GoQuest Project Summer to reward strategic inquiry and critical thinking in summer educational learning programs and camps
As students and teachers begin to wrap up the school year, Compass Learning is kicking off a nationwide contest to encourage academic learning and enrichment throughout the summer.
GoQuest Project Summer will offer free inquiry- and project-based learning software to program coordinators and educators, giving participating organizations the chance to win one of two prize packages worth $10,800 each.
“As an education community, we are faced with the challenge of combating summer learning loss, and those critical months offer a unique opportunity for educators and summer program leaders to provide hands-on, engaging programming for young learners,” said Cindy Corey, Senior Education Programs Manager. “GoQuest Project Summer was created to encourage students to explore and follow their interests, while outfitting program facilitators with tools to assign, mentor, and evaluate activities and projects that are matched to specific student interests and learning preferences.”
Next page: How contest entries will be judged
GoQuest Project Summer will provide the necessary student-centered tools that facilitate strategic inquiry and critical thinking to help foster the development of critical real-world skills, including collaboration, creativity, and communication.
Organizations who sign up for the challenge by July 31 through the contest microsite, www.projectsummer.goquest.com, will receive Compass Learning’s newest instructional solution GoQuest™ for free use through August 31. For the chance to win $5,000 for their organization plus an annual site license and professional development for GoQuest™, participants must submit photos, chronicling their progress through engaging, personalized projects. Choosing a project that will benefit a local organization in participants’ own communities is highly encouraged, but not required.
Entries for the 2015 GoQuest Project Summer contest will be accepted through August 25 at 5:00 p.m. CDT. To be eligible, entries must include an overview of the project experience, including what has been learned through the project and how GoQuest was used in the project’s implementation, as well as three (3) photos that highlight key milestones of the project’s progression and students’ use of GoQuest.
The public will be able to vote for their favorite entries by visiting www.projectsummer.goquest.com, starting June 1 through August 25. All entries with at least 10 votes will be judged by an internal panel based on:
- Effectiveness of expressing the impact of project based learning on the learning experience in the written project summary (30 percent);
- Effectiveness of showcasing key milestones of the project in the photos (30 percent);
- Overall creativity and spirit (20 percent); and
- Production quality of the photos (20 percent).
The two entries with the highest scores based on the judging rubric above will be announced on or about August 31.
“When students are engaged in their learning, they are inspired to delve more deeply into topics,” said Corey. “We can’t wait to see what incredible projects students create through this summer learning experience.”
For a complete listing of rules and guidelines for participating in GoQuest Project Summer, please visit www.projectsummer.goquest.com.
You can also follow the 2015 GoQuest Project Summer contest on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CompassLearningInc and Twitter at @compasslearning and #ProjectSummerPBL.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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