Peer Review

Know Your Tax Terms

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Nov 7, 2008 by Business

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: Know your Tax Termsis a bingo-type interactive module that reinforces the definition of twenty-four tax terms.
Type of Material:: Drill and practice
Recommended Uses:: Homework or in-class review to reinforce terms learned.
Technical Requirements:: Flash Player
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The purpose of this module is to reinforce definitions of a few tax terms.
Target Student Population:: Students taking a beginning tax class (high school, junior college, adult education)
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Knowledge of introductory tax terminology and concepts is necessary.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The bingo game is a clear and concise way to provide drill and practice on a variety of basic tax terms. The game format adds an element of fun to learning. The module is self-contained and does not require an assignment to be useful.
Concerns:: The choice of terms included seems rather random. While the module has potential, the extensive number of grammatical errors present seriously detracts from the quality of the content. For example, term definitions are written as statements rather than questions, as a result each statement should end with a period not a question mark.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

With repetition (game after game) learning the tax terms is easy. The module is extremely efficient. The sequencing of the questions changes every time the game is played.

Concerns:

The drill and practice game may be too easy for some students.
No corrective feedback provided when the wrong answer is given. Questions do not recycle to allow for a second try.
The target audience is not identified, nor the tax class for which it is suitable.
The choice of terms included seems rather random.
Too many grammatical errors including misspelled words and punctuation.
Word choice used for the statements that define each term could be improved.
Several stems contain clang associations - a key word in the definition being the same as the term (...shares of stock - capital stock, tax paid directly...direct tax, etc.).

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: This module is very easy and quick to use. Instructions are simple. Interactivity and engagement is very good. The bingo game itself has nice visual appeal with music that changes based on whether a response is correct or incorrect.
Concerns:: It would be nice if students could go forward and backward, or retry a question, when playing bingo. One has to return to the home page and re-enter the game to start another iteration. The same 24 terms recycle instead of new ones being interspersed. Finally, on the home page, the bright blue text on the dark blue background are somewhat harsh on the eyes.

Other Issues and Comments:: Although the terms are introductory tax terms, they come from a range of topics that would be covered over the term a tax course.
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