Week 7: Assess one useful website that you would use for a practical activity for your syllabus point

Module Focus: 9.6 Biotechnology
The Year 12 option module of Biotechnology has lots of great opportunities for practical work. One area at the beginning of the module is syllabus point 9.6.3.3.1, which is; 

Gather and process information from secondary sources to:

–   identify and describe a named industrial fermentation process

–   identify the micro-organism used in the fermentation and the products of the fermentation

–   outline the use of the product of the fermentation process

    –   use available evidence to assess the impact of the use of the fermentation product on society at the time of its introduction.

As with most things today, the first step for students (and teachers) is a google search. Students routinely just look at the first sites that pop up from their search and use that content. With that rationale in mind, I have chosen to assess the first non-sponsored and non-wikipedia (because wikipedia came up first) website google returns when I search the phrase "what is the fermentation process". This site was "What is fermentation" found at: http://chemistry.about.com/od/lecturenoteslab1/f/What-Is-Fermentation.htm

The first question to be asked is "Is the content credible?" After reading I think it is. It is all correct and the source site being labelled as a part of the New York Times gives it added weight. The next issue is "Is the information at the appropriate level for the students?" Again, the site passes my judgement on this. There is a few sections where the content is quite detailed, but it is never far beyond the comprehension of students. Finally, "Is the content appropriate for the syllabus point?" I believe it is, but just barely. The site only contains enough information to be considered a 'starting point' for research deeper into the content, but what saves it is the use of links to other sites to elaborate on the important relevant content. 

In conclusion, This sight has relevant, appropriate, and credible information for this syllabus dot point. I did not make mention of the issue of surrounding the quality of this resource as a learning tool, or its ability to foster learning, because that is the job of the teacher and any resource can develop deep learning in students if the teacher uses it the right way (well that's my view anyway).