A student could not possibly get through this course of study without picking up upon a major theme running through the modules; that, by and large, public schools continue to lag behind the times with regard to promoting higher-order thinking and other “21st Century” skills in day-to-day operations.
While no one here underestimates the enormity of the challenge in turning the situation around, in converting to serious “thinking curricula” across the board, in all subjects and at every educational level, it is comforting to realize that there is one step among others in the right direction that teachers can take today and sometimes do to address the problem.
ED 235 student: Meet WebQuests!
Over 15 years ago and for several years. I taught a graduate education course at Bridgewater State in which I expected every student to create a WebQuest “from scratch”, an entirely new one, and then submit it to WebQuest officials:
WebQuests at San Diego State University. http://webquest.org/index.php
In this manner, perhaps as many as fifty WebQuests originating from Bridgewater were posted at the above highly popular website.
A decade or more is a very long time in cyberspace; I doubt if any of our original WebQuests are still “up and running” there.
Upon reflection, the WebQuest assignment above ranks at the top of assignments ever issued by this professor in any course. In modified form, I am reviving the assignment …now!
You game?
1. Preparation for the Work Ahead in This Module.
A. "The Making of a Good WebQuest": An online essay that's meant to be read... carefully. What factors enter into building a good one?
B. Travel to the original SDSC WebQuest site (given in the introduction above).
Once there, find your way to Questgarten, where the WQ action is these days. In brief, Questgarten is a clever editing tool, making creating new WQs and improving older ones a "cinch". Once you reach Questgarten, you'll find many actual WQs. Check some out in your field.
"Shared". You'll spot that term immediately. Determine what it means please.
C. How you doing to this point? Aren't WQs intriquing? Have we finally found some genuine authenticity and relevance in today's educational world? Have we at long last discovered a practical website that explains operationally what higher order thinking is?
And finally, do we have something tangible and possessive of 21st century skills credibility, an approach toward teaching/learning carrying dramatic transfer potential to other areas of endeavor?
Guess what your instructor thinks?
2. The WebQuest Project: Now for the project per se.
A. Critical: Module 6 basically is an "individual" module not a team one. The student does Module 6 alone, going solo.
B. The student's work (creative product) will go up on Blackboard in the way we all are accustomed to and be critiqued by two (2) students of like major. Critics go solo too.
C. Forging ahead: Download "A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests". This essential rubric becomes the pivot point for the project.
D. Preliminaries over, we reach the actual project:
Project Part 1: Finding an Accomplished WebQuest.
Locate one on the Internet. Old or new, it doesn't matter. What counts, however, is that your find be top-notch, a "quality" WQ up and down. Your selection must be in your particular subject-matter major and at your anticipated teaching level (middle school, high school).
**Furthermore, it must be academically challenging, a "mind stretcher", a WQ that has some "meat" to it. Avoid any "watered down" WQ, no matter how sound technically and attractive artistically if it offers "pablum" to the learner. I'm thinking mathematics here mostly; math majors are to find an accomplished math WQ that teaches solid core math (algebra, geometry) and not merely how to slice a cake up into 8 equal parts or whatever. That clear?
Rate this WQ, using the Rubric. In short, it should get at least 42 clearly deserved points out of 50 to be placed under the "Accomplished" banner.
Does it?
If it doesn't, find another.
Oh, another thing: No duplications. If another student beats you to the punch and puts the same quality WQ on Blackboard to be critiqued, you are out of luck! Go find another one, please. "The early bird gets the worm."
Your 2 critics on Blackboard must have ready access to the WQ you decided upon and rated (rubric).Your critics will be instructed to use the same rubric to score your featured WQ. Do they agree with you that it's "accomplished"?
Interact!
No formal paper requested here. Just put your WQ on Blackboard, reveal the rubric rating you gave it, item by item, and why, and then deal with your critics directly on Blackboard.
As mentioned already, they too, will rate your WQ using the rubric.
Talk, talk, talk...
This ends Part 1 of the WebQuest Project.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Part 2: "Turning a Pumpkin into a Coach"
OK, fun ahead!
Dig out from somewhere on the Internet a WQ in your field and at the level you plan to teach that falls somewhere between "Beginning" and "Developing" on the WQ rubric scale you've been using.
To be sure you have a valid one, apply the rubric to it. What overall score does it attain? How many points out of 50 total?
Not too high, I hope!
If so, find another.
After locating a suitable WQ specimen, state explicitly and in detail:
(A). What's wrong with it as it currently exists? Why doesn't it equate to an "accomplished WQ" at the present time?
(B). How could you improve it, upgrade it, better it, so, if your changes were implemented, the revision clearly would shift to the "accomplished" side? Speak (write) to each of the following:
- Aesthetics
- Introduction
- Task
- Process
- Resources
- Evaluation
Reminder: Two of your peers (same major) will read what you say here with a critical eye.
Therefore, be sure you write enough; be sure you say it well.
Is this clear?
You do not have to make any actual changes to your targeted WQ. But propose them. What would you do to make it accomplished? Go into detail.
Post everything above on Blackboard. WebQuests (beginning and end), rubrics (total scores) ... everything.
The above clear, if and when you uncover a better website to use with your revised WQ (or perhaps several) put up the link(s) so your critics can inspect it or them and see for themselves what you have.
Make it a simple matter for your critiquers to figure out exactly what you are proposing and why.
Talk, talk, talk..., accomodate, adjust.
Further direction will be on Blackboard when the time comes.
Have a blast!
ADDENDUM
Teacher Questions and Classroom Management
Over the decades, I have observed well over 150 student teachers and interns. I study the manner in which they pose questions to their students.
Academic achievement aside, poor strategy and technique in question-asking invariably lead to serious classroom management problems. Here are some suggestions to avoid difficulties in this regard:
A. Use Choral Response (CR) sparingly. CR is when a teacher asks a question and expects any/some/all to say the answer "out loud". CR leads directly to problems. Figure them out.
B. As an alternative to CR, ask questions on a random basis. Having student names in a stack of index cards, constantly shuffling the cards, and calling on the student whose name (card) appears on the top of the stack is a productive way to do it.
C. After "banning" CR, another workable strategy is to recognize volunteers (those who raise their hand, seeking to answer a teacher's question) about 50% of the time. In like manner, call on non-volunteers about 50% of the time. Keep it random, Keep them guessing!
D. You can do more! Ask a student a question. Upon receiving an answer, ask a second student to evaluate, add to, or otherwise react to the first student's response.
E. Don't forget Wait Time! Don't know what this is? (Then Google the term. You should learn this now!)
NOTE: Ordinarily, the teacher provides a reaction to a student's questions ("That's fine, Carla, but there is another aspect. By that I mean..."). Kids listen more when they know the teacher will direct them to deal with a peer's answer. And there is no limit to the strategy. Consider...
Teacher: "Josh, if that happened to you, what would you do?" (Josh is called upon randomly)
Josh: "I would turn my back...I would ignore it!" (Teacher resists impulse to respond to Josh's answer herself. Instead...)
Teacher: "Cindi, would you agree with Josh's solution? Why or why not?" (Cindi responds at length, refuting Josh's strategy). Significant discussion continues (a teacher's dream!)