Introduction
Welcome to your webquest.
Recently in Room 13 we have been focussing our mighty brain power on Civics and Citizenship.
In this webquest you will research what it means for you to be a citizen of Australia.
Some of these concepts may be new to you so the webquest will make this process easier, it will include guiding questions and links to resources which will help you find the answers.
We will introduce the webquest as a group.
So enter citizens, I hope you find this task educational and enjoyable!
Task
The task is designed to assist you to learn about your own citizenship. You will then compare the attributes of your citizenship with what you learnt about the Asian country you investigated earlier this term.
There will be a series of questions to guide you and a rubric that details how the webquest will be marked. You will need to add two questions about citizenship based on extra information you have gathered. I will also ask you to make links with the topic with have just done on Federation, so think about that as you research.
Later, you will evaluate the webquest itself and self-evaluate your own work.
You may work individually or in pairs but all work is to be completed on the laptops, directly onto the webquest.
Process
Imagine you have a long distance cousin that has come to visit Adelaide from overseas. They don't know very much about Australia or its customs.
You need to explain to them what it means to live in Australia and be a citizen in a legal sense and an ethical one.
Answering the following questions by using the resources may help you explain it to them! (Links to the resources towards the bottom of the page)
Part 1 - Questions
1. What does the word citizen mean?
2. Who is an Australian citizen?
2. What does being an Australian citizen mean?
3. What do the terms 'rights and responsibilities' mean?
4. What are the rights of an Australian citizen?
5. What are the responsibilities of an Australian citizen?
6. How do people become Australian citizens? Why do they become Australian citizens?
7. After researching citizenship, what do you think is means to be an Australian citizen? What values are considered a part of Australian citizenry?
8. Has your opinion on citizenship and its values changed from before you researched? How?
9. Choose a 'Personal story' from this link - https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/Curr/Even/Why-/Personal-stories-about-Australian-citizenship
Summarise the person's story about how and why they became an Australian citizen.
9. How does Australian citizenship relate to our last topic, 'Federation of Australia'? Describe any links between the two you observe.
Add your two questions you have devised below.
10.
11.
Resource List
https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/Curr/Even/Why-/Quick-guide-to-Australian-citizenship
https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/Curr/Even/Why-/Personal-stories-about-Australian-citizenship
http://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/ac_australian_citizenship,9529.html
http://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/what_makes_a_good_citizen_activity_two,35095.html
Part 2 - Comparison with Country from Asia
1. What country did you focus on in our History topic on Asia?
2. What do you see as similarities between the rights of Australian citizens and that of your Asian country?
3. Are there any differences you notice? (Consider healthcare, education, voting. You may need to revisit your History work to refresh your memory)
Part 3 - Social action
Now you are equipped with this knowledge about Australian values and citizenry, what is one course of social action you could undertake to use this knowledge?
Evaluation
| Standard | Very High | High | Good | Satisfactory | Needs Improving |
|
HaSS Insights
|
Very good reading, understanding and interpreting of question. Outstanding level of thought and insight applied to answers. |
Quite good reading, understanding and interpreting of question. High level of thought and insight applied to answers. |
Good reading, understanding and interpreting of question. Decent level of thought and insight applied to answer |
Satisfactory reading, understanding and interpreting of question. Tough and insight evident in answers. |
Reading, understanding and interpreting of question could've been improved. More thought and insight needed. |
|
Making links with previous topic of Federation knowledge and quality of additional questions formulated.
|
Thorough links with Federation made. Additional questions showed high level of insight. |
Sound links with Federation made. Additional questions showed quite high level of insight. |
Decent links with Federation drawn. Additional questions showed some good insight. |
Satisfactory links with Federation evident. Additional questions showed sufficient insight. |
Links with Federation could've been stronger. Additional formulated questions showed insight lacking. |
|
Proposed social action
|
Proposed social action demonstrates excellent understanding and application | Proposed social action demonstrates sound understanding and application | Proposed social action demonstrates good understanding and application | Proposed social action demonstrates sufficient understanding and application | Proposed social action needs to be given more thought. |
| Work ethic |
Maintained constant engagement and effort with task. Utilised class time effectively with no distractions and time off task. Met all deadlines |
Sound engagement and effort with task. Utilised class time with minimal distractions and time off task. Met all deadlines. |
Good engagement and effort with task. Utilised class time well with only a few distractions and time off task. Met most deadlines. |
OK engagement and effort applied to task. Could've used class time more effectively. Met some deadlines |
Poor engagement and effort applied to task. Misused class time consistently. Missed a lot of deadlines. |
| English conventions | Flawless spelling, grammar and punctuation | Superior spelling, grammar and punctuation | Good spelling, grammar and punctuation | Satisfactory spelling, grammar and punctuation. Could re-edit. | Spelling, grammar and punctuation lacking. Needs an edit. |
Conclusion
This section is more of an evaluation of your learning and the webquest rather than a conclusion.
Did you find the webquest useful to help your learning?
Why, Why not?
Do you think you learnt a lot about citizenship?
What could've been improved in the webquest?
Did you enjoy the webquest?
Why, Why not?
Was your level of engagement with the task 'great', 'good', 'ok' or 'could've been better'?
Why do you think your engagement was this level?
Teacher Page
The rationale for this webquest is the exploration of the facets of Australian citizenship using a guided enquiry model based on constructivist pedagogical theory. Students are required to form and articulate their own understandings of personal citizenship, rights and responsibilities through a guided enquiry. A guided enquiry such as this can be utilised as a sequenced learning activity about forming enquiry questions. It would assist students in the progression from exposure to enquiry models to the eventual devising of their own enquiry questions and models.
This idea is based on a guided enquiry topic I observed whilst on third year placement with a Yr. 5/6 class undertaking a HaSS topic on Migration in an Eastern Suburbs IB School. The IB Schools follow constructivist theory and place great importance on the enquiry model as a way of developing independent and analytical learners. IB programs demand purposeful and relevant content from teachers to elicit the ideal amount of engagement and investment from students in their work.
In this webquest students are provided questions initially but are also required to devise their own in addition, a good scaffolding technique (Vygotsky). Students are allowed to work in pairs, as social constructivist Lev Vygotsky advocates for, particularly in the middle years when relationships become more pivotal in students lives. The task, although admittedly a dry subject matter, is easily relatable to their lives and their values which the awareness of such values is heightened during the adolescent years.
Students are provided with a detailed rubric to assist their learning and ensure they are on the right path. They will be assessed on the thoughtfulness, depth of insight and articulation presented in the answers. Questions in the enquiry progress in a logical order of understanding and build upon each other, in a constructivist sequence for learning that also challenges prior knowledge and asks students to examine how and why their prior views have changed. Students are asked to reflect upon their own learning, their application to the task and the efficiency of the method of pedagogy, the webquest itself.
The relevant Australian Curriculum Year six HaSS content descriptor is
The shared values of Australian citizenship and the formal rights and responsibilities of Australian citizens (ACHASSK147).
This task applies to the achievement standards, knowledge and undertstandings component:
'They describe the rights and responsibilities of Australian citizens and the obligations they may have as global citizens'
And the skills components :
'Students develop appropriate questions to frame an investigation. They locate and collect useful data and information from primary and secondary sources. They reflect on their learning to propose action in response to an issue or challenge and describe the probable effects of their proposal.'
Key teacher resources I used were the Department of Immigration and the Australian Curriculum.