... and analyze information on issues that are generall

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FEMINSIGHTS Magazine What Wise Women Need to
Know!

• By Dr. Jacki Leak
• A webquest for students in an upper-division
  Psychology of Women class.

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INSTRUCTIONS for STUDENTS

• In completing this Webquest, first you will
  research and analyze information on issues that
  are generally important to mature women. You will
  then formulate an opinion as to which issue you
  feel is most important for mature women to be
  informed about, and construct a research-based
  persuasive argument to convince others of
  the importance of the issue you have chosen.
• Your task is to go online and research at least 3
  of the websites listed below, and to determine
  the single topic that you feel is the most
  important one for this inaugural edition of
  FEMINSIGHTS, and then you must convince the
  editors of the magazine that the topic you've
  selected should be a priority.  Remember, other
  people will be trying to convince the editors
  that their topic is the most important, so
  present your most persuasive, documented, and
  detailed rationale for the topic you have
  selected. Please save all relevant web addresses
  and cite them as resources.

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INSTRUCTOR GOALS

• Student acquisition of insights regarding issues
  that are salient in the lives of mature women
• Student synthesis and prioritizing of data
  gathered from multiple sources in order to create
  a final product, a persuasive powerpoint
  presentation
• Gathering information as to the effectiveness of
  this assignment, the level of student engagement,
  clarity of the instructions, the ability to
  engage in perspective-taking and other details
  relating to the student experience in completing
  the assignment

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SALG ASSESSMENT

• The SALG was selected because of its convenience,
  accessibility and the perceived flexibility of
  the question format.
• The data collected suggested that most of the
  students were able to successfully assume the
  perspective of a mature woman to varying degrees
  in order to effectively construct an argument for
  the importance of a particular topic
• Student responses were overwhelmingly positive
  about the exercise, its perceived usefulness and
  their own levels of engagement
• One of the limitations of the SALG was my lack
  of familiarity with the instrument itself.

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What Changes ?

• I will more emphatically and repeatedly stress
  the target group by providing the specific age
  range of the market for the magazine/exercise
  (mature women) because at least one student
  either failed to make note of that very important
  fact or failed to assume the required
  perspective, and submitted an entry that was more
  appropriate for younger women.
• I will adjust the assessment instrument to more
  specifically evaluate the students perception of
  the how difficult/easy it was to step into the
  shoes of women of another generation.
• I will add an inquiry that forces the student to
  identify specific overarching course concepts
  that relate to the exercise (power and
  oppression, diversity, developmental issues, etc)
• The problem I anticipated was being overwhelmed
  by the number of responses, which I mitigated by
  offering the Webquest late in the semester as an
  optional extra credit assignment

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SAMPLE STUDENT POWERPOINTS