Технология Web Quest в изучении темы American Higher Education

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Оглавление

Introduction 2

Chapter 1 The system of American Higher Education 4

Chapter 2 The Technology of Web Quest 7

Chapter 3 Students’ survey 11

Conclusion 14

Internet recourses 15

Supplement 16

Introduction

Choosing a career and the institution are two of the most important things any person does in his life. It is an advantage to choose a future career while being at school because it gives a goal in your studies and enables to choose a right, suitable course of study. 

Studying abroad is also very popular among modern students. They often choose American or British colleges to go to. In order to do this they have to study a lot of information.

Modern technologies can help students to do it if we use the technology Web Quest.

This research is devoted to the studying of the system of American Higher Education on the one hand and the internet technology on the other hand.

This topic is up to date because we live in the world of modern technologies. They are widely used in schools and colleges. They can help modern teenagers not only to communicate but also to find out useful information.

The aim of the survey is to study the system of higher education in the USA and the technology of a web-quest, show that it can help students to make choice among the universities. Mostly it is devoted to the American colleges.

Hypothesis: All modern teenagers are keen on internet communication. If so, can a web-quest interest them and can this technology help them better their knowledge on the topic of American Higher Education?

Main task:

1. Study the system of American Higher Education

2. Study the technology Web Quest

3. Make a Web Quest for students

4. Make a survey

5. Make a conclusion

The practical importance of the work is that it can be used at the English lessons on the topic of Education.

The following methods were used:

1. a theoretical method

2. a search method

3. an analytical method

Chapter 1 The system of American Higher Education

Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for higher education. Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of

a) their high school records;

b) recommendations from their high school teachers;

c) their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs).

The system of higher education in the United States comprises three categories of institutions:

1) universities;

2) technical training institutions;

3) community colleges

Any of these institutions, in any category, might be either public or private, depending on the source of its funding. Some universities and colleges have, over time, gained reputations for offering particularly challenging courses and for providing their students with a higher quality of education. The factors determining whether an institution is one of the best or one of the lower prestige are quality of the teaching faculty; quality of research facilities; amount of funding available for libraries, special programs, etc.; and the competence and number of applicants for admission, i.e. how selective the institution can be in choosing its students.

The most selective are the old private north-eastern universities, commonly known as the Ivy League, include Harvard Radcliffe, (Cambridge Mass., in the urban area of Boston), Yale University (New Haven, Conn. between Boston and New York), Columbia College (New York),Princeton University (New Jersey), Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College; University of Pennsylvania. With their traditions and long established reputations they occupy a position in American university life rather like Oxford and Cambridge in England, particularly Harvard and Yale. The Ivy League Universities are famous for their graduate schools, which have become intellectual elite centers.

Colleges and universities in the U.S. vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering, or technical curriculum (like polytechnic universities and land-grant universities) while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Many combine some or all of the above, being a comprehensive university.

Degrees:

The Bachelor's degree normally requires 4 years of academic study beyond the high school diploma: the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the Bachelor of Science (B.S.); the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.); the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), etc.

The Master's degree— programs leading to the degree usually require 1 or 2 years of advanced study in graduate-level courses and seminars. Frequently a thesis is required or a final oral or written examination. (M.A. — the Master of Arts, etc.)

The Doctor's degree — usually the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (equal to the Russian candidate of Science, Philology, etc.) — the highest academic degree, it requires a minimum of 2 years of course work beyond the Master's degree level, success in a qualifying examination, proficiency  in one or two foreign languages and/or in a research tool (such as statistics) and completion of a doctoral dissertation.

Academic Year is usually nine months duration, or two semesters of four and a half months each. Classes usually begin in September and end in July. There are summer classes for those who want to improve the grades or take up additional courses.

During one term or semester, a student will study, concurrently, four or five different subjects. The students' progress is often assessed through quizzes (short oral or written tests),term papers and a final examination in each course. Each part of a student's work in a course is given a mark which helps to determine his final grade. A student's record consists of his grade in each course.

College grades, determined by each instructor on the basis of class work and examinations, are usually on a five-point scale, with letters to indicate the levels of achievement. A — is the highest mark and the letters go through B, C, D to E or F which denotes failure.

College and university admission/entrance requirements:

1) application (заявление) including personal information;

2) high school report including class rank, a transcript with the list of all the courses taken and all grades received in high school with courses failed or repeated, test results, SAT, Achievement Test and ACT scores and a general assessment of the applicant's character such as academic motivation, creativity, self-discipline, leadership, self-confidence, warmth of personality, sense of humor, etc.;

3) one or more recommendations by school teachers;

4) personal commentary such as major extra-curricular activities, hobbies, special awards or prizes, work or travel experiences, educational and/or career goals and the reasons for the choice of this particular university;

5) personal interview

Chapter 2 The Technology of Web Quest

A Web Quest is an activity where students are given a task and provided with access to on-line resources to help them complete the task. It was developed in 1995 by Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University.

Qualities of Effective Web Quests

The Beauty of Web Quests is its flexibility since it can be anything to anyone. This makes it hard to identify a typically effective Web Quest. Nonetheless, we have found that Web Quests that promote learning typically have 6 common attributes.

1. Introduction:

The introduction is a means of providing the students with background information that is intended to be a springboard for them to begin the process of inquiry. One way is to present a simulation that leads students to develop a product/service, evaluate a time period, give advice on a given issue, manage a business situation, engage in a debate, or tackle one of life's challenges.

2. Task:

Formulating challenging questions is the difficult part of developing an effective Web Quest. In most cases, a single question is posed that requires students to analyze a vast array of information. For example, "Compare the leadership styles of George Washington and George Bush," or "You just made a revolutionary invention, what steps would you take to insure that no one can steal your ideas for profit?"

3. Process:

In this section, the teacher leads the student through the task. The teacher offers advice on how to manage time, collect data, and provides strategies for working in group situations. Teachers sometimes label this section: learning objectives or advice. In some cases the section is replaced with a complete time line for the project.

4. Resources:

Students are provided with tools (usually web sites), or leads to tools that can help them complete the task. In order for this to be valuable thoroughly review each source. When deciding on sources consider the following:

a. Only list sites that support the proper view for which you are aiming. For every site that explains how helpful the rain forest is, there are two sites to explain how bad it is.

b. Make sure all the sites you choose are appropriate and do not link to any inappropriate sites.

c. Make sure the source is credible. Anybody can create a web page. Try to use a commercial (.com), non-profit (.org), or educational organization (.edu) site. These sites have something to lose by providing you with poor content.

d. Make sure the site is up to date.

5. Evaluation:

The outcome for Web Quests is usually a product in form of a written/oral report or multimedia presentation.

6. Conclusion:

Effective Web Quests have a built in mechanism for student reflections. To receive feedback, you can survey your students about their experience, or have the students send you an e-mail sharing their thoughts.

How Web Quests are developed

Learners typically complete Web Quests as cooperative groups. Each learner within a group can be given a "role", or specific area to research. Web Quests may take the form of role-playing scenarios, where students take on the personas of professional researchers or historical figures.

A teacher can search for Web Quests on a particular topic or they can develop their own using a web editor like Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe Dreamweaver. This tool allows learners to complete various tasks using other cognitive tools boxes (e.g. Inspiration Software, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Access, Excel, and Publisher). With the focus of education increasingly being turned to differentiated instruction, teachers are using Web Quests more frequently. Web Quests also help to address the different learning styles of each student. The number of activities associated with a Web Quest can reach almost any student.

Tools

Web Quests are simple web pages, and they can be built with any software that allows you to create websites. Tech-savvy users can develop HTML in Notepad or Notepad++, while others will want to use the templates available in word processing suites like Microsoft Word and Open Office. More advanced web development software, like Dreamweaver and FrontPage, will give you the most control over the design of your web quest. Web quest templates allow educators to get a jump start on the development of Web Quest by providing a pre-designed format which generally can be easily edited. These templates are categorized as "Framed" or "Unframed," and they can have a navigation bar at the top, bottom, left, or right of the content.

There are several websites that are specifically geared towards creating web quests.

Questgarden, Zunal, and Teacherweb all allow teachers to create accounts, and these websites walk them through the process of creating a web quest. OpenWebQuest is a similar service, although it is based in Greece and much of the website is in Greek. These websites offer little control over design, but they make the creation process very simple and straightforward.

Alternatively, teachers can use one of a number of free website services to create their own website and structure it as a web quest. Wordpress and Edublogs both allow users to create free blogs, and navigation menus can be created to string a series of pages into a web quest. This option offers a greater deal of flexibility than pre-made web quests, but it requires a little more technical know-how.

They can be used to introduce new knowledge, to deepen knowledge, or to allow students to test hypotheses as part of a final interaction with knowledge. The integration of computers and the Internet also increase students’ competency with technology. By having specific task lists, students can stay on task. By having specific sources of information, students can focus on using resources to answer questions rather than vetting resources to use which is a different skill altogether.

Chapter 3 Students’ survey

I asked my classmates to do the test on the topic. There were 15 questions in the test. Here is the test and the results of the test.

1. How many students apply to colleges every year in the USA?

2. How are the applicants usually chosen?

3. What categories does the system of higher education comprise?

4. These institutions are public or private, aren’t they?

5. What are the most selective universities?

6. What exam do the students take to enter the university?

7. When do they take SAT?

8. What is a community college?

9. What is a liberal arts college?

10. What is BA?

11. What is MA?

12. What is PhD?

13. How does the academic year last?

14. What college grades do you know?

15. Name college and university admission/entrance requirements.

16 students took part in the test. They answered 15 questions. 39% of students gave correct answers.

Taking into consideration the results of the test I can make the following conclusion:

Only few students of my class know about American universities and the system of higher education.

To improve their knowledge, I have created a Web-Quest on the topic American Higher Education. The screenshots of my quest you can see in Supplement 1.

Then I asked my classmates to do the Web Quest. In the web-quest my classmates did the following tasks.

1. Read the article on the topic and answer questions;

2. Choose the college from the list;

3. Put down the name of one American higher education institution you have chosen;

4. Mention its location and status;

5. Enumerate the range of courses and qualifications it offers;

6. Give information about its history and traditions;

7. List the rules of admission for potential students

As a result my classmates had to make a presentation about any American university and prepare the list of steps for Russian students how to apply to the college.

After that they did the test again. Here are the results of the second test.

Taking into consideration the results of the test 2 I can make the following conclusion:

The majority of students improved their knowledge about American universities and the system of higher education in the USA.

Conclusion

Our world is changing rapidly. The requirements for future specialists are changing as well. Employers already require the ability to work in a team as one of the main criteria for potential employees. The speed of information has increased many times. This means that a graduate should have not only a certain amount of knowledge, but also the ability to learn. He must possess certain skills – the skills of collecting, processing, analyzing information. When students work on a Web Quest they develop such skills as the ability to compare, analyze, categorize, think abstractly.

My hypothesis came true.

1. All my classmates are keen on internet communication. The Web Quest interested them and this technology helped them better their knowledge on the topic of American Higher Education.

2. Their motivation increased and made their work effective.

3. They had a good chance to work in a team as some of them did the work together.

4. They improved their knowledge in English as well.

5. This research helped me to choose the university for myself.

6. You can see my Web Quest online in zunal.com.

Internet recourses

1. http://ech-mgosgi.ru/component/ccboard/view-postlist/forum-20-archive-4th-year/topic-223-focus-on-higher-education-in-britain-and-america.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_University_of_New_York#Selectivity_and_admission
   http://www.native-english.ru/articles/educationusa/

3. http://www.thebestcolleges.org/rankings/top-50/

4. http://www.universitiesintheusa.com/admissions/how-to-apply

5. http://www.yale.edu/

6. http://zunal.com

7. https://docviewer.yandex.ru/?url=http%3A%2F%2Frainstore.narod.ru%2Fmaterials%2Fenglish%2Feducation_usa.doc&name=education_usa.doc&lang=en&c=56d71ca3cbf2

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebQuest

Supplement