Daniel C. Moos, Ph.D.

 

Gustavus Adolphus College, Department of Education

  

 


 
Educational Technology: WebQuest Assignment


A WebQuest engages students in one or more tasks that promote learning and critical thinking. An effective WebQuest should also be designed to accomplish a subject matter standard. Use of the Internet and, in some cases, presentation software or other presentation techniques, is part of a quality WebQuest. It may include sites to visit, questions to answer, and tasks to complete


For this assignment, you will design a WebQuest that will take no more than two days to complete. It must address a subject matter standard (as outlined by the State Deptartment of Education), and help students learn more about the topic through critical thinking and problem-solving.


Why WebQuests in Education?
Bernie Dodge, an early innovator of webquests from San Diego State University, and colleague Tom March discuss the benefits of using WebQuests to enhance student learning at EducationWorld.


In order to help you better understand how to develop a webquest, visit WebQuest.org and click on "Find WebQuests" (left margin) and then scroll down to "Select Subjects" and find your major or core concentration. Pick a grade level of interest and review several webquests.


Below represents a few other links that you may find helpful. However, these links are the tip of the iceberg. There are many more wonderful collections of webquests ready for teacher use in K-12. Explore these and find additional links.

Example WebQuests (I)

Example WebQuests (II)

Example WebQuests (III)


After reviewing some of the examples of webquests, review the possible Tasks upon which a quality webquest might be developed.


You should also review some of the parts of a webquest. This website provides more detail about each Part of a webquest as described below:

Format for your WebQuest:


TITLE PAGE for the Web Quest

  1. WebQuest Title
  2. WebQuest Grade Level and Subject
  3. WebQuest Author(s)
  4. Email address(es) for Author(s)
  5. Interesting graphic(s)
  6. Appropriate standards/benchmarks. Please click on the below links for content specific standards:


INTRODUCTION to the WebQuest


This document should be written with the student as the intended audience. Write a short paragraph here to introduce the activity or lesson to the students. If there is a role or scenario involved (e.g., "You are a detective trying to identify the mysterious poet") then here is where you will set the stage. Make sure to provide a motivational introduction. Additionally, use this section to provide a short advance organizer or overview. Remember that the purpose of this section is to both prepare and hook the reader.


In this section, you should also communicate the Big Question (Essential Question, Guiding Question) that the whole WebQuest is centered around.


TASKS of the WebQuest

In this page, list the steps the students will go through to get to the end point. You should describe each step concisely and clearly state the results of the learners' activity. Please note: Do NOT fully describe each step. Full descriptions are provided in the prcess pages of the WebQuest. If the final product involves using some tool (e.g., MS Word, the Web, iMovie, etc.), mention it in the Tasks page. For example:

1. First you'll be assigned to a team of 3 students...
2. Once you've picked a role to play....
3. ... and so on.


PROCESS of the WebQuest


To accomplish the task, what steps should the learners go through? This section should clearly describe the steps the student will go through in order to complete the WebQuest. Additionally, describing the steps will assist other teachers to see how your WebQuest flows and how they might adapt it for their own use. So, the more detail and care you put into this, the better! Remember that this whole document is addressed to the student, however, so describe the steps using the second person. Below is an example:


In the Process pages, you might also provide some guidance on how to organize the information gathered. This advice could suggest to use flowcharts, summary tables, concept maps, or other organizing structures. The advice could also take the form of a checklist of questions to analyze the information. If you have identified or prepared guide documents on the Web that cover specific skills needed for this lesson (e.g. how to brainstorm, how to prepare to interview an expert), link them to this section. Additionally, make sure to create and link any worksheets you would like the students to complete during the WebQuest.

The Process section of the WebQuest will most likely be several pages, one for each step (or process) in the WebQuest.


EVALUATION of the WebQuest


Visit the following site for advice on developing a rubric.


Your rubric should include an appropriate number of dimensions and types of dimensions. Dimensions should be clearly and concisely written and put into a table. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades. The rubric provides students with a clear understanding of how they will be evaluated.


CONCLUSION of the WebQuest


Put a couple of sentences here that summarizes what they will have accomplished or learned by completing the WebQuest. You should also include at least TWO questions and additional links that encourage students to extend their thinking into other content beyond this lesson.


REFERENCES of the WebQuest


Include any books you used, websites used, sources of graphics, and so on. Use APA bibliographic format.


For web-based references:

  • Author's name (if available)
  • Date of publication or update or date of retrieval, in parentheses
  • Title or description of document
  • Title of complete work (if relevant), in italics or underlined
  • Other relevant information (volume number, page numbers, etc.)
  • Retrieval date statement
  • URL

See below for an example reference written in APA style:


Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved May 2, 2006, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
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