Process

Congratulations, students! You are about to embark on a journey of the utmost political importance! By following the steps below, you and your fellow members of your group will have both an enjoyable and fruitful experience as you navigate this webquest.

1. Please refer to the the teacher evaluation rubric your teacher will use to ensure that you and the members of your group produce the highest-caliber work possible.



2. All the members of your group must first get some background information on the Electoral College System (ECS). Be sure to check the general links in your specific Role, to get an overview of the ECS and its history within the United States.



3. After becoming more informed about the ECS, your group must now make a choice. Your group must decide if (A) it will pursue this project with the intent to maintain and defend the current ECS or (B) it will pursue this project with the intent to reform the current ECS.
   
4. While the choices of the Reform or Defend positions are being made, reflect that some group has taken both positions. For example, everyone cannot choose Reform. Your group must now decide upon roles for all five members of the group. Each member must assume one role from the list below:
   (more information can be found on the Roles page):


• Historian
• Lawyer
• Activist
• Technician
• Concerned Citizen


5. After choosing your roles, all members of your group must begin work individually according to the specifications of your roles and collaboratively to help define and shape your group’s position, which will be explained at the time of the press conference.
   
   
6. Organize your respective work into a cohesive document which will be used as the basis for the presentation during your group’s press conference. Make sure that the document create has the following:


• Introduction: Clearly and logically states your group’s position and the basic rationale for that position
• Argument: Clearly and logically states the point-by-point rationale for your position
• Solution: Clearly and logically states the point-by-point plan for the adoption of your position
• Closing: Ties together all of your group’s points and restates your basic argument, as well as additional, ongoing efforts by your group and ways in which the public can get involved


7. Review, as a group, the work of the Concerned Citizen before the completion of the press conference presentation to ensure that it is in keeping with the position of your group and the argument presented by your group’s press conference.



8. Rehearse, as a group, your press conference and decide upon the roles your various members can play during the press conference. For example, will your Activist do all of the talking during the press conference or will the Activist call on other members of your group to validate points that he/she is making? Make sure that you include the ways in which your press conference will be used to draw attention to the work of the Concerned Citizen, and support for his/her promotional campaigns.
   
   
9. Edit and fine tune your press conference according to the feedback of your group after the rehearsal press conference.



10. Prepare for the “press” questioning after the press conference. Decide, as a group, how you are all going to field questions. Is one person responsible for fielding all of the questions, or does each person answer the questions according to the relevance of the question to the respective roles? Your group might even anticipate some of the questions that will be asked of you in order to prepare for them ahead of time.



11. Each group will assign individual grades based on the work of each member, and the teacher's evaluation of the group segment.