For the Teacher
Rationale
Return to the Philosophy page
Target audience
I constructed this webquest with a specific audience in mind. My native speaker class, entering grade 11 in September 2001, asked to study philosophy - not the easiest of subjects on which to build a webquest. The students in this class are of high intellectual caliber and work well together. I will be using it in the future only for native speakers unless I have a particularly good grade 12, 5-point class.
Objectives
To introduce the subject of philosophy to students who are totally unfamiliar with the subject or the names of the great philosophers. This is not a webquest suitable for most ESL students at high school level since the style of the language is often intricate and unsuitable for second language learners. I have followed the rules of the taxonomy below and have assigned all the groups to do the first few assignments and provided a set of common resources so that all learners have the same starting point in their understanding before dividing into separate group work.
Using the taxonomy I created various tasks (see Task page) and built the assignments following the suggestions in the taxonomy. According to WebQuest theory the final objective is to have the students produce something creative using a web search as a base for the project. I therefore built three creative tasks into the Quest - a dramatic performance, journalism and a forum for discussion. This forum will hopefully, have a guest speaker. If you have any suggestions or comments about this WebQuest please share them with me, [email protected]
Taxonomy of Information Patterns for WebQuests
|
If this is true... |
then consider doing this in the design of your process: |
|
|
|
There are established, conflicting opinions about your topic for which web or print resources can be found |
Assign roles that are tied to those points of view. Give each learner access to resources that help them understand and internalize one of those viewpoints. |
|
|
Among adults, there are specialists who look at your topic from complementary viewpoints and pool their expertise |
Assign roles that are tied to those specializations. (e.g., photographer, journalist, historian) |
|
|
Your learners are mature and experienced at working cooperatively YES |
Let them practice managing their division of tasks by not pre-assigning them to roles. |
|
|
The topic is complex and somewhat unfamiliar to your learners YES |
Provide a set of common resources that everyone reads so that all learners have the same starting point in their understanding before taking on more specific roles or perspectives. |
|
|
Your learners have done enough independent work that they are able to identify resources appropriate to answer a given question YES |
Instead of assigning specific resources to a role, provide a common pool of resources and let them choose from among them. |
|
|
There are subtasks to be performed that may not be familiar to all learners |
Provide guides that help them perform the subtask (e.g., brainstorming, cropping images, etc.) |
|
|
Your learners are articulate and mature enough to hammer out consensus among opposing points of view without your being present at all times YES |
Divide your class into several small groups that contain divergent points of view. You float from group to group as needed to coach them toward synthesis. |
|
|
Your learners are not articulate and mature enough to hammer out consensus among opposing points of without your being present at all times. |
Divide your class into groups that each report on a single point of view, and guide the discussion in a whole class session so that synthesis occurs with your help. |
Study the suggestions
in the right-hand column that seem to apply to your project. With those in mind, open up your draft WebQuest and begin editing the Process section.
|
Return to the Philosophy page |
|