Studying Users of the Why Files

Abstract

Science Web sites proliferate, offering users a virtual avalanche of information that ranges widely across topic, message style, and quality of evidence. Users, too, are proliferating. But what kind of people visit these sites, how do they maneuver through the site once they arrive, and do they learn anything about science as a result of their visits? For the past five years, a team of researchers has been trying to answer these questions by focusing on one science Web site, the Why Files (http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu). Originally created as part of the National Institute for Science Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the site has won industry kudos for its efforts to offer users “the science behind the news.” Most importantly for this discussion, it has also served as a laboratory for examining the characteristics of Why Files users, for tracking their coping strategies on the site itself, and for experiments to assess science learning. This discussion will offer some of the results of that research.