Time Needed

If used as written, you will need three weeks to complete Endangered Traditions. The Implementation Guidelines offer suggestions for decreasing the amount of time needed.

Guidelines

Prior to starting this activity, you might want to provide some local examples of development issues to illustrate that the community issues facing the Gullah and South Carolina are not unique to that state or region.

Endangered Traditions is organized according to the standard WebQuest format. Each element has been carefully crafted to stimulate students to think and integrate their learning at deep levels. Follow the steps outlined in the Process Overview section. Note when the whole class works together as one big task force and when students divide into five groups by role.

You can print sections as needed or you can print the entire WebQuest as a PDF document.

There are three main stages of work for students:

1. Conducting research using Internet links, with students in each role working as a group.
2. Completing portfolio assignments, with each student working as an individual.
3. Making task force presentations, with each group presenting its role to the whole class/task force.

Endangered Traditions incorporates a consensus-building task. Bernie Dodge and others who have pioneered the development of WebQuests consider the task the single most important part of a WebQuest. The task provides a goal and focus for the student, and 12 common learning tasks have been identified. A consensus-building task requires that differing viewpoints be articulated, considered, and accommodated. Students come to understand that people disagree because of differences in their value systems, what they think is correct, and what their goals are. Consensus-building tasks based on authentic differences of opinion expressed by people in the real world give students practice in resolving these differences.

In Endangered Traditions, the class assumes five different roles or perspectives represented on a task force. Each student's first task is to understand the perspective of his or her assigned role. Then each role is later challenged to examine and consider a range of information from the other, very different role perspectives. The goal of deciding what is best for the community is a realistic problem with no easy answers. Students have a vested interest in persuading their classmates to see their point of view, motivating them to do their work well.

In summary, consensus-building tasks:

• require that differing viewpoints be articulated and considered.
• expose students to differences in value systems.
• provide the future adult practice with resolving conflicts.
• are good for topics that deal with controversy.
• lend themselves well to current events and recent history.
• require transformation of information.

So that all students begin the project with a common frame of reference, the whole class first reviews a set of common links that provide background information.

Endangered Traditions incorporates a larger than usual number of links for each role. Links for each role are divided into sections with questions at the beginning of each section designed to help focus students' attention. Each role has its own set of links, with almost no overlap. Emphasize this to students so that they realize the importance of their own individual work to the success of the whole. Encourage students to use the template Summarizing Internet Resources when reviewing links and provide ample blank copies of it.

The richness of the information contained in these Internet links is what enables students to complete their portfolio assignments. Portfolio assignments encompass all cognitive levels of Bloom's taxonomy and several multiple intelligence domains.Portfolio assignments are completed prior to the task force presentation. It is expected that portions of the portfolios can be incorporated directly into the task force presentation, so students should understand that completing these assignments serves a useful function. Students can complete portfolio assignments electronically (online portfolio) or in a more traditional hard copy format.

Portfolio assignments employ numerous graphic organizers. A graphic organizer is a visual representation of concepts, knowledge, or information that may incorporate both text and images. Their value lies in helping the mind see new relationships and insights from how the information is organized graphically. For further information about and examples of graphic organizers, visit these links: (These links will open in a new browser window. When you are finished researching a particular link, simply close the browser window that opened to return to this webpage.)

• www.wm.edu/TTA/articles/learning/graphic.htm
• www.writedesignonline.com/organizers
• www.fno.org/oct97/picture.html

The large variety of web sites and choice of portfolio assignments provide flexibility. Use the element of choice to motivate students, who will be able to point to a tangible finished product, their portfolio, with pride. Endangered Traditions provides the variety necessary for three sustained weeks of class time.

Provide students with a sufficient amount of time to complete this WebQuest. Spread out the time spent doing Internet research over several sessions so that students don't become overwhelmed with this phase of the project, since a significant number of links is provided for each role. The amount of time you need will depend greatly on access to technology and your level of comfort working with WebQuests.

If necessary, here are some suggestions to reduce the amount of time needed to complete Endangered Traditions:

• Have students conduct their research at the linked sites using home computers.
• Reduce the number of links that students visit.
• Have students complete portfolio assignments at home.
• Reduce the number of portfolio assignments. If you do this, encourage or require students to select higher-numbered assignments because these involve higher-level thinking skills.
• Each group compiles a portfolio or five or more assignments chosen as a group.
• Each student in a group chooses one portfolio assignment and contributes it to the group portfolio.
• Eliminate the portfolio step altogether. Be aware, however, that this may result in loss of student understanding and comprehension. Students may not understand their own role and be able to defend it.