Analytical Study of Physics Education Websites ' Content

The current study is compatible with the scientific mobility in dealing with the Internet as a source of knowledge. It aims to introduce the Physics Education Websites (PEWs) and guide their followers toward the most credibility of them by analyzing their content. The sample consisted of (36) websites which were selected according to specific criteria by using Alexa search engine. To collect data, a questionnaire was used as a tool of analysis included (25) items which were distributed to (5) standards: authority, coverage, currency, accuracy and objectivity. The findings showed variations in the availability ratio of credibility standards and indicators in relevant websites. Finally, the study recommended that it is necessary to review and update the PEWs periodically; because physics as a natural science needs observing its accelerating discoveries and activities.


Introduction
Nowadays, Websites are considered as one of the important sources of information for a wide spectrum of audience.There are various types of websites including sites for government organizations, business, sports, and education.Educational websites are designed by Universities, schools and research centers to introduce experiences to the relevant audience all over their academic levels.Many studies have pointed to the importance of educational sites in interactive learning anytime and anywhere, and also developing additional skills for students such as effective communication, leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving [11].These sites also offer opportunities for instructors and researchers to develop their abilities through communication with their counterparts, participation in online conferences and follow-up to relevant scientific journals.
Physics Education Websites (PEWs) introduce a suitable virtual environment for the audience to deal with physics.A lot of physical phenomena such as motion in space, electricity, magnetism, atoms and nucleus cannot be understood without hands-on activities in the laboratory which are occasionally difficult to do [1].But through models, photos, diagrams and videos which are provided by PEWs, the learner can understand events and phenomena, linking between their elements, manipulate mathematical relationships, and form physics theories.These sites also include different kinds of sources such as books, pamphlets, and articles which help interested people in thinking and deep knowledge [3].
When examining a specific topic, a follower seeks to visit more than one relevant website, but the problem is which of these sites has credibility and a higher accuracy?Although there is no way to control the quality of published content in these sites in all fields, researchers are trying to develop standards that applied to the Websites to verify their characteristics and reach a higher degree of precision required for all followers and visitors to access the relevant site safely.
One of the most common methods for websites assessment was Quality Evaluation Method (QEM) proposed by Olsina et al. [8].It can be considered as one of the main approaches consists of four main factors for analyzing websites' content: functionality, usability, efficiency and site reliability.Also, a Web Assessment Index (WAI) can be used to achieve the same purpose, and have four main components: accessibility, speed, navigability, and site content [6].Other studies shed light on an importance of the review of educational websites periodically.For example, the study conducted by Hasan [4] evaluated the usability of educational websites from the point view of students, Singh and Kumar [10] introduced a practical model for website quality evaluation, Moustakis et al. [7] presented a hierarchical framework which supports website quality assessment, Vultur and Marincas [12] evaluated the academic websites of the most important Romanian Universities, and finally Papadopoulos [9] who examined the evaluation of the new version of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) website.
The current study falls in line with the contemporary effort which aims to introduce PEWs and guide the followers to the most credibility of them.This study is important for educators, researchers, students and all those interested in physics.It tries to answer the following question: What is the availability ratio of credibility standards in Physics Education websites?Study Population consisted of (106) PEWs in Alexa Search Engine.Alexa was used because it provides users with the global and local ranking of websites according to the number of visitors, allows the user to rate the site and view links to external relevant sites, evaluates websites periodically, and also gives an information about the owner, date of creation, last update, contact, and address of the site.Study sample was selected purposively as in the following procedures:

Study Sample
 Determining the categories in Alexa search engine: main category(Science), sub-category 1(physics), sub-category 2(education).
 Choosing PEWs that have the high global rank.
 Websites which is consider as a part of university website were excluded, because their global rank is the university rank, they also include study programs, courses, and activities related to physics departments which are not important to achieve the purposes of the current study.Websites relevant to physics education journals were also excluded because they focus on publishing studies and have a high degree of specialty.
 PEWs were selected during the time interval (15 June -15 August) in 2016.
 Finally, the number of websites which was used as a sample of the study is (36) which is equal (34%) of the study population.Table (1) shows classification of PEWs in terms of three categories: owner of the site, content, and audience.

Owner of the Site
Owner (or owners) may be individuals who hired their personal efforts, qualifications, and experiences to design a website, or may be organizations that use the site as a part of their media for physics news and activities.The results in the table (1) indicate that individuals own PEWs more than organizations, the ratio is (2:1).1) indicate that the number of sites that offer educational lessons is (26) out of (36), while the number of media sites is 10 only.Figure (2) shows the percentage of websites in the study sample with respect to their content.The current study divided the audience into three groups: 1-specialists such as professors, researchers, physics supervisors and teachers, 2-university students all over their levels, 3-students in the public education all over their stages: elementary, preparatory and secondary.The results in the table (1) indicate that the number of sites that offer content for students in the public education is (20) out of (36) sites.This number is higher than those sites that offer their services for professionals and university students.Figure (3) shows the percentage of PEWs with respect to the audience.

Study Tool
To analyze PEWs' content and collect data, a survey of a recent literature on education and websites' standards was reviewed [2,5,13] to establish a questionnaire which was used as a tool (or a scale) of analysis included (25) items and (5) Standards: 1-Authority (items 1-5): It reveals that the person or organization responsible for a website has the qualifications, experience, and knowledge to create and publish it.

Tool Validity
To verify a validity of the study tool, the researcher picked eight specialists in physics and information technology to confirm whether the tool could effectively measure the purpose intended for this research, clarification of some items and their correlation with standards, so as to present the tool and its content in a suitable manner.Also, an internal validity which is determined by the degree to which a study minimizes systematic error (or bias) was verified by calculating Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of each item and the total score of the standard as in table (2).
From table (2) most of the correlation coefficients are significant which refers to validity of the tool which is used to collect data in the study.

Reliability Test
In order to attain the reliability goals for the tool, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated from the result of the pilot study (n=8), and thus determined the extent or degree of consistency within the tool.The Cronbach's alpha coefficient is 0.87 showing that the reliability level of study tool is high.

Procedures
After verifying the psychometric measurements of the study tool, the researcher applied the tool on the PEWs which were used as the study sample to analyze their content.Then repeated these procedures after three weeks and applied Holsti formula to calculate the reliability coefficient which is equal (0.9), this value is relatively high and refers to reliability analysis.

Study Findings and Discussions
Study findings were obtained after applying the study tool on the PEWs which were used as a sample.An average and standard deviation were calculated for each item, and also an intervals of a typical five-level Likert scale were calculated to determine the availability ratio of credibility standards and indicators as follows: calculating the Range( max.scoremin.score = 5-1= 4), then calculating the category interval (=Range/max.score = 4/5 = 0.8), so we have 5 intervals as shown in table (3).Data were collected and then arranged in the table (4) to discuss the study question: "What is the availability ratio of credibility standards in PEWs?".
Table (4) shows that standard 3 (S3: Currency) has smallest weighted average with value (2.67) out of (5) and percentage of availability (41.8%).Item X 12 states that (Information is up to date) occupied in rank (14) in the scale with average (3.56), this item and its value raised the availability ratio of S3 in the PEWs which were used as a sample in this study.This result reflects that most of the websites seek to provide their followers and visitors with updated physics news, information, discoveries, and applications.Other websites do not take care of update their self continuously because their content is historical written lectures include physics concepts or laws or theories, and it is not important to update them frequently, but merely refers to the date of loading the lecture or the date of these laws and theories.
On the opposite side, item X 15 states that (Related links are current and updated regularly) has average (2.06) and rank (24) decreased the availability ratio of S3 in the PEWs.The importance of including a website with friendly relevant sites or links increase followers' understanding and diversifying their knowledge, but most importantly is a regular update of these sites and provide followers on which of these websites appear and which of them disappear from time to time.
Standard 4 (S4: Accuracy) has largest weighted average with value (3.97) out of ( 5) and percentage of availability (74.3%).Three items of this standard (X 20 , X 19 , X 18 ) occupied in the first three ranks in the scale with averages (5, 4.97, 4.94) respectively.These values refer to high availability ratio of credibility of S4 in the PEWs which were used as a sample in this study.This result refers to the specificity of physics, which is a branch of science includes historical texts, theories, and mathematical derivations based on models and illustrated diagrams, with least literary texts that may have the writer or publisher falls in spelling and linguistic errors and poor drafting.
On the opposite side, items X 17 states that (The presence of reviewers or editorial board) and X 16 states that (Citations to scientific data or references) with averages (2.28, 2.64) and late ranks (21, 19) respectively decreased the availability ratio of credibility of S4 in the PEWs.Because of existence huge numbers of relevant websites, it is important for the website to have an editorial and advisory board which is increasing the validity and credibility of the site for the visitors and followers.The role of this board is to examine any material that is introduced and published in the site scientifically and linguistically.Most of the PEWs which were used as a sample in this study have not editorial and advisory board because (66.67%) of these sites established by individuals with no financial support and sponsors.
Standards (1, 5, 2) which is referred to (Authority, Objectivity, Coverage) have convergent weighted averages with values (3.72, 3.69, 3.68) and percentages of availability (68.0%, 67.3%, 67.0%) respectively.In standard 1, item X 5 states that (Free(No paid) to access to information) occupied position (7) in the scale with average (4.72).This item and its value reflect that physics websites which were used as a sample in this study formed an open space for all followers to access to these sites freely.While item X 2 states that (Author identification, qualifications, and credentials) with average (3.11) and late rank (17) decreased the availability ratio of credibility of S1, which forms an impression to the followers that the owner of the site and his qualification are unknown, and causes weakness of validity of this site.Standard 5 refers to objectivity which is considered as the most important standard that should be taken care when websites are designed.Item X 25 states that (The site is multilingual) has the last rank in the scale with low average (1.17), which is decreased the availability ratio of credibility of this Standard.This is because (94%) of websites in the study use the English language, this is normal because of its outreach, while websites in other languages are followed by interested persons who fluent in this language.For this reason, the researcher scans websites in English and Arabic only, because of the fluent in these two languages, which reduce the number of relevant websites in other languages in the study sample.
On the other side, items X 21 states that (Absence of biases on the site) and X 22 states that (The motivation for the site is clear: to inform? to persuade? to explain?) have the fifth and fourth ranks in the scale with high averages (4.83, 4.92) respectively.These values and ranks indicate that this standard has relatively high availability ratio of credibility in the PEWs which were used as a sample in this study, and allow the followers to access the website freely and safely.
Finally, data in the table (4) shows differentiation between items in Standard 2 which refers to Coverage.Item X 10 states that (available newsletters or journals) has the low rank in the scale and average with values (23, 2.08) respectively, which decreased the weighted average of the S2.This is because (66.67%) of the sample designed by individuals with their own efforts, and the existence of newsletters and journals will require high financial cost, which is out of the owner capabilities.While items X 6 states that (Website specializing in physics) and X 7 states that (complete and comprehensive of Information provided) have the sixth and eighth ranks in the scale with high averages (4.78, 4.28) respectively.These values and ranks indicate that this standard has relatively high availability ratio of credibility in the PEWs which were used as a sample in this study.

Conclusions
This study refers to the importance of PEWs and provides information about them after analyzing their content.It confirmed that each of these sites should have a design verifying all of credibility standards.Also, it showed a descriptive statistics about the websites which were used as a sample of study such as Individuals own PEWs more than government or civil organizations, the USA has the largest number of these sites.Also, the percentage of PEWs that offer content for students in the public education is higher than the percentage for those sites that offer their services for professionals and university students.The results showed variations in the PEWs' standards: authority, coverage, currency, accuracy and objectivity.Accuracy Standard (S4) has high availability ratio of credibility standards while Currency Standard (S3) has the lowest availability ratio among websites which were used as a sample of the study.Standards (1,2,5) which are referred to (Authority, Objectivity, Coverage) respectively have convergent weighted averages and approximated availability ratio.From results and discussions, the study recommends that PEWs should be provided their visitors and followers with physics information and experiences with a high degree of precision and objectivity.Also, it is essential to review and update these websites and related links periodically.
Figure (1a) shows the percentage of websites' owners: individuals and organizations.Data in the table (1) also shows that United States of America has the largest number with (21) sites out of (36).The sites originating in the Arabic World have the second rank by (6) sites, then Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, India, and Singapore which have (3, 3, 2, 1, 1) sites respectively.Figure (1b) shows the percentage of websites in terms of the home of the owner.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Classification of PEWs according to the owner 2.1.2.PEWs' Content It was divided in this study into two kinds: 1-media which offer news, articles, conferences and workshops in physics.2-educational lessons which are offered for students in

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Classification of PEWs with Respect to the Audience.

2 -
Coverage (items 6-10): which is related to complete and comprehensive Information in physics.3-Currency(items 11-15): It is important to know when the site was created, when it was last updated, and if all of the related links are effective.4-Accuracy (items 16-20): It is the responsibility of website to introduce reviewed information with clear writing and without typographical errors.5-Objectivity (items 21-25): means clear motivation and multilingual information with a minimum level of bias.

Table 1 .
Classification of Physics Education Websites Table2.Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient of Each Item and the Total Score of the Standard * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level(2-tailed)

Table 3 .
Average Intervals of the Tool Items and Their Availability Ratio in Relevant Websites

Table 4 .
Averages and Standard Deviations of Items in the Tool of Analysis