Knowledge Hunt

Definition

A knowledge hunt, also known as a Treasure or Scavenger Hunt, sends students to preselected sites to find the answers to specific questions

Curricular Goal

aids in acquisition of defined knowledge

Uses

• An instructor created hotlist can be used to enhance an existing unit of instruction with web resources.
  • Saves students hours of searching
  • Insures that students use quality sites
  • Makes instructor's bookmarks or favorites available to all

• Students can find resources on a topic to create a class hotlist.
  • Practice search skills
  • Learn to evaluate the quality of web sites
  • Distributes work which saves time for everyone

Steps for Creating

• Identify 10-15 links (specific pages
• Pose question for each lin
• Include culminating question that requires synthesis

Examples

• Internet Search Strategies—This Knowledge Hunt was developed for a graduate class of classroom teachers learning how to use the Internet with K-12 students.
• Treasures of China
• Black History Past to Present: An Interactive Treasure Hunt

References and Resources

• Horton, W. (2000). Designing Web-Based Training. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Companion Web site: http://208.139.207.99/
• March, T. (1999). The six Web-and-Flow activity formats. Retrieved November 4, 2001, from Web-and-Flow: http://www.web-and-flow.com/help/formats.asp.
• Star, L. (1999). Scavenger Hunts: Searching for treasure on the Internet. Education World. Retrieved July 20, 2001 from http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr113.shtml. Article includes a scavenger hunt and links with descriptions to other hunts.