Webquests

Webquests can potentially help make learning fun. As a result, an appropriately chosen webquest topic may actively engage the student. For the avid baseball fan to whom the study of Mathematics may seem to be boring, a well-designed application, such as Cooperstown Bound, may be just the trick necessary. The chance to gather all of the relevant raw performance data for a favorite hitter, followed by an computation of batting average, or on-base percentage, or slugging percentage, for an individual hitter, or for multiple hitters, and the gathering, computation, and subsequent comparative statistical analysis - and as a possible result, for that student, to be even more baseball knowledgeable than peers, may elicit a spark. That spark may be exactly what is needed to encourage the active participation of the young passionate fan who may not think the study of math is particularly "cool," but who may inevitably end up deeply involved in the statistics of the sport. So, the student who eschews the study of Math, may become the envy of fellow students, who also share a passion for the sport.

So, potentially, the webquest may be a powerful motivational tool. As such, therefore, it provides considerable potential educational value. It engages the student via the Internet using a computer, a tool with which many students are already comfortable and which they enjoy using. It doesn't seem to be traditional learning, because it isn't, yet it potentially provides value, because the student may actually look forward to participating. If so, the assignment may seem less to be drudgery and more fun - perhaps even a reward.

The same possible result as that achieved via Cooperstown Bound may, for another student, be achieved via Johnson's Dover Downs Nascar Challenge. Regardless of the particular project application (baseball, auto racing, or other), in general, the webquest is based on a task that appears to be enjoyable to the student to be accomplished via the student's Internet research. The analytical components require the student to actively participate. The results the student produces do not seem to be similar to a traditional paper, yet actively engage the student. I see great potential for the use of webquests in Mathematics courses.