Introduction
What is the role of expertise in finding lasting solutions to current social problems?
During the course of this webquest, you will make effective use of a web-based tool called Popplet to keep track of your brainstorming as you investigate social dysfunction and the fields of expertise currently being looked to for solutions.
By the end, you will have what you need to begin formulating a research question.
The work you do here will be worth a total of 100 points. Please take a moment to skip ahead to the "Evaluation" page and preview the point breakdown before continuing on to the "Task" tab.
Task
First, you will browse e-news sites for headlines pertaining to social issues.
Then, you will settle on one issue that you see being addressed by multiple articles.
Next, you will investigate the articles' references to expert opinion, tracing each validation back to an academic field of expertise.
Lastly, you will brainstorm possible research questions using Popplet.
Process
Step 0: Sign up for LiveBinders and Popplet, and create a new project titled "Research Project" on both websites. For the duration of this webquest, your LiveBinders creation will be referred to as your "binder," your Popplet creation will be referred to as your "concept-map," and each individual bubble of your concept-map will be reffered to as a "popplet." Also, please remember from our last lesson that what I mean by "social issue" is a realistic and concrete aspect of a "social problem," which is an abstract force presumed by experts to be the underlying cause of a number of social issues.
Find inspiration
Step 1: Look over these examples of 21st Century social problems, to get an idea of what to look for in Step 2.
Step 2: Browse through these e-news sites, looking for at least two different articles by different authors that address the same issue (an issue that can be traced to a serious social problem affecting us today), ideally from different perspectives. Save a minimum of 2 such articles to your binder. (You can do this by copying the URL from your browser's address bar while viewing a desired article, then pasting it into your binder's "Enter a URL" bar, which can be accessed by clicking the "edit" icon at the top right of your binder's page).
Identify your topic
Step 3: First, check out these examples of the kinds of experts that collaborate to solve social problems. Then, referring back to the articles you saved to your binder, record any references to expert opinion or recent research in your blog, with a note-to-self about where you found it. If you locate three or more such references, continue to Step 4.
Step 4: Double-click the background of your blank Popplet canvas, then name the social issue addressed by the articles you've selected. If you're not sure which issue is addressed by the articles, return to Step 1. (Don't get caught up in the details, but try to choose a social issue that represents a single realistic aspect of a larger social problem. You will continually modify the contents of this center popplet to reflect changes in the direction/scope of your investigation.)
Gather information
Step 5: For each of the references to authoritative entities (experts or specialists) that you found in Step 3, link a new popplet to your topic. You can do this by selecting the center popplet, then clicking and dragging one of the four small circles at each of its sides in any direction. In each of your new popplets, name the authoritative entities (individuals or organizations) referred to by the articles you saved in Step 2.
Step 6: Do a quick background check on these entities by typing their names into Google with quotations ("_ _ _ _") and determine which field(s) of expertise they are associated with. For each field of expertise identified, add a new linked popplet, but wait until Step 7 to enter information. (If the fields of expertise you identified turn out to be closely related, connect their popplets together to reflect this fact. If it turns out you haven't yet identified two or more different fields of expertise, return to Step 2.)
Brainstorm questions
Step 7: To get a sense of what each field of expertise is all about, preview their Wikipedia pages. Don't get too overloaded with information, just scan the Table of Contents for a section related to your social issue. (If the information there seems too broad/general, return to Step 6 and dig deeper for the experts' specialization. If the information you find feels too narrow/specific, scan the classsification table on the right-hand side of the subfield's Wikipedia page for the larger field it belongs to. Feel free to enter any additional information into your concept-map that you think will help you. The goal of this step is to try to imagine how each of these fields of expertise relates to the social issue you named in Step 4.)
Step 8: Go back and re-read the question posed on the "Introduction" tab, but this time keep in mind the social problem(s) that your chosen issue relates to. Copy the question and paste it into a new linked popplet. Replace the word "expertise" with the name of one of the fields of expertise you identified in Step 6, and replace "current social problems" with a serious social problem that relates to the issue addressed by the articles you saved in Step 2. Repeat this process for each field of expertise you identified in Step 6. (There are now at least 2 popplets attached to your concept-map that contain a question you can use in our next lesson's research-planning activities, during which time you will be given opportunities to modify your question to suit your individual needs as a researcher. Still, if you aren't satisfied with any of the questions you generated during this webquest, feel free to return to Step 1. Remember, it's best if your research project touches on something you find exciting, intriguing, or inspiring!)
As soon as you've completed all of the above steps and have at least 2 possible research questions, please do the following:
- Add your concept-map's URL to your binder
- Send me an email containing the link to your binder's URL. Remember to send it from your student email account, and to use professional emailing etiquette.
Evaluation
This webquest is worth 100 points...
- 25 points will be awarded if at least two different articles that cover the same issue are saved to your binder.
- 25 points will be awarded if the topic at the center of your concept-map correlates with the issue addressed by the articles you saved to your binder.
- 25 points will be awarded if 2 or more fields of expertise are included in your concept-map.
- 25 points will be awarded if the social problem indicated in your 2 research questions can be traced to the topic at the center of your concept-map.
Conclusion
Congratulations!
Now that you know how to use current news headlines to develop a research question, you are ready to move on to the next stage of the process: independent research! Lesson 3 will be on synthesizing your research into a supportable thesis. Until then, use the Internet to investigate possible answers to the research questions generated by this webquest. Be sure to limit your search to credible sources from popular news, scholarly publications, and political organizations, saving all helpful pages to your binder. Feel free to email me if you need clarification of any kind.
But first, here's a video that you should watch all the way through:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM4Abds7I6k width:600 height:400 align:center]
Credits
- This webquest was created by Mr. Schultz, your English teacher for the time being. Thanks so much for dropping by!
Teacher Page
Click here for more information about me and the classes I teach.