see details on the tools available during their assessment or practice sets as well as any options the student will have after submitting their answer(s). If any additional information is available the student can click on the right facing arrow on the low right section of the menu. If no additional information is available, the arrow will not be displayed and the can click on the “circled x” and they will be taken to the menus main page.

During the assessment or practice sets a student has access to two tools from the interactive menu a calculator and formulas list at the “click of a mouse.” Students would also have these tools available during their actual SAT tests. The calculator is opened by clicking the “On” button next to the calculator graphic and is closed by clicking the “Off” button. The calculator when opened (On) can be moved anywhere within the Flash viewing window, by using the mouse to click-on and hold down the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is at the bottom of the calculator in the area labeled “Move.” The calculator can also be increased and decreased in size by clicking on the + and – signs in the same area of the calculator. The formulas list is opened by clicking on the bisected triangle graphic and is closed by clicking on the circled X. The formula window however is not movable and tends to cover a large section of the question and answers.

If during the assessment test the student guesses on an answer the system provides a check box, for “Guessing” whereas the practice sets questions do not offer this same option.

When the Assessment test is completed the student is presented with a review of their answers. At this point, the student can go back to any question to review and/or change their response, provided they still have time available. The results of the test are calculated when the student clicks on “Get Score,” which is located at the bottom of the results flash viewing window. The student is then presented with the question numbers, their response and a green check if answered correctly or red “x” if the question was answered incorrectly. Skipped questions are tallied as incorrect. The numbers of the questions that were skipped or guessed are highlighted in yellow or green respectively. The second part of the assessment is presented as evaluation of the student’s strengths and weaknesses. The student is presented a list of all mathematical areas, and a red check mark is placed next to each area they will need to focus on to improve their score.

In contrast, the Practice section, which focuses on a math topic area selected by the student, does provide immediate feedback when the student’s answer is submitted by clicking on the arrow next to the words “Submit Answer.” A check mark next to students answer with the word “Excellent!” is presented if their answer is correct and a red “x” is placed next to an incorrect answer and the correct answer will have the text “correct answer,” in green, next to it.

Once student’s answers are submitted in either the assessment or practice sections the student will be able to see and click on the TV set icon, located next to the question number (assessment) or with the question (practice set) . A Flash video presentation is started, which takes the student through a step by step lesson on how to solve the problem. This presentation can be paused, stopped, fast forwarded or rewound for repeated instruction. The use of both auditory and animation in this presentation gives a multi-sensory approach to the solution process.

The resources section provides the student a list of recommended SAT prep/practice workbooks as well as additional SAT education websites they can visit. The images and associate titles or descriptions are linked to allow the student visit an online retailer to purchase the workbooks or to the associated website. The website author did not map specific areas of an image to links but linked images to the appropriate websites. If the student has graphics disabled, images will not appear and the image place holders will be displayed. However, the provided text links and associated descriptions will still enable the student to get to the appropriate website. Because of SAT Math Pro’s integration of Flash, disabling the browsers ability to show pictures has only a minimal impact on the student website’s experience and usage.

All of the website’s associated pages used both tables and columns to keep the content organized. The navigation menu is available on all the website’s pages and enables the student to easily navigate to another section of the site at any time. The website did not use headers and sub-headers in the traditional sense; instead the author used tables to format a page’s text including the title and descriptions of the web page or supplemental information.

Information about the author and recognitions by organizations are located on the About Us page. The website does not display information regarding last update or modification; however, it does have an up-to-date calendar for the upcoming SAT test dates displayed on the home page, which lists the testing dates from December 2007 through March 2008.

I found the SAT Math Pro website to be an excellent free resource for students who may be looking to the internet to either sharpen or improve their math skills for the SAT exam. The website performed without issue and loaded each page quickly. The usage of Flash in the navigation menu and particularly in the Assessment and Practice sections I found to be creative and provided a unique learning experience for the student. I felt the usage of video to walk a student through the solution for each problem was like having a virtual math tutor. So overall, I am please with the interaction between the website and student.


Content

When accessing the SAT Math Pro website the student is greeting by a large logo that states “SAT Math Pro Video Lessons On Demand.” When reading the information provided on the home page the student will quickly realize that the website is a free resource developed for those students who are concerned about their math abilities and performance on the SAT. The SAT Math Pro home page also provides a brief description of the key features and tools that the site has to offer to help the student focus and improve their math problem solving skills.

Though the website does not provide information as to when it was last updated or modified, the approach to solving mathematical problems hasn’t changed. The site provides a variety of practice sets in all the key mathematical areas such as Algebra, Geometry, Probability, Ratios, and Word Problems. I found that the SAT Math Pro website is an excellent resource for student preparing for or honing their math skills for the SAT. In addition, I found that this website can be used to help math students improve their math problems solving skills in their current classes.

Although there are many SAT educational websites that provide similar math assessment exams and practice sets for a student, the learning experience of these websites are often laden with text, which I believe makes them one dimensional. Also, some of these websites require the student to register or pay for access. I found that the SAT Math Pro website is unique because it provides a multimedia experience for the student without requiring registration or charges. The SAT Math Pro website focuses on the students learning experience by using Flash to provide white-board animation with supporting audio to teach the approaches and the steps required to resolve the given math problems. This provides for a multi-sensory experience, which is more likely to be retained and applied by the student.

The SAT Math Pro site is founded on solid math problem solving principles. The site also provides links to supplemental books and websites that the student can order or access enabling users/students to further their preparation for the SAT math section.



Authority

Colleen King, the author and creator of SAT Math Pro website is a math teacher, SAT instructor, a co-director of Math Advantage, a test prep and math tutoring center in Wellesley, Massachusetts and educational consultant. Colleen has also created a math site for elementary students Math Playground and for middle school problem solving MathTV.org. The SAT Math Pro website has gained recognition from Blue Web'N, The California Learning Resource Network, Merlot, The Math Forum, ISTE, and the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction.

The SAT Math Pro website has been linked to the Edvisors Foundation, a foundation that supports local and national educational charities and the Thinkport.org website, which is described as an educational super site for Maryland educators, families, and its communities. I found a number of school websites that link to SAT Math Pro such as Greenbrier High School in Evans, Georgia, , Middletown School District Middletown, New York and Home Instruction Schools in Bronx, New York. The SAT Math Pro website was also recognized as “the website of the day” byTechLearning.com , on November 6, 2007.

As a high school inclusion teacher working with students in Algebra II and III both the material and techniques used to solve math problems were accurate. I found the SAT Math Pro website provided an excellent resource for students who would be facing the math section of the SAT exam. I felt the usage of the Flash was an effective method to provide the students a virtual tutor online.

When searching on the internet and news groups for information about Colleen King, I was surprised how little there is about her and the SAT Math pro website. I did discover that much of the development of her website educational techniques has been done through her efforts and hours spent with her own students over the years.



Narrative

The website provides an opportunity for all students whether they are struggling or performing well in their math courses to be engaged in a learning experience. By using the internet and a multimedia oriented interface, the SAT Math Pro website provides a resource for a student to test and improve their math skills. By using Adobe’s Flash technology, the website provides a student the ability to view the steps required to solve each problem presented through an animated white board. The students are able to control their experience by pausing and repeating the instructions as many times as needed. The usage of Adobe’s Flash technology with the applied teaching experience and techniques of Colleen King provides student’s access to a virtual “on demand” math teacher. From my experiences as a teacher, I would recommend the SAT Math Pro website for any high school student interested in improving their understanding of the SAT math section of the SAT.