"Hot Potato" Quiz is a Design Challenge

Synopsis.

The assessment for this unit will be a design challenge where students create a quiz using "Hot Potato"software http://hotpot.uvic.ca/ and based on the central learning outcome ‘Becoming Independent’:

“BI 4.2 Students develop and implement
strategies for optimising personal diet based on
identified nutritional needs for growth, energy
and health. (HPE PH 4.2)” (Queensland Studies Authority, 2005, p. 18)

The challenge will be to produce a quiz suitable for 13 year olds who have completed a unit of work on personal dietary needs of adolescents. The quiz will need to include 20 questions, have multiple choice and true/false answers and be completed within a negotiated time frame. Participants will have only one opportunity to complete the quiz which will be completed in teams. Designers will have one lesson to familiarize themselves with the technology and two lessons to complete the design. An ‘external auditor’ – Head of Department will access the quizzes and be present in class for the competition.

Marzano and Pickerings (Marzano, 2006) DoL 2 strategies emphasise declarative and procedural knowledge. Declarative relates to constructing, organizing and storing knowledge, whilst procedural encompasses modeling, shaping and internalizing (practice). (CQU Noosa)
“The first phase of learning a skill or process is to construct a model” (CQU Noosa) which in the case of designing a quiz will first require students to gain some understanding of how the technology works. Students will work collaboratively and make decisions regarding the type of quiz that best suits their strategy.
“Shaping” the model happens as the students develop the quiz. This stage of learning requires critical thinking skills of assessment, evaluation and creativity. Students will need to redesign the practicalities of their quiz as well as the questioning.
Internalizing or practice requires students to become extremely familiar with the process of designing a quiz and its content.
As part of the formative assessment for this unit students will post 4 reflections on their individual blogs which will ensure individual students are donating ideas to the group as well as making order of and storing their knowledge.
Regards
Sue
CQU Noosa. (n.d.). DoL 2 - ACQUIRE AND INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from CQU Noosa -Professional Learning Package: http://www.cqu.edu.au/dol/construct_models.htm
Marzano, R. P. (2006). Dimensions of Learning Teacher's Manual (2nd edition ed.). Heatherton, Victoria, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.
Queensland Studies Authority. (2005). Subject Area Syllabus and Guidelines, Home Economics Education, Level 4 to Beyond Level 6. Spring Hill : Queensland Studies Authority.