User:Benjy Hall/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Curriculum studies
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I have chosen to evaluate this article because the subject of curriculum relates closely to critical thinking.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The Lead includes an introductory sentence that fits the standards by describing the article's topic in a clear and concise manner. However, there is no discussion of the article's major sections. The lead itself is rather bare, seeing that it only includes and introductory sentence.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation
The content is relevant to the topic, up-to-date, and there is no content missing or content that does not belong. The one gripe that comes to mind in regards to the content is that it heavily relies on the reader's prior knowledge or understanding of curriculum theory or curriculum in general.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
The article remains neutral with no real red flags for tone and balance. It uses the proper language for addressing a topic in which someone speaks their opinion, but the article never introduces it's own preference or ideas. There is no evident persuasion.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
The article's sources all qualify as quality sources, however it does lack a good amount of them. As it stands, there are currently only 3 sources attached to the article. Although the actual size of the article isn't very long, it is still one containing information that is worth more than a mere 3 sources.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
The article is well written aside from the actual organization. Right now it is merely one large overview with no distinct changes in ideas or subjects. There are a few grammatical errors, primarily in the in-text citations. There are many pieces of punctuation that follow a quote, as well as a lack of ellipses demonstrating that the quote had information before where it begins.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
There are no images or other media in this article.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
There isn't really much of a conversation happening in the talk page. It seems as if this article does not get much attention. This article is labeled as "within the scope of WikiProject Education."

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
This article's overall status is that it needs attention; it is in a state where a couple easy changes can put it on the path to being a much better source of information. It's strength is that it is on the right path. The article can be improved by reassessing the format, editing some of the quotes and in-text citations, and seeking out more sources. This article is underdeveloped.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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