USING WEBQUESTS FOR ESP TRAINING: CASE STUDY OF ECOLOGY STUDENTS

In this paper the authors assess the introduction of WebQuests – Web-based multidisciplinary active learning units – into ESP curriculum. A WebQuest is known as a collaborative activity that is aimed at “collecting information about a subject using the web” (Sharma & Barrett, 2007: 24). Students are expected to browse and evaluate various sources to collect relevant information, process it and outline possible perspectives (Lengel and Lengel 2006). An important part of the experience is student-centered approach to acquiring new knowledge within the frame work of the study group, yet guided by the layout of the webquest. Another task the students have to complete is evaluation of the chosen sources, choice of the most authoritative ones and integration of information. Since webquests address quasi-professional issues, students learn to interact within real-life contexts, collaborate to work on the project together and come up with a well-structured presentation on the given subject as a result of communal effort. It fosters controlled learning (Wennik, 2004; Seamon, 2001) and relates the students to professional contexts.

The case study describes integration of webquests in ESP curriculum. 14 students of Ecological Faculty of RUDN University were asked to perform 4 webquests in small study groups and come up with weekly presentations for their peers. Upon completion of the webquests the students were asked to participate in anonymous survey which was devised to assess their general impression of this task, major challenges that they came across as well as key point of improvement they could outline. The paper intends to address the positive sides of webquests implementation as well as their shortcomings.

Acknowledgement:
The publication was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (The agreement No 02.A03.21.0008)