1. Introduction
2. The Task
3. Process
4. Resources
5. Evaluation
6. Conclusion
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Process in Gridlock WebQuest is the act of identifying a problem and strategizing to research the supportive evidence. We have provided the tools and scaffolding to assist your endeavor. Please refer to Resources for research.

Process Steps
 1. Identify the Issues

2. Brainstorming Possibilities

3.  A Strategy
4.  Cooperative Groups

The Issues

Gridlock is comprised of many components. It can be understood as physical evidence of a malady. A metaphor for gridlock might be the hemorrhage. Gridlock is the effect of many causes and as such, can be approached from different perspectives - categories of causes. We recommend that you isolate one component of the problem and focus on its characteristics. You may detect a weakness that may serve as a point of attack. Examples might be underutilization of services, improved maintenance, additional pathways through unidentified corridors, rescheduling, replacement, under-use of existing structures or systems, public awareness, introduction of fee-based services, privatization, bureaucratic realignment, political decision-making.

We have included an issue that may serve to kick-start an investigation. This example demonstrates a focus on the category of Transportation Paths. You will find articles and letters in the Resources page (under Focus on Sacramento) describing a conflict between the Sacramento Council of Governments and the Sacramento City Council on the issue of carpool lanes. Your position on this issue, along with supportive evidence, may be delivered to Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo.  Achieving this delivery fulfills Gridlock WebQuest requirements.

Getting From Here to There: Perspectives

An outline of categories.

I. Means of transportation
A. Vehicles (cars, commercial, mass transit, van pool, car pool, taxi, public transit )
1. Occupancy
2. Safety and security
3. Equity and assessability
 4. Traffic counts, surveys
B. Flight (commuter plane, helicopter)
C. Maritime (ferry, boat)
D. Alternative (pedestrian, bicycle, commuter rail, intercity rail)
II. Transportation paths
A. Vehicular (freeways, carpool lanes, surface streets, bike lanes, traffic patterns)
B. Commute
C. Congestion relief (hotspots)
D. Road, Bridge maintenance
III. Communities
A. Demographics
B. Development
C. Environment issues
D. Living to work relationship
E. Relocation (planning, zoning)
F. Tele-commuting (tele-work)
III. Privatized transportation
A. Mass transportation (commuter vans, commuter planes, toll roads)


 Source : http://www.ucomics.com/tomtoles/

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Brainstorming Possibilities

The next step in strategizing will be to decide whether you wish to remedy a given situation or suggest ways of changing conditions. One is anecdotal, the other futuristic. For example, an examination of bike paths may reveal a need for repair and maintenance (anecdotal) or suggest a change of location (futuristic). The scope and magnitude of your inspection can be as generalized or defined as you wish to make it.
Your investigations should reveal an essential question that you will develop an answer for. The question "why" should lead to the solution "how".

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A Strategy

We recommend that teams use The Big Six approach to gather, synthesize, and evaluate data. 

The following information is from http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/webcamp/final_projects/barney/big6.html

The Big Six Approach

The Big Six is an information literacy curriculum, an information problem-solving process, and a set of skills which provide a strategy for effectively and efficiently meeting information needs. Developed by Michael Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, it can be used whenever students are in a situation, academic or personal, which requires information to solve a problem, make a decision or complete a task.

The Big Six Skills

There are six broad skill areas necessary for successful information problem-solving:

 1. Task Definition

Define the task (the information problem). Identify the information needed to complete the task.

2. Information Seeking
Strategies

Brainstorm all possible sources and select the best source.

 3. Location and Access

Locate sources. Find the needed information within the source.

 4. Use of Information

Engage in the source (read, hear, view, touch). Extract relevant information.

 5. Synthesis

Organize information from multiple sources. Present the information.

 6. Evaluation

Judge the process (efficiency).

Judge the product (effectiveness).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cooperative Groups

Students should work in cooperative groups while doing the Gridlock Webquest. Although the specific configuration of each group is up to the teacher, we suggest using the following method known as Group Investigation

In Group Investigation, teams of 3 or 4 are formed. Students work to produce a final project. We suggest using the Peer Assessment Guide to monitor progress and evaluation of the final product. (See also Evaluation).

Projects in Group Investigation are structured to emphasize higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation.  Group members should be assigned specific tasks. Some tasks may overlap and some students may have multiple task. Group structure is shown below.

Group Manager - One student in the group is the Group Manager. This student tracks progress of the group, insuring that all members are doing their part. This student should also coordinate organization of data and of the final project. To help with tracking progress, the Group Manager should use the Peer Assessment Guide.
Researcher(s) - This student gathers data using on-line resources and compiles the data for later use by the group.
Product Planner(s) - This student is the leader in planning the product. This person should work closely with the Researcher and Composer to insure relevant data is being gathered in order to produce the final product.
Composer(s) - This student is in charge of creating the actual pieces of the final product. The final product might include work taken from other team members but this person assembles those pieces for the product presentation.

The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough. Your success is contingent upon it.

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Word Bank

grid·lock [gríd lòk ] noun
1. A traffic jam in which congestion at one or more intersections affects a wide area so that traffic is unable to move in any direction (back)

com·mute [k myt ] verb
1. intransitive verb TRANSPORT travel regularly between places: to travel regularly from one place to another, especially between home and work (back)

dem·o·graph·ics [dèmm gráffiks ] plural noun
characteristics and statistics of human population: the characteristics of a human population or part of it, especially its size, growth, density, distribution, and statistics regarding birth, marriage, disease, and death (takes a plural verb) (back)

tel·e·com·mut·ing [tèll k myting ] noun
working electronically from home or a center: the process of working at home while transmitting data and documents to and from a nominal workplace over telephone lines using a telephone, fax machine, and modem-equipped computer. Telework centers can be looked at as a compromise between working out of the corporate office and working at home. Because they tend to be set up in suburban areas where a lot of employees live, they let workers avoid lengthy commutes while ensuring that they are in a structured environment armed with the equipment that's necessary for them to do their jobs. Advocates of the use of telework centers also say they cut down on air pollution because fewer people are on the roads commuting to work. (back)

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