Evidence: 654 WebQuest Project WebQuest Summary (Influential People of the Enlightenment)
Rationale: For EDT 654 I created a WebQuest project concerning Influential People of the Enlightenment for my sophomore, junior and senior world history students. They researched one specific person of their choice and then presented the personal data, accomplishments and impact on the age of that person to the class. The goal was to convince the audience that the person they chose was the most influential person of the Enlightenment period.
Creating this WebQuest was a great learning experience for me as I was challenged to find a new way to present my social studies content information to my students using technology in a creative way. Student learning was impacted as they were highly engaged in this activity and enjoyed the competition aspect of the assignment.
KSD: 1.K.1 The teacher understands the major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry, and ways of knowing that are central to the discipline(s) s/he teaches. Central to my discipline of social studies are the use of skills like researching and critical thinking. Through this project, students will be challenged to sift through information to find the key ideas and then compose a persuasive presentation to convince the rest of the class of the importance of the chosen topic. These are critical skills central to my discipline.
1.S.5 The teacher develops and uses curricula that encourage students to see, question, and interpret ideas from diverse perspectives. In this activity students are encouraged to research and investigate their chosen historical figure through the lens of a magazine editor, trying to decide whether their historical personality has strong enough characteristics to be named “most influential person of the Enlightenment” according to the fictional Timeweek magazine.
1.D.2 The teacher appreciates multiple perspectives and conveys to learners how knowledge is developed from the vantage point of the learner. As the learners get to choose their historical figures in this activity it is interesting how the musically inclined students are drawn to the musicians like Mozart and Bach whereas the scientific students are drawn to Copernicus and Galileo. Girls are often drawn to the strong female personalities like Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia. It becomes very clear that the vantage point of the learner has a lot to do with the pursuit of knowledge.
Standard 1: Teachers know the subjects they are teaching.
The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines she or he teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for pupils
Evidence: 654 WebQuest Project WebQuest Summary (Influential People of the Enlightenment)
Rationale: For EDT 654 I created a WebQuest project concerning Influential People of the Enlightenment for my sophomore, junior and senior world history students. They researched one specific person of their choice and then presented the personal data, accomplishments and impact on the age of that person to the class. The goal was to convince the audience that the person they chose was the most influential person of the Enlightenment period.
Creating this WebQuest was a great learning experience for me as I was challenged to find a new way to present my social studies content information to my students using technology in a creative way. Student learning was impacted as they were highly engaged in this activity and enjoyed the competition aspect of the assignment.
KSD:
1.K.1 The teacher understands the major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry, and ways of knowing that are central to the discipline(s) s/he teaches.
Central to my discipline of social studies are the use of skills like researching and critical thinking. Through this project, students will be challenged to sift through information to find the key ideas and then compose a persuasive presentation to convince the rest of the class of the importance of the chosen topic. These are critical skills central to my discipline.
1.S.5 The teacher develops and uses curricula that encourage students to see, question, and interpret ideas
from diverse perspectives.
In this activity students are encouraged to research and investigate their chosen historical figure through the lens of a magazine editor, trying to decide whether their historical personality has strong enough characteristics to be named “most influential person of the Enlightenment” according to the fictional Timeweek magazine.
1.D.2 The teacher appreciates multiple perspectives and conveys to learners how knowledge is developed from the vantage point of the learner.
As the learners get to choose their historical figures in this activity it is interesting how the musically inclined students are drawn to the musicians like Mozart and Bach whereas the scientific students are drawn to Copernicus and Galileo. Girls are often drawn to the strong female personalities like Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia. It becomes very clear that the vantage point of the learner has a lot to do with the pursuit of knowledge.