User:Gmichellebow/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
I am evaluating the home economics article.

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because home economics was the beginning of all FCS topics. Home economics made the world realize how important these life skills are to know and learn. It matters because it encompasses what FCS is and teaches people about human development, community, how to cook, clean, and more. It is an essential science for individuals to learn how to be independent and live. My preliminary impression of home economics was that it was women based and was mostly focused on teaching women and stay-at-home moms back then how to care for their homes while the husband worked.

Evaluate the article
The lead section defines what home economics is and gives a brief and concise description of what it entails. The content of the article describes the history of home economics as a women-focused science to teach them to be homemakers and care for the house which is accurate information. The article briefly goes into family consumer sciences and the transition from women-focused to all genders, however, I don't think it truly reflects all of the topics covered under FCS. Topics like public health education are not written about at all even though it is a large focus in what home economics has turned into today. The article provides information on what home economics is in different countries but could use some more information in countries such as India, Indonesia, and Italy. The article covers the history of home economics in the US well. The article addresses the women minority and how early on they were not able to get other vocational training early on.

It is up to date, describing how the 21st century has shifted the view of homemaking to get rid of gender bias. The article is written in a neutral tone, addressing facts but not presenting bias against or for home economics. I did not notice any over or underrepresented viewpoints regarding the topic. However, I think many other countries besides the US are underrepresented in the topic, as it covers all of the US history of home economics but does not cover other countries to the same extent although that may just be due to a lack of information. Some information in the article does not have citations and resources to go to that can back up the facts presented. I think the sources could be more current and include more books and articles written within the last 10 years. I believe there are more sources that could be used to address the topic more thoroughly. The majority of sources are peer-reviewed articles or books. However, I did find one source that has been archived and can not be viewed, which doesn't allow viewers or editors to fact-check to make sure it was reliable when written.

The article is well-organized and well written. It was easy to read and the main sections were split up nicely for viewers to skip forward if only looking for certain information pertaining to the topic. The article includes a few images that enhance the article but I believe there are better pictures to show what home economics is. I also believe adding pictures of what the current home economics of FCS looks like now would be good to include for readers to see the shift and get a better understanding of what the topic encompasses now. The images are spread out and organized by what the article is talking about.

On the talk page, editors debate topics and speak about what they intend to add or get rid of for other editors to respond. The page has been part of two Wiki projects and is rated as a C-class. The talk page does reflect what we've discussed in class regarding how it is always known as home economics even though it is now family consumer sciences and has undergone a lot of change regarding the topics taught.

Overall, the article is good at defining the topic and giving the history of home economics but I think it could include more on what it has become today and the transition to family consumer sciences because it is often confusing to people and overlooked as a field of study. The article can include more about each of the countries' home economics as well as pictures to show what home economics is now. It is well developed in the history of home economics in the US but could be more developed in the terminology of family consumer sciences along with the 21st-century section. There are more sources out there, such as the "Stir It Up" book that can be used to address and add more information.