The website created attempts to teach the concept of Gibbs free energy.  This is accomplished by the use of select criteria to enhance the learning experience and capture the interest of the reader, such as visual appeal, navigation, clarity of concept, order of ideas, interactivity and optional learning tracks.  The following critique contains an in depth analysis of each of these components and explains the reasoning behind the formatting of our website. In addition, problems encountered in the initial plan of the website are also briefly discussed.

The website was designed to be very eye-catching.  The background is a professional layout with a blue pinstriped colour. This captures the user’s attention.  The title, “Gibbs Free Energy,” is in upper case and bold-faced to stand out.  It is done in a yellow colour to create a good contrast with the blue background.  Each topic heading is written in large, white, bolded font, over 4pts bigger than the body text font.  This brings attention to the titles and clearly shows the user what topic is being discussed.  At the beginning of the sections, a question is posed, which is bolded and underlined.  This question relates to the navigation topic titles. All important concepts and definitions are done in bold and italicized font.  All equations are blue, boldfaced and centered as a direct point feature. All important “notes” are red and underlined. This notifies the user that this piece of information is important when solving the question.   The different font colours and sizes all aid in the overall visual appeal of the website.

With regards to navigation, this website is very user-friendly.  There is a menu bar on the left side that lists each concept.  This makes it more convenient for the user to move around the website to find a specific topic in Gibbs free energy.  There are many hyperlinks in this website.  Each hyperlink is functional.  The links created by our group members are directly within the same site and have a back link that will return you to the previous page.  There are also links to other websites that enhance the understanding of concepts.  

Gibbs free energy is a broad topic in thermodynamics. To improve the delivery and explanation of the subject, we have divided Gibbs free energy into twelve sub-topics. By doing so, the concepts are explained clearly and distinctively, without the confusion of several topics at once. This method also provides the user with quick and easy access to specific topics when needed, without the hassle of searching through large bodies of continuous concepts and text.

Furthermore, to enhance the clarity of the concepts, we referred to several websites and a first year physical chemistry textbook for ideas on how to best present the information. We selected and implemented teaching styles that we, as students, found to be clear and helpful. For example, at the end of major sections, we have included an example to increase the understanding and best represent the concepts. In addition, we have provided a section with problems and their respective solutions for extra practice. The presentation of the concepts is one such that each topic builds on the previous, starting with the basic concepts and proceeding with increasing depth.

The Gibbs free energy website was designed to teach the concept of Gibbs free energy. Several factors were considered while creating the site, including visual appeal, navigation, clarity of concept, order of ideas, interactivity and optional learning tracks.  Further to these criteria, we have used our knowledge and experience, as students, to ensure the website portrays the information in the clearest way possible.