WebQuests

Scot Aldred

WebQuests

Overview

• What is a WebQuest?• Learning Engagement• Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation• Learner-Centred Authentic

learning• Anatomy of a WebQuest• Examples• Applications in Library Studies• WebQuest Engines• Questions?

WebQuests

What is a WebQuest?

A WebQuest is defined by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University as:

"an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that students interact with comes from resources on the Internet.”

http://webquest.org/index.php

WebQuests

What is a WebQuest?

WebQuest Direct suggests that:

"WebQuests are activities, using Internet resources, which encourage students to use higher order thinking skills to solve a real messy problem. WebQuests are a sub-set of Problem-Based Learning (PBL)..”

http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/whatis_awq.asp

WebQuests

Learning Engagement

Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999) assert:

“Engagement theory is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom. These three components, summarized by Relate-Create-Donate, imply that learning activities:

1. occur in a group context (i.e., collaborative teams) 2. are project-based 3. have an outside (authentic) focus”

http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

WebQuests

Learning Engagement

Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999) further suggest that:

“While in principle, such engagement could occur without the use of technology, we believe that technology can facilitate engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise.”

http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

WebQuests

Motivation• Motivation, with respect to instruction, alters the way

in which learners learn.

• Extrinsic motivation (passing for certification, external rewards) encourages shallow and targeted learning.

• Intrinsic Motivation (researching interests, building authentic products) leads to deep learning and the development of strong schemas

(Lepper, 1988)

WebQuests

Motivation

Cooper, 1998

WebQuests

Learner-Centred Authentic Approaches

• Students have control over their learning journey.• Outcomes are valued in the real world—authentic

contexts and products (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999).• Builds intrinsic motivation (Maina, 2005; Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999).• Learners devote more time on task (Salmon, 2002).• Learning is deeper than with Teacher-centred

approaches (Lepper, 1988).

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuest• Introduction (the hook) -- should contain:

1. The WebQuest title.2. An authentic, engaging scenario that details the context,

rationale and what the student teams are required to do, as well as the authentic products the teams are required to produce.

3. Acknowledgements and attributions for previous designers and authors who have influenced your design or supplied content.

4. Authors name and location.5. Disclaimer that acknowledges all images and content used

and provides contact details of the author so that any owners of intellectual property (IP), copyright or trademarks can request alterations to the usage of their IP.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestIntroduction (the hook)

The introduction is where you need to capture the students' imagination and curiosity.

The scenario needs to be authentic, real and have a real role for students to play and use their imagination to be creative and problem solve.

Consider using embedding video, or other multimedia to make the scenario more life-like.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestTASK: The Key Question Drives the LearningThe big question in a WQ resides in the "Task" page and is structured so that there is no single correct answer or way to solve the problem it poses.Examples:

1.Should Australia Harvest water from Antarctica icebergs to replenish water in the Murray-Darling river system?2.Can the world achieve a 60% reduction in global warming gases by 2020?3.How can schools change to better meet the needs of modern Australian learners?The question depends on the curriculum outcomes and should involve a transdisciplinary approach where outcomes are achieved and measured across a number of subject areas.

This can be seen as problematic for universities where traditionally subject areas/disciplines have been maintained separate to each other. The integration of shared outcomes across discipline areas is essential if the full benefit of WebQuests is to be achieved.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestTASK: The Key Question Drives the Learning

In the northern suburbs of Geelong, a number of secondary schools are integrating subject areas with their teachers team teaching. It is likely that this is happening in other secondary schools across Australia as well.

This video provides some ideas of just how this can be achieved.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestProcess--the scaffoldingWhile WebQuests present messy, real-world scenarios and questions, the learner scaffolding is extensive, structured and rigorous.

The Process page/s is where this scaffolding is most obvious with step by step instructions that take the students through a challenging and rewarding deep learning process that involves what Dodge describes as the "HOTS", higher order thinking and collaborative problem-solving.

Because the learning journey requires higher order thinking, the Process must minimise remove ant extraneous cognitive load so that all of the students cognitive resources can be focused on the solving the problem/answering the key question.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestProcess--the scaffolding

The step-by step Process makes this happen by directing the students to Web resources you have chosen for them and focusing them on the task.

The Process can consist of one or more Webpages, it just depends on the requirements for your WebQuest.

Consider designing both individual and team tasks so that your students develop a deep understanding of the content they need to integrate to solve the question/problem.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestReal World Feedback

Every WebQuest should have outcomes that are valued in the real world. Those outcomes should be able to be donated into the real world (Keirsley & Shneiderman, 1999) for feedback as this maintains the authenticity of the task.

The outcomes should be made available to expert groups for critique and feedback. Often this can be an actual performance like a presentation, but it could also be a report or product that is submitted to an expert for review.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestReal World Feedback

Time should be allowed for improvements to be made by the student teams prior to their final submission for grading.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestEvaluation--assessmentThe evaluation section of a WebQuest should consist of the desired learning outcomes and their standards.

Remember that WebQuests are trans-disciplinary-based learning objects and as such, should contain learning outcomes that cover a number of discipline/subject areas. The table below is a guide to the structure of what are called Evaluation Rubrics:

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestEvaluation—assessment

The evaluation rubric can be applied to the teams final product/s, but you should also consider providing an opportunity for peer and self evaluation as well. This evaluation should be applied a number of times over the period of the WebQuest with the final peer evaluation providing a summative graded result for each student.

WebQuests

Anatomy of a WebQuestConclusion--return to reality & apply new knowledge & skills•In WebQuests the most common mistake is to undervalue the conclusion.

•The conclusion is where you ask the students to remove themselves from the scenario and to reflect specifically on what they have learned.

•The conclusion is also the area where you ask your students to apply their new knowledge and skills to a new context so that they become consciously competent in the desired discipline areas.

WebQuests

Examples1. Antarctic Ice to Water Australia2. My Business Rules3. A Comic Strip WebQuest4. Earthzone Mission Regeneration

WebQuests

Applications in Library Studies

1. Information literacy—trans-disciplinary approach.2. Annotated bibliographies.3. Plagiarism.4. Referencing.5. More??

WebQuests

WebQuest Engines

1. QuestGarden $20US for 2 years subscription2. WebQuest Direct (SWAT)

WebQuests

Questions ???