As more and more instructors teach their classes online due to the coronavirus, we must remember to make our learning events as active, hands-on, and experiential as possible. But how can we make this happen? I will explain/demonstrate this in a three-part article series. I’ll present the technique then provide a full-fledge example to highlight what is possible and how you can use the technique to its fullest. The three main techniques I’ll concentrate on are webquests, interviews, and a new one I invented called future-me.
To make it even more exciting, let’s start with a webquest example I made and then afterward I’ll explain the technique:
“Class, something important has happened. Earth has received a video signal from space, you have to watch this!”
“Wow, OK. Well, there is a lot to think about here. Let’s discuss what we just saw.”
[after discussion]
“My friends at NASA have already contacted me and asked me for help with this. I’m going to break all of you up into groups of four so we can figure all of this out. Here are some specific things to figure out:
What specific type of vegetable seeds do they need (which Earth seed would work for this)?
What specific type of fruit seeds do they need (which Earth seed would work for this)?
What planet are they going to (does it really exist, where is it)?
What do we know about these aliens?
Are there questions we need to ask the aliens? (if you come up with any email them to me today and I will forward them to my friends at NASA)
How should we handle this situation, what would be your plan?
Should we give in to their demands?
What countries should be involved?
First look through these main reliable sites, but you are free to use other valid and reliable web resources: www.nasa.gov, www.planetary.org, www.fao.org, and www.biologydiscussion.com
Next class period we will discuss what your groups have come up with. Good luck, the world is counting on you.”
Webquest Technique Explained
The term “WebQuest” was first coined by Professor Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University when he developed his WebQuest Model (1995), and have since been developed and effectively used at the K-12 and university levels (Alsaleh, 2020; Hassanien, 2006; Lara & Repáraz, 2007). Dodge defined a webquest as “…an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet;” with a short-term webquest goal of knowledge acquisition and integration and long-term webquest goals of extending and refining knowledge (1995, pp. 2). The webquest can be given as an individual or group activity and can focus on one or multiple disciplines. Also, and I believe most importantly, webquests can be “enhanced by wrapping motivational elements around the basic structure by giving the learners a role to play (e.g., scientist, detective, reporter), [providing a] simulated personae to interact with via e-mail, and [creating] a scenario to work within” (Dodge, 1995, pp. 8).
The six main attributes of a webquest are:
- An Introduction: a good, captivating description/background of the quest
- An Interesting Task: a doable (measurable) quest for the student
- Information Sources: good, reliable sources of information to address the quest such as websites, online databases, email/video conferencing contacts
- Process Steps: a description of the needed steps to accomplish the quest
- Organization Guidelines: provide items such as guiding questions, organizational frameworks, timelines, concept maps, cause-and-effect
- A Conclusion: an overall summary/conclusion to the quest to help students fully grasp all that they learned and how it can be applied to other domains/situations
In the example provided, part of the focus was on learning about plants and how different types of seeds grow in different climates/environments. But this lesson was also able to teach much more. Students would learn about space and would use higher-order thinking/critical thinking to more deeply contemplate the dilemma of dealing with the aliens’ demands and how to handle the situation. Good discussions involving the entire class as a whole, as well as discussions within the student groups would also provide great educational opportunities. The group work process would additionally help the students develop important teamworking skills.
The key aspects of this technique would be in the motivational power of the situation. The scenario is interesting/cool, and the impactful video makes it all come to life with an added emotional connection. The instructor can enhance this even more by playing along with comments such as “My friends at NASA…” This is what makes it feel like a quest, an adventure, a hands-on, active experience and not a boring lecture or simple research report. With this technique, there is real thinking, action, interaction, reflection, and creation in how to address the situation. This then leads to a memorable and positive educational experience on many levels.
Additional Webquest Resources:
Webquest Discoveries Archive: www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/webquest.shtml
WebQuest.org: www.webquest.org/index.php
QuestGarden: http://questgarden.com
What are your thoughts on this? Have you used webquests before, if so how was it?
Reference
Alsaleh, N. J. (2020). Teaching critical thinking skills: Literature review. TOJET, 19(1).
Dodge, B. (1995). Some thoughts about WebQuests. The WebQuest Page. http://webquest.org/sdsu/about_webquests.html
Hassanien, A. (2006). Using Webquest to support learning with technology in higher education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 5(1), 41-49.
Lara, S., & Repáraz, C. (2007). Effectiveness of cooperative learning fostered by working with WebQuest. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, N. 13 Vol 5 (3).