Welcome to this site!
This site features the short story, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes.
In the creation of this WebQuest, we hope students will be able to get into the intricacies of creating intelligence and personality measurement tests. This WebQuest was created to enhance the students’ grasp of the text’s treatment of intelligence and to develop students’ imaginative and emotional response to the text.
We hope that at the completion of the activities in this WebQuest , students will be able to:
The activities are designed for a class of 36 Literature students in the Lower Secondary level. The students are already divided into nine groups of 4 in class for the completion of the tasks in this website. Each group is assigned a different task. The tasks are meant to be pieced together later as a class collectively during a teacher-facilitated discussion in class. Please note the tasks should throw some light on the issue of accuracy of tests, which include the I.Q. Test & the Rorschach Test. Students are not expected to create an accurate I.Q. or Rorschach test, but rather, to show an understanding of what an I.Q. test is and how it functions to measure intelligence or humans' personalities.
The students are given 3 weeks to complete their assigned tasks (6 Feb - 27 Feb 2009), & they are briefed about this webquest in the class prior to that date. The weblink of this webquest is given to them 1 week before the commencement of their webquest, so every group has an equal amount of time to go through this website & think about how they want to do their tasks.
The rationales of the tasks are as follows:
Task 1 (Create an I.Q. Test): Groups 1-3 will focus on Task 1. The rationale behind this task is that we want students to think about the idea of I.Q. tests. Students are to think about what goes into making an IQ test and thus, are made to reflect on what motivates their choice of questions. In the creation of an IQ test, the students will be able to see the loopholes of such tests and think about how it greatly impacted Charlie Gordon’s life.
Task 2 (Create a Rorschach Test): Groups 4-6 will focus on Task 2. The rationale behind this task is for students to uncover the arbitrariness of the Rorschach test. This is a test on personality based on a series of inkblots. Hence, students are expected to think about what makes this test a good gauge of personality and what it means to have a set of inkblots in determining someone’s personality. Through the creation process of their own Rorschach tests, the students would be able to pick out the limitations of the test and ponder over its relation to the heavy use of such tests in Charlie Gordon’s life.
Task 3 (Create a trailer): Groups 7-9 will focus on Task 3. The rationale behind this task is for students to reflect on their own portrayal of Charlie Gordon. The students, in the creation of their own trailer for Flowers for Algernon, will have to select the way in which they want to portray Charlie, which might include resorting to stereotypes of a mentally disabled person. The trailer also lets the students think about why they have chosen to make their trailer the way they did.
**For Task 3, students are strongly encouraged to use their own recording device to create the trailer. However, if they do not possess the device, they would be provided with a digital camera. Students would be told to use the software - found in every computer that has "Microsoft Windows Program" - Windows Movie Maker to edit their trailer.
Post-Activity (Reflection): All students are to do this. The rationale behind this activity is to let students jot down their individual reflections with regard to their experiences in doing their assigned tasks, as well as when asked to be "part of the experiment" by trying out the different tests their classmates have created, & when presented with trailers done up by some of their classmates. This is to let them know the character, Charlie Gordon more (through watching the video clips in this website & creating the trailer in their tasks), & get the feel of Charlie's thoughts & feelings when he was told to do the tests.Discussion Board
The Discussion Board is to allow for an ongoing discussion about the text as a whole or in parts. The rationale for this forum is to allow students to share their thoughts as they do the tasks. There are questions that are provided to start the discussion. The choice of an online forum was chosen to allow greater discussion that might not be brought up in class. The veil that the computer screen gives might give the quieter students a chance to participate and air their opinions. An online forum also allows for greater interaction as a class.
Feel free to e-mail us for any enquiry &/or suggestion you have for us.
