Brenda Santos Bronx Leadership Academy High School
A Web Quest for Women’s Studies
The
Status of America’s Women
How can we solve the problems of the modern
American woman?
Introduction:
Congratulations! You have
just been hired by the U.S. Council on the Status of Women to work on a very
important project. The council’s mission is to investigate the problems faced
by American women, and to implement new policies to solve those problems. Your job is to determine what problems are
facing today’s American women and to examine the causes and possible solutions. Your first report—including your proposed
policy—will be presented to the council for review. This is a fantastic opportunity and an
important responsibility to American women.
You have the chance to really make a difference!
Task:
As a group, create a Power Point
presentation that addresses one problem faced by American women of today. Using the Public
Policy Analyst approach, create a slide show of 7 slides, one for each
of the 6 steps of the PPA process and
one for credits (where you cite your sources and acknowledge participants in
your project). This type of analysis
includes the following steps, which will guide your work and your Power Point
presentation:
1.
Define
and describe the problem (social conditions, players, and public policies).
2.
Gather
evidence to prove that it is a problem.
3.
Identity
the causes for this problem.
4.
Describe
and evaluate the current public policies in place regarding this problem.
5.
Develop
alternative policies that would address this problem.
6.
Select
the best policy/solution for this problem.
Process:
Your group will work together
to complete the following steps. Each
group is responsible for handing in a disk containing your Power Point
presentation and a hard copy of the following:
·
Responses
to research questions
·
Public
Policy Analysis worksheets 1-9
·
“Rough
draft” of your 7 Power Point slides (on paper)
In addition, your group will
share the Power Point presentation with the class and provide oral explanation
to accompany the slide show.
The Steps
1.
Research
the sources listed below in order to respond to all of the following
questions. You may also refer to other
sources (text and online).
2.
Complete
worksheets 1-9 on the TIPS PPA website.
3.
Plan
the text and graphics of your 7 slides, and create a first draft of each on
paper.
4.
Create
a 7 slide Power Point presentation that focuses on your findings after using
the six step Public Policy Analyst approach.
5.
Plan
the oral component of your presentation and be ready to present on the
scheduled day.
Research
Questions
1. What problem have you chosen to address? Describe why this is a problem for women?
2. What age group is most affected by the
problem? How do you know?
3.
Does
the problem affect women of different races, ethnic groups, social/economic
status, and sexual orientation equally?
Explain.
4.
Has
this problem always existed? Explain.
5.
Does
this problem only affect American women, or women in
other countries as well? Explain.
6.
Does
this problem affect men? Explain.
7.
What
are the social, political, economic, and cultural implications of this problem?
8.
Are
there organizations in existence that deal with this problem? If so, list them.
Resources:
In addition to your text and
other books, the following websites will be useful in completing your task.
Women’s
Studies/Women’s Issues Resource Sites
National Coalition Against
Domestic Violence
Eating Disorder Referral and Information
Center
National Women’s Health Information
Center
Institute for Women’s Policy
Research
NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
National
Organization for Women
Planned Parenthood Federation of
America
League of Women Voters of the City of New York
TIPS Student
Information Resources
Evaluation with
Rubric:
Your group will be graded
based upon the following rubric.
|
|
Needs Improvement
Excellent |
|
Research Do your responses to
the research questions reflect thorough, careful research? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Analysis Process Do your PPA worksheets
reflect a well-thought-out analysis of the problem and development of policy? |
1
2 3 4 5 |
|
Power Point Presentation Does your Power Point presentation creatively present the required information, follow the appropriate procedure, and compel the audience? |
1
2 3 4 5 |
|
Public Policy Have you formulated effective, feasible public policy in response to the problem? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Group Work and Class Presentation Have you conducted
yourselves professionally during class time while doing your research and
while presenting your findings to the class? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
23-25 points A
20-22 points A-
17-20 points B
14-16 points B-
10-13 points C
5-10 points D
0-5 points F
Standards:
Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to
demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments;
the governmental system of the
E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.
E2a Produce a report of information.
E3b Participate in group meetings.
E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
E6b Produce public documents.
E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional
documents.
E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to
audience and purpose.
Acknowledgements:
This Web Quest was produced
thanks to the TIPS Program (Teaching Interdisciplinary Problem Solving through
Educational Technology) of
