The Carbohydrate Quandary: achieving health literacy through an interdisciplinary WebQuest.

The emphasis that schools are placing on core subjects and performance on standardized testing in writing and math, often comes with a reduced emphasis and time on so called "extras" such as health education. (1) Under these circumstances, it is beneficial for health education professionals to maximize instructional time and to demonstrate curricular congruence between health education and the core subjects, reinforcing the importance of health in the total integrative learning processes of students.

The purpose of "The Carbohydrate Quandary" WebQuest is to address essential questions of obesity prevention and low-carbohydrate diets in a way that uses technology meaningfully, increases health literacy, and fosters English Language Arts competencies.

What Is a WebQuest?

"A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation." (2)

Use of audiovisual or computer media can produce significant learning benefits compared to conventional instruction, but this is a result of design, not the medium itself. (3) This Web-based learning experience is designed to have students use the information on the Web rather than just gather it. According to Bangert-Drowns and Pyke, readers build high literacy by exploring alternative meanings to text and interpreting text structure, context, and perspective. (4) The processes in this WebQuest require that students develop personal meaning of health information and skills as they explore, synthesize, and use the ideas and text from the Web to create authentic product and performance. The authentic product and performance that culminate this WebQuest are a persuasive report/essay accompanied by a presentation using PowerPoint to a real audience.

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