User:Hsandall/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: Cognitive ecology
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * I chose this article because I thought the title was interesting and I wanted to know a little bit more about it.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Yes
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Yes - in the "contents" box but not in the paragraph itself
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Yes - "culturally transmitted ideas" are only mentioned in the lead
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * Concise

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Yes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * I don't know enough about the topic to decide that.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Yes
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * No
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * No - some sections were a little short (3 sentences) but one viewpoint was not focused on more than the other.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * No

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Yes
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Yes
 * Are the sources current?
 * Yes - within the last 30 years.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Yes

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * The language is a little difficult to understand
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * One that I noticed
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * Yes

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * No - no images provided
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * No images provided
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * No images Provided
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * No images Provided

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * Nothing that I am aware of.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * Rated C-class.
 * WikiProject Ecology, WikiProject Cognitive Science, and WikiProject Psychology
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * We haven't talked about it in class

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * Low-importance
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * The article provided many links to related topics that can be used to further ones understanding of the subject.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * The article does make some assumptions about the reader's prior knowledge on the subject which can make it difficult (but not impossible) to follow along.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * I would rate this article as slightly 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

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: