Impact of Sense and Meaning on Learning

According to Sousa (2006), "Information is most likely to get stored if it makes sense and has meaning." This WebQuest helps students make sense of their learning because it asks them to think about their own lives. Most of them will agree that American culture comes from the contributions of many different cultures blending together. They will instantly be thinking about their own lives and how their traditions and culture are influenced by that of others as well as their ancestors.

This WebQuest has a lot of meaning for the students in that many of them may have had relatives who came immigrated to America. While they may not have immigrated from one of the countries that they will be researching, they will be able to make connections to their own lives. By making connections to their own lives and past experiences, students will be more likely to remember the newly learned information.