I found an interesting and useful WebQuest entitled: Genes: The Building Blocks of Life. The especially cool thing about this WebQuest is that it was made in Virginia, and therefore conforms to the Virginia Standards of Learning for Biology.
Funding for biological ressearch is always tight, and this WQ allows students to explore various areas of genetics research and come to a consensus about which aspects of this research deserve funding. In the process, they learn about genetics and it's varied applications. I especially liked the fact that part of the process of this WQ was for students to discuss, debate, and arrive at a consensus with their classmates that everyone in the group was happy with. This is an important life skill, as well as in science.
The WQ is entirely on one page, though I think it would have worked better if each navigation link was to a different page instead of a section on one page. However, I thought that the directions for students were very clear, and I liked that each student would have to be knowledgable about the basics of genetics before they could proceed with the rest of the project. I also like that the WQ maker included resources for building consensus and creating a persuasive argument. It is always a bad thing to assume students possess knowledge that they may not have, and those pages provide a blueprint and a reference for once they get to that stage of the WQ.
I really liked that each perspective was grounded in a current issue in applied genetics. Some of these issues do not have clear cut answers, and require background knowledge to make judgment calls. This WQ not only helps students understand basic genetic info, but allows them to apply that new knowledge in a novel situation with real-life underpinnings. I also liked that the rubric takes into account the research, the consensus with the group, and the presentation product. This shows students that their work as a group is valued and they are being evaluated for their process as well as their final product.
Overall, this was a good WQ. I can see areas that could use a little work (i.e. obtaining links from more varied sources), but I liked a lot of aspects of the WQ and it seems very student friendly.
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Well I'm a history major and yet I found this webquest to be really interesting. It really gets the students an understanding of how important the study of genetics is to many different aspects of our lives. Like you said Tracie, I also really like that the website is so current and relevant to students lives. The webquest also doesn't assume that students have that much background knowledge on genetics. I like that students can "pre-read" and learn about genetics before studying their specific issue. Like any good webquest, this looks like it will take a lot of work from the students. However, the fact that it's so interesting may make it a task that the majority of students see as something they get to do as opposed to something awful they have to do.
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