An evaluation of educational web sites from the perspective of perception oriented design principles

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Erişti S. D., Şahin İzmirli Ö., İzmirli S., Fırat M.

International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning , cilt.7, sa.10, ss.3-13, 2010 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

The research was conducted in two steps by means of evaluating educational websites as to visual perception theories. The first step involved developing an evaluation form in concert with designated visual perception theories. These theories are namely as; Gestalt Theory, Brunswik‘s Probabilistic Functionalism, Marr‘s Computational Model of Vision, Neuropsychological Theory, Constructivist Visual Perception Theory, Theory of Direct Perception and Ecological Optics. The second step involved assessments of websites with educational contents by the use of that evaluation form. The second step saw the analysis of 10 educational websites for primary school level, with the use of ―Web based Evaluation Form for Educational Contexts‖, 5 of which were developed in Turkish and another 5 in English. Assessment of the websites was carried out with the participation of 16 field experts. Research exposed that analyzed websites had major deficiencies in terms of their conformity to design principles. However, English websites received higher scores from design principles as compared to Turkish sites. The research yielded some critical conclusions through assessment of design principles employed up in the analyzed websites as to selected dimensions, i.e. page layout, color, typography, visuals, animated graphics, navigation and browsing, and content and functionality. Keywords: perception, visual perception, web design, theories of visual perception.