INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this WebQuest is to build a LED flashlight and explain its operation, thus addressing the concepts of Electricity related to simple electrical circuits. The work is carried out in groups of 4/5 people following the project work methodology in order to develop skills in the areas of interpersonal relationships, information and communication; scientific and technological knowledge.

To carry out this project, students will have to conduct desk research on the Internet (using the links at the end of this WebQuest,) on electrical circuits, the association of receivers, electrical current, the difference in electrical potential, batteries and LEDs.

The collaborative and cooperative work between the members of the group is fundamental for the success of the final product, as well as for the procedures developed by the students in the learning process in order to obtain the final product.

The final presentation of the work done must be according to the following rules, which are explained below:

As the project is developed in 4 phases the delivery time will be 4 weeks.

But before that, here are some things you need to know:

TASK

The purpose of this WebQuest is to build a LED flashlight and explain its operation, thus addressing the concepts of Electricity related to simple electrical circuits. The work is carried out in groups of 4/5 people following the project work methodology in order to develop skills in the areas of interpersonal relationships, information and communication; scientific and technological knowledge.

To carry out this project, students will have to conduct desk research on the Internet (using the links at the end of this WebQuest,) on electrical circuits, the association of receivers, electrical current, the difference in electrical potential, batteries and LEDs.

The collaborative and cooperative work between the members of the group is fundamental for the success of the final product, as well as for the procedures developed by the students in the learning process in order to obtain the final product.

The final presentation of the work done must be according to the following rules, which are explained below:

As the project is developed in 4 phases the delivery time will be 4 weeks.

But before that, here are some things you need to know:

PROCESS

This Webquest must be performed by groups of 4/5 students who will research LED flashlight and make a public presentation of it explaining its operation. It is developed in four phases:

First Phase: Search for information on the Internet (consult the indicated links below) about simple electrical circuits: 1. What are the elements of an electrical circuit? What are its functions? 2. What conditions must be checked for the transfer of electrical energy in a circuit, that is, if an electrical current is established in the circuit? 3. How can receivers (LEDs) be associated? What is the difference in electrical current, the difference in electrical potential and brightness of LEDs in a series and parallel association? 4. What are LEDs? How to Use LEDs? 5. How the elements of an electrical circuit are represented in a universal language (symbols of circuit elements and schematic representation of circuits with associated LEDs in series and in parallel).

Prepare a written summary with a bibliography. It must be sent by e-mail to the teacher.

Self-assess and hetero-evaluate the work performed at this stage.

Second Phase: Plan the construction of the lantern taking into account: desired light intensity: the number of LEDs to be used and type of association, in series or in parallel; the colour of the desired light; the colour of the LEDs to be used, given the function of the flashlight (red light - flashlight for a photo development room); white light (use white LEDs or association of red, blue and green LEDs - primary colours of the optics; power source: the value of the potential difference between the batteries to be used (select the battery, taking into account the energy required to supply to the LED circuit that was selected); use or not of a voltage protection resistor of the LED. Make the schematic representation of the circuit; the plan/design of the flashlight.

Prepare a report which must contain the following elements: title; group identification; necessary material; schematic representation of the flashlight's electrical circuit; flashlight drawing/sketch/flashlight scheme.

Conduct a discussion with the teacher. Self-assess and hetero-evaluate the work performed at this stage.

Third Phase: Construction of the lantern

Make a photographic record of the different stages of this phase.

Conduct a discussion with the teacher. Self-assess and hetero-evaluate the work performed at this stage.

Fourth Phase: Product Presentation (LED flashlight)

Students should observe these requirements when making the presentation:

• Oral Communication: explain the work done, explain the functioning of the built lantern, justifying it.
• Written Communication: Poster. Bear in mind that a poster must have: title; below the title: authors of the project and school they attend; objective; construction process: images of the construction process with subtitles; flashlight Operation: circuit diagram. A short explanation of the circuit; Note: Little text; Short sentences; Main ideas; Conclusion; Bibliography.

Then, students present the poster at an exhibition and make their defence before a target audience.

Make self and hetero-evaluation of the work done in this phase and the final product.

Delivery time: This project lasts 4 weeks.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z437hyc/revision/1 
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/index.html 
https://www.twinkl.pt/teaching-wiki/series-circuit 
https://www.tes.com/lessons/v5rv6dgfD5Yqvw/copy-of-series-and-parallel-circuits 
https://www.energystar.gov/products/lighting_fans/light_bulbs/learn_about_led_bulbs 
https://www.instructables.com/Simple-Basic-LED-Circuit-How-to-Use-LEDs/ 
https://www.ledsupply.com/blog/wiring-leds-correctly-series-parallel-circuits-explained/ 

Evaluation of learning achievements

Starting from a problem that is the construction of a LED flashlight, students learn the concepts of the electricity domain, related to simple electrical circuits, contextualized in a real situation.

Since the WebQuest was carried out in a working group, implementing a project work methodology respecting the cooperative and collaborative spirit, focusing on learning on the students, they should reflect on:

• Work developed by each member of the group;
• Fulfilment of tasks and deadlines previously established;
• Respect for the ideas of the other members of the group and for group working rules;
• Critical spirit and creativity;
• Research capability;
• Autonomy;
• Communication of scientific knowledge correctly and effectively;
• Use of electronic tools;
• How the use of the Internet was a means of facilitating learning;
• Interpret information, plan and conduct research;
• Manage projects and make decisions to solve problems;
• Develop processes leading to the construction of products and knowledge, using diverse resources;
• Collaborate in different communicative contexts, in an appropriate and safe way, using different types of tools (analog and digital), based on the rules of conduct specific to each environment.

In this section we will not dive very deep into the underlying educational theories about evaluation and testing: there’s too much out there than we could possibly cover in this small project report.

Instead, we want to concentrate on procedures that enable both students/pupils and their teachers to establish if the learning goals of the Webquest were achieved and, if so, to what extent. We recommend teachers make use of a combined evaluation procedure, that consists of:

1. Statements by learners (after being asked to do so)
   • telling what they learned about the subject (knowledge-oriented self-evaluation): now (after going through the Webquest) I know that …
   • telling what he/she learned about herself/himself (formative evaluation, in this case, diagnostic self-evaluation): now (after going through the Webquest) I know about myself that I …
     This pair of basic statements add up to a so-called learner report, in which the pupil/student reflects on what the Webquest brought him/her in terms of acquired knowledge and new personal views and attitudes concerning the subject.

   For instance:

   • ‘I learned that in medieval times the hygiene of people was hardly a concern which helped to let epidemic diseases like the Plague cause so many casualties’ Or:
   • ‘I learned the facts and I know the earth is warming, but I cannot understand why people were so stupid to pollute the world and let it warm up so much.
   • ‘I learned from the information about diseases that this subject is more appealing to me than I would expect in advance: maybe I should consider a medical career’. Or:
     ‘The Webquests confirms what I thought already: I could not care less about the climate and global warming. In fact, I thought it was all a hoax and I still do!’

   This kind of assessment seems more subjective than it actually is: in his standard work on testing and evaluation (and much more), simply called Methodology (1974), Prof. A.D. de Groot described how consistent the student’s self-evaluations appeared to be: when asked again after 5 or 10 years, their evaluation would almost be the same. De Groot advised teachers to use the learner report as a start for joint evaluations, striving for consensus between teacher and student/pupil about the learning outcomes and their value for the learner, but also compared with the learning objectives as stated in the curriculum.

2. The learning achievements are visible in the output produced by the students: it is physical evidence: reports, answers to questions asked in the Webquest, presentations, and performance during presentations (preferably recorded). The teacher completes an evaluation grid stating clearly what the learning outcomes for the student/pupil are. The categories in the grid can be modified by the teacher to cover more precisely the content of a Webquest.

   >We advise teachers to use the grid to start a joint evaluation discussion, aiming at consensus or at least understanding between the teacher and the student/pupil about the learning outcomes: were they achieved (as planned in the curriculum and communicated before the Webquest started) and to what extent? To communicate the learning goals clearly before any learning activity starts, is a transparency requirement that is widely acknowledged in the educational community. The history of making learning objectives explicit goes back to the evaluation ‘Bible’ by Bloom, Hastings and Madaus: ‘Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning’ (1971), a standard work that also served as inspiration for the earlier mentioned Prof. De Groot.

The procedure also applies when students/pupils have worked together on a Webquest. The teacher will ask questions about individual contributions: ‘What did you find? What part did you write? How did you find the illustrations? Who made  the final presentation?’

All the evidence (of learning efforts and outcomes plus joint evaluations) is preferably stored in the learning portfolio of the student, or in any other suitable storage system (folders with written or printed documents, online collection of files, etcetera ).

Changes in personal points of view and feelings are harder to value and here the consensus between teacher and student/pupil about experiences during the learning process provides essential insights.

The grid below gives an example of how the evaluation of the learning process and achievements can be shaped: what kind of reactions to the Webquest does the teacher expect and how valuable are they? Is the teacher capable to explain the value or score allocated to answers or presentations given by pupils? Does the pupil/student understand the evaluation outcomes, and does he/she agree? If an agreement (consensus is not possible, it is still the teacher who decides how to value the student’s work.

Please note that the text in the grid addresses the pupil/student directly: this is important and it is in fact a prerequisite for using such an evaluation grid: it is specifically meant to enable a discussion of learning results between teacher and student and not to communicate learning achievements of learners to others who had no direct role in the Webquest.

Evaluation Grid

CONCLUSION

Having completed the activity, the students would have learnt the meaning of the measurement and considered how they are very important in two basic fields: scientific experiments and trade & commerce activities.

They will operate in the future with better awareness of the consequences of the long way to have a common system also in EU.