1. E N G L I S H – 1 1 1
I N ST R U C TO R : A N D R EA A N D E RS O N
UNIT #3 ESSAY
University Website Evaluation

2. A C C O R D I N G TO T H E N O RT O N F I E L D G U I D E T O W R I T I N G ,
A N E VA LUAT I O N I S A J U D G M E N T; YO U J U D G E S O M E T H I N G
A C C O R D I N G TO C E R TA I N C R I T E R I A A N D S U P P O R T YO U R
J U D G M E N T W I T H R E A S O N S A N D E V I D E N C E .
FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT, YOU WILL WRITE AN
EVALUATION OF A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
WEBSITE. YOU WILL WRITE FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF A PROSPECTIVE STUDENT .
UNIT #3 ESSAY
University Website Evaluation

3. Unit #3 Preparation
Look at the assignment sheet in the Unit #3 folder in Blackboard

4. Unit #3 Preparation
Reading in The Norton Field Guide to Writing
 According to The Norton Field
Guide to Writing, an
evaluation is a judgment. For
this paper, you will judge a
college or university website
according to a set of criteria
and support your judgment
with reasons and evidence.
 Get Started;
 Read Chapter 13 – Evaluations
 Chapter 35 – Comparing and
Contrasting
 Essay #3 Readings (on
Blackboard)

5. T H E N E X T F E W S L I D E S W I L L I N T R O D U C E
Y O U T O G E N E R A L I N F O R M A T I O N A B O U T
P E R F O R M I N G A N E V A L U A T I O N .
Evaluation Overview

6. C H O O S E A N I T E M FO R E VA LUAT I O N

D E V E LO P A S E T O F C R I T E R I A

I N V EST I G AT E C LO S E LY AG A I N ST YO U R S E T O F C R I T E R I A

E VA LUAT E T H E R ES U LT S

M A K E YO U R F I N A L
J U D G M E N T !
OVERVIEW: What are the steps of an evaluation?

7. WHAT IS AN
EVALUATION?
An evaluation is a
JUDGMENT. You
choose
something to
evaluate, create
a set of criteria,
and evaluate the
product in
regards to your
criteria.
 You make evaluations (or judgments)
every day. For example:
 You recommend a mystery novel to a
friend
 You choose to buy Nike instead of Adidas
 You tell the write a positive review for the
new restaurant in town
 You go shopping at Costco instead of Sam’s
Club
 ONE important question remains -
Why do you take these actions? In
other words, what are your reasons
for your judgments?

8. Criteria Example #1:
Restaurants
Evaluate: Tartine European
Restaurant
 I think all good
restaurants should:
 #1 Have friendly, helpful, and
honest employees
 #2 Have a diverse menu that
offers a variety of flavors
 #3 Have a peaceful and
relaxing environment
 #4 Offer complimentary
dessert for a guest’s birthday
 Evaluate: Does the
restaurant meet the criteria
of a “good” restaurant?
 #1 – Yes, Tartine does have
friendly employees.
 #2 – Yes, Tartine does have a
diverse menu.
 #3 – No, Tartine does not have
a relaxing environment.
 #4 – No, Tartine does not offer
complimentary dessert for a
guest’s birthday.
You make your judgment by evaluating your product
according to certain criteria… YOU create the criteria.

9. Evaluate: Tartine European
Restaurant
Analyze the results of the evaluation
and make your final judgment.
 Evaluate: Does the
restaurant meet the criteria
of a “good” restaurant?
 #1 – Yes, Tartine does have
friendly employees.
 #2 – Yes, Tartine does have a
diverse menu.
 #3 – No, Tartine does not have
a relaxing environment.
 #4 – No, Tartine does not offer
complimentary dessert for a
guest’s birthday.
 Tartine European Restaurant
only meets 2 of the 4 criteria of
a good restaurant. While it does
have wonderful employees and
a great menu, it does not have a
relaxing environment or offer a
complimentary birthday dessert.
 While it only meets 2 of the 4, it
is still a great choice for dinner
because food and service
outweighs the importance of a
relaxing environment and free
dessert.
Make a final judgment!

10. THE NEXT FEW SLIDES WILL INTRODUCE
YOU TO SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT
THIS ASSIGNMENT.
FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT, YOU WILL WRITE
AN EVALUATION OF A COLLEGE OR
UNIVERSITY WEBSITE. YOU WILL WRITE
FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A
PROSPECTIVE STUDENT.
Your assignment:
University Website Evaluation
Overview

11. Choose a college or university website to evaluate
 A few things to consider:
 Look for a school site that you are interested in
writing about. Perhaps it is a school you are
considering attending in the future.
 Remember, you are evaluating the website, not the
school.
 You may not evaluate the UAA or KPC websites.
 Examples: look at the following slides for a few
examples to choose from.

22. Evaluation
Criteria
You make your
judgment by
evaluating the
website
according to
certain
criteria… YOU
create the
criteria.
 For this assignment, you must think of
THREE criteria to use in judging the
university website.
 Be sure that you choose three DISTINCT
criteria.
 Ask yourself – What are the qualities or
features that all good collegiate
websites should have?
 VERY IMPORTANT – do not create
criteria to make the university site look
good…that would not be an honest
evaluation. Create your criteria and
then honestly evaluate whether or not
the site meets the criteria.

23. Sample Criteria:
Here is a list of sample criteria. You may use any these, but may also create your own.
 ALL GOOD COLLEGIATE WEBSITES SHOULD:
 Offer prospective students a glimpse of
 The different aspects of student life (clubs, dorms, events, etc.)
 The campus culture
 The area surrounding campus
 What current students and alumni have to say about the school
 Have easy access to important information
 Like financial aid options and applications
 Degree programs and course offerings
 How to apply
 How to take a campus tour
 Have a homepage that
 Is easy to navigate
 Isn’t cluttered with unnecessary information
 Creates a theme that is also followed on the other pages of the site
 Uses a color scheme that allows for aesthetic appeal and easy reading.
 Is up to date and works well
 All links work
 All writing/data is up to date and written with appropriate grammar, punctuation, and word choice
 Use popular social media and technology options to give better insight to future students
 YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

24. DID YOU:
 Read the Unit #3
Assignment Sheet
Read the assigned
Norton Field Guide
readings and the
Essay #3 readings
(on Blackboard).
 Now it is time to get started with the
WRITING PROCESS
 Pre-Writing
 Create a set of criteria
Write your thesis statement
 Choose a college or university
website to evaluate
 Evaluate your website in regards
to your criteria
 Make a final judgment

25. WRITE
YOUR
THESIS
STATEMENT
THESIS STATEMENT:
Identifies the topic of
your essay and the claim
you are making.
Tells the reader what the
essay is going to be about.
 The thesis statement for this essay
should state the three criteria you
are using to evaluate the website:
 Sample Thesis Statements:
 A positive first impression can be defined by three factors:
ease of navigation to essential prospective student
information, a glimpse of academic and extracurricular
campus life, and an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
 To effectively influence students and parents, the website
should utilize social media, have a consistent theme of
color and layout, and should offer a look into life on
campus.
 Three essential criteria to an effective college website are
that the website should be organized so that important
information is easily accessible, it should reflect the college
culture, and it should give a clear vision of academic
degree pathways.

26. Pre-Writing Continued…
Write an Outline
Why outline?
Get organized
BEFORE you
start writing!
An outline is
your blueprint
for your essay.
Introduction
Catch the reader’s attention, briefly describe the
school whose website you are evaluating, and state
your thesis
Body
Paragraph #1 – State your set of criteria (at least 3)
and why each is important.
Paragraph #2, #3, #4 – Evaluate it against each of
your criteria and provide reasons and evidence
Paragraph #5 – Acknowledge highlights but
suggest areas for improvement
Conclusion
Generate a final overall judgment and bring the
essay to a close

27. Submit Your Topic
 DUE: Saturday, November 9 by
11:59 pm
 ASSIGNMENT: Submit Your Topic
 You need to create a post in Unit #3
Topic Discussion that tells me and
your classmates what university
website you have chosen, why you
chose it, and what criteria you will
use to evaluate it in your writing.
 This is ESSENTIAL in getting started
on a good note. I will provide you
with prompt feedback regarding your
topics.
Just a Reminder

28. A F T E R P R E - W R I T I N G , CO N T I N U E T H R O U G H T H E W R I T I N G
P R O C E S S
W R I T E
 4 complete pages, Double-spaced
 Your references page DOES NOT count in your page count!!!
 1 inch margins, 12 point Arial font
E D I T A N D R E V I S E
P U B L I S H ( A K A T U R N I T I N ! )
T H E N E X T F E W S L I D E S W I L L O U T L I N E T H E
R EQ U I R E M E N T S FO R EAC H PA R AG R A P H .
The Writing Process Continued

29. Essay #3
Introduction
Introduction Paragraph
 In your introduction paragraph, you
need to:
Catch the reader’s attention
Briefly describe the school whose
website you are evaluating
State your thesis
Don’t state the school’s name or
whether or not the school’s
website meets the criteria in the
thesis statement – that should
be saved for later in the essay.

30. Body Paragraph #1
 Body Paragraph #1
 In your first body paragraph, you
need to:
State your set of three criteria
and why each is important
This is your chance to show
the reader why your criteria
matter and how they
contribute to an effective site.
Don’t evaluate your site here;
save that for body paragraphs
2, 3, and 4.

31. Body Paragraphs
#2,3, and 4
 Body Paragraph #2, 3, 4
In body paragraph #2, 3, and
4, you need to:
Look at how your website
does or does not meet each
criteria.
Use reasons and evidence
from the website to prove
your points.
Focus on just one criterion
per paragraph.

32. Body Paragraph #5
 Body Paragraph #5
 In body paragraph #5, you need
to
Quickly acknowledge highlights,
but take time to suggest areas
for improvement
Be sure to be constructive in
your criticism.

33. Conclusion
Paragraph
 Conclusion Paragraph
 Generate a final overall judgment
 Bring your essay to an effective close.

34. Using quotes
The Essay #3 Readings are
available on Blackboard.
You can use quotes from
these readings to help
strengthen your essay.
You must use APA style in-
text citations and
references page to
acknowledge your
sources.
Be sure to follow rules for
quotations when
integrating a quote into
your essay!
QUOTES
 One goal for essay #3 is successfully quoting sources
from the Essay #3 Readings in your papers. Quoting
reliable sources will help to make your essay
stronger.
 For essay #3 you are required to integrate 2
quotes from the Essay #3 Readings (not 2 from
each, but 2 total)
 You may NOT use quotes from sources other than
the ones provided to you in the Essay #3
Readings.
 You must acknowledge the source of your
quotes. In other words, you must tell the
reader where you got the quote from.
 There are many different styles of
acknowledging your sources…For this
paper, you will use APA style.
 Watch the APA Lecture – Essay #3 to learn
how to properly cite your sources!

35. PEER
REVIEW
Get feedback about your
writing from your peers
 The Peer Review will begin Sunday,
November 17, and end on Saturday,
November 23.
 Sunday, November 17: Submit your finished
draft to your peer review group (in the
Writing Unit #3 Folder in Blackboard)
 Monday, November 18: I will email your
group and let you know whose paper each
member should read and review
 November 18 – 23: Read your partner’s
paper, complete the peer review
questionnaire, and offer advise for
improvement.
 Saturday, November 23: Return the
completed peer review questionnaire to your
partner and me.
Specific directions for the peer review
will be posted on Blackboard!

36. Edit and Revise
 Revise
 Look at the advise that your classmates gave you during the peer
review. Make the changes that you feel will improve your paper.
 Two pieces of ADVICE:
 #1: Give yourself plenty of time to revise. If you can, get away
from your writing for a little while. When you return refreshed,
you will be more likely to catch errors and digressions.
 #2: Remember to make sure that this is a reader-centered paper
not a writer-centered paper. In other words, detach yourself from
your paper and revise it to assure that everything is clear and
belongs on the page. Just because you spent time writing it,
doesn’t mean it belongs in your final draft. If it doesn’t, erase it.
 Edit
 Check your paper for proper grammar, punctuation, and usage.

37. Use your Resources…
OWL @ KPC
OWL is the online
writing lab at KPC.
You can submit
your paper to the
OWL and get
feedback from
KPC faculty. You
let them know
specifically what
you would like
help with!
http://owl.kpc.al
aska.edu

38. DUE DATE:
 The final draft of this paper
is due by Saturday,
November 30 @ 11:59 pm.
 YOU WILL SUBMIT YOUR
FINAL DRAFT IN
BLACKBOARD. There will be
a place for you to upload
your papers in the Unit #3
Folder.
 The final draft is worth
150 points!
 Be sure to turn it in on time,
otherwise it will be considered
LATE. Late papers are penalized
by deducting 20% of the
possible points before grading.
Publish Your Paper…aka Turn it in!

39. A VERY IMPORTANT note about revising…
 You may NOT revise this paper for an improved
grade.
 There is not enough time in the shortened 10-week semester to
revise this paper.
 In other words, it better be good the first time

40. Lecture:
THE END
Just a reminder…
If you have a question,
ASK!
 If you have any questions regarding
this assignment, please don’t
hesitate to email me. Be sure that
you detail exactly what it is that you
don’t understand or would like help
with.
 If necessary, we can set up an
Collaborate session to discuss your
questions.
amanderson10@kpc.alaska.edu