Computer-based instructional objects, like the webquests and stand-alone instructional resources (STAIR) covered in CEP 811 can be great for students but require a huge amount of planning and careful execution if they are to achieve their design intent. The less tech literate the audience is the more carefully designed the object needs to be. If a student gets lost or frustrated when there isn't computer aided, or human, scaffolding in place then they will lose motivation and give up. Another pitfall of computer-based instructional objects is to let the learning targets play second fiddle relative to the special effects - like video clips, sound bites, transitions, or navigational options that allow the user to "wander off" in some tangential direction.
I was surprised to find that there is a lack of high quality webquests related to chemistry. Searches kept leading to either broken links or to the same dozen webquests. The webquests, for the most part, focused on topics off the main line chemistry curriculum, which makes them more like distractors than useful review resources. Here are some links to webquests that I found and some summary comments about my take on their quality and usefulness:
Arsenic and Old Lace (http://www.pekinhigh.net/webquest/snoble/index.htm) - I liked the way the students started with a movie clip and then took on the role of a different investigator to explore the effects of arsenic and its role as a health hazard today. I also liked the fact that the students put together a video of their findings. It promotes solid research in a format that appeals to todays students.
Cosmic Chemistry (http://www.can-do.com/uci/ssi2000/cosmicchemistry.html) - I found this quest to be extremely mundane in appearance and the content not that exciting. The worksheets and projects could just as easily and effectively be done using an astronomy text.
The Chemistry of Fireworks (http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/fireworks.shtml) - this webquest was created by a textbook publisher and had the feel of a textbook. It spent a fair amount of time on the history of fireworks, which would not appeal to students and on the chemistry of fireworks. Students are definitely interested in making things burn or explode. I felt it would lead to students attempting to work with or create fireworks on their own without appropriate safety precautions. The liability aspect made my stomach churn.
Spring Break Chemistry (http://www-dept.usm.edu/~pt3/info/00-03/lesson_plans/plans/extra/013webquest.html) The premise of this webquest was to give students some chemistry homework over spring break. The questions were trivial and would lend themselves to wholesale copying 5 minutes before the assignment was due the first day back from break. Enough said.
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Hey Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you noticed, but its very difficult to find any useful WebQuests that are less than five years old. It makes me wonder if it is an educational fad that has since worn out.
Either way, I believe the original concept is tremendous but needs to be re-invented. We both seek greater engagement value, hopefully in our own WebQuests we can address that issue.
Strange - I was ruminating on the same thought. I wonder if students started posting responses to webquests that made them one-shot wonders. This is quite possible and would make developing a new webquest a big time sink with little return after the first run.
ReplyDeleteJeff Dagg,
ReplyDeleteI remember being in college and students would create a site to post explanations to physics problems. It would be interesting to find students communicating across school districts. If they are in fact, it is something that could actually be taking advantage of to create new learning experiences.
It is quite possible that WebQuests are a dead educational fad. The aesthetics of most of the ones I found are obviously dated and would seem static to most of the students that I teach. I think educators could provide energy by introducing video, sound, and interactive applets to engage the students a bit more.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteHaha...I love your responses to these webquests, especially the spring break one. I stumbled across the same site and found most of these to contain so many broken links, it was frustrating. Casey brings up an interesting point and I can't help but wonder what our instructor's take (or other instructors in this program are) of WebQuests in general. It seems like more often than not they are not engaging, contain little more than a link to a page to read and answer some questions...nothing authentic about that :) But I also agree that these are HUGE time investments as we are all coming to find out.
Jeff D, I would have thought there would be more on Chemistry, also. I'm interested to see what you will come up with. My experience was the same as you and Jeff. I did not see any recent WebQuest. Where are the ones from the previous CEP 811 students?
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