Description and Evaluation of a WebQuest: "Presidential Advisory Commision on Life Threatening Food Allergies"

I found the WebQuest “Presidential Advisory Commission on Life-Threatening Food Allergies”
by Anne Blake, Wayne State University through Questgarden.com in the category of Life Skills grades 6 – 8. The purpose of the WebQuest is for students to take on roles of presidential advisers who are responsible for providing a Top Secret report to the President regarding keeping children with food allergies safe when they are at school. The role playing format and topic are what caught my attention. The fact that I can recommend this WebQuest to teachers at my school is why I am sharing it.



The visual appeal is simple but engaging. The color scheme is red, white and blue which goes with the theme and there is a presidential seal which makes it seem authentic. Navigation through the WebQuest flows easily; students should not get confused or lost though they should be told how to identify the hyperlinks because they are not underlined. The overall mechanics of the site are tight. All links are connected to a working site.

The introduction is engaging because explains to the students that they are working for the President of the United States (a pretty popular guy these days for some students) and gives them the roles of Surgeon General, Secretary of Education, Director of Homeland Security, and U.S. Senator. The topic is one that many students are aware of if not affected by – food allergies, so this should be interesting and motivational to students.

The task is connected to the areas of language arts (research, writing, reading), health/PE (food allergies), Life Skills/Careers (Professional Roles), Science (food allergies). The task is cognitively appropriate for the 6th – 8th grade students it is designed for thought the reading level of 7.2 may cause some difficulty for any students reading below level.

The Process is very clear and easy to navigate by students. It should require little explanation from the teacher/facilitator. The scaffolding of the activities is formatted so students work independently, then collaborate to share information, and finally create a presentation. The activities are rich and require students to use higher order thinking skills to answer real-life questions within a timely scenario.

The quality of the resources used by students in the WebQuest is very high. There is not a separate section for the resources but the hyperlinks to the various websites work. The sites are all credible, connected to reputable sponsors.

The evaluation section provides students with the rubric and criteria that will be used to grade them on their individual work in their roles, teamwork, and the final presentation. The criteria are somewhat too subjective, as students are not given quantifiable requirements.

Overall I thought this was an engaging WebQuest that could be used with students in my school. I mostly appreciated the role playing aspect, the timeliness of the topic, the learning activities, and the obvious work that the author put into designing it.