Eating Disorders WebQuest
Introduction
The Scenario (fictitious!): A swimmer at ASU recently died of heart failure, which was caused by an eating disorder. This tragedy has caused an increased interest in eating disorders at all levels of campus life. Many people are asking questions in an attempt to understand the basics of the various eating disorders. Among the more prevalent questions floating around campus include:
“what types of eating disorders exist?”
“what are the symptoms of the different eating disorders?”
“who gets eating disorders?”
“why and how does someone develop an eating disorder?”
“how does an eating disorder affect the body?”
“how does an eating disorder affect the mind?”
“how does an eating disorder make the person feel?”
“how does an eating disorder affect friends and family?”
To help inform the campus, the State Press is running a series of articles on Eating Disorders.
The Task
Because you are a stellar team of writers, the State Press has asked you to write an article that gives background information on these questions. Your account should be informative and objective, focusing more on truth-seeking than persuasion. Likewise, your audience contains a wide variety of individuals, so you should make the information simple to understand for a layperson. Avoid technical language. You should submit your final article via the Class Discussion Board. It should be 2-3 pages long and you should cite each Website that you use.
The Process
Each group will be assigned a particular eating disorder to research via the Internet. Make sure your sources are credible and be sure to look at multiple sites to make sure you have complete information on each question and can give a full picture of life with a particular eating disorder:
Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Compulsive Overeating Disorder
Bigorexia Nervosa
Orthorexia Nervosa
ANRED: Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. http://www.anred.com might serve as a good starting point for your search. However, as you branch out from this site, it will be particularly important to ensure that your information comes from a credible source. Organizing your report and deciding what material to emphasize is up to your group. Keep the scenario in mind as you craft this project and remember that all team members should participate. Your 2-3 page report should be submitted to the CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD by 1:00 February 24, 2004.
Out-of-class communication with your group should occur via the “Group Discussion Board” so I can observe your process and participation.
To ensure equal participation, you may want to divide the tasks. Have certain people research certain questions and perhaps have a single person in charge of integrating everyone’s write-up into one streamlined report. You may divide the tasks in another way, if you prefer.
Evaluation
Your grade for this activity will be determined by
· your ability to function well as a group
· the quality of your information
· the quality of your writing
· your organization of material
· your attention to audience
· and the creativity of your presentation.