Synthesis Paper #4

Synthesis Paper #4

Justin Czech

The web-quest I created is entitled “Improving Higher Education” and it is intended for a 12^th grade civics class. Today there are many challenges facing America’s higher education system. Hopefully, many students will be pursuing at least some kind of higher education after graduating from high school, and I wanted to create a web quest which encouraged students to reflect on the higher education system many of them would be entering shortly. As a teacher, encouraging my students to think about the challenges facing our country is one of my key responsibilities. The web quest I’ve created will help develop key problem solving skills as well as encourage feelings of civic responsibility, which every teacher should cultivate in order to help students prepare for their futures.

In America’s current higher education system, the cost of a college education is rising exponentially. This is making a college education harder for middle class parents to provide for their children, at a time when such an education is essential for success in a highly competitive job market. If left unchecked, this could create a situation where the gap between the upper and lower classes in America will continue to grow. The “Improving Higher Education” web-quest asks students to think in terms of social justice and decide how our country’s leaders should address such an issue.

Finally, the web-quest I have created meets NCSS principle 8 because it requires students to utilize technology while completing their assignment and to consider the impact that technology can have on America’s higher education system. Students will make posts in a wiki and discussion board, and thus, see the benefits that both technologies may bring to our education system. They then will be asked to consider such technologies when introducing their solutions to America’s higher education problems. The web-quest meets NCSS principle 9 because it asks students to think on a global scale, and analyze how advances in communication and transportation make it possible to closely analyze the higher education systems of other countries and make comparisons between those systems and the higher education system we have in the U.S. The ability to observe, study, and understand what concepts works well for another country and to be able to apply it here in the U.S in a timely fashion is an invaluable advantage in terms of global competition. Students are able to conduct research on foreign universities from the comfort of their homes using only the internet, something that was impossible a little more than a decade ago. By asking students to incorporate a global perspective within their projects, the web-quest meets the NCSS requirement.