Chang, Chew Hung

We often presume that when we engage a student in a web-based inquiry learning activity, the student will learn more effectively, become more motivated, and attain higher-order learning outcomes. To date, little empirical research has been published to confirm these assumption s. In particular, web based inquiry in the form of WebQuests ™ is widely practiced by teachers in Singapore, largely due to a pervasive evangelistic movement by the educational technology branch in the education ministry. This article puts together reflections about the use of web-based inquiry in the Geography classroom based on some empirical findings. The empirical study which examined how students use the web for an inquiry-based learning activity was conducted within the framework of an activity system, which investigated how the student (subject) interacted with the web (tools) in the learning process (production) to generate the observed learning outcomes (object). This involved the views of teachers as stakeholders (community) and the way the students worked in a group (division of labour). The findings involved issues with student motivation, information seeking behaviour, web access, learning outcomes, cooperative learning, and view s of stakeholders. Amidst the range of issues raised from the results, the findings do provide useful information on how future web-based inquiry learning activities, such as the use of WebQuests™ (Dodge, 1997), can be designed to better support teaching and learning in the Geography classroom.

WebQuest is an approach which uses the Internet as an integral part of teaching any subject at any grade level. Developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in 1995, it has generated lots of interest. There are now numerous examples of WebQuests available on the World Wide Web. WebQuest has the potential in bringing about more critical thinking and student engagement. This article will (1) explain what WebQuest is all about and explore examples in primary social studies to show its applicability in achieving important instructional goals in social studies teaching and learning, (2) demonstrate how WebQuests were used in a pre-service course for primary social studies teachers at the National Institute of Education, Singapore; and (3) share the responses of pre-service teachers towards the use of WebQuests in learning primary social studies content.