Persuasion

Definition of a Persuasion Task
"There are people in the world who disagree with you. They're wrong, of course, so it's useful to develop skills in persuasion. A persuasion task goes beyond a simple retelling by requiring students to develop a convincing case that is based on what they've learned. Persuasion tasks might include presenting at a mock city council hearing or a trial, writing a letter, editorial or press release, or producing a poster or videotaped ad designed to sway opinions." [1]

Tips for Persuasion Tasks
"Persuasion tasks are often combined with consensus building tasks, although not always. The key difference is that with persuasion tasks, students work on convincing an external audience of a particular point of view, as opposed to the persuasion and accomodation that occurs internally in a consensus building task. The key to a well done persuasion task is that:
 * a plausible audience for the message is identified whose point of view is different or at least neutral or apathetic." [1]

Reference [1] http://webquest.sdsu.edu/taskonomy.html

**Examples of a WebQuest in Which Participants Have to be Persuasive in their Role**
1. [|Rock the Vote] Students must develop a series of television ads for use by MTV to encourage young people to vote. The ads must be persuasive in nature in that they must convince young voters that their vote matters and that it will influence policy.

2. [|Animal Farm and The Student Code of Conduct] "This WebQuest was the product of a class assignment for the course, EDT 612, at National University. It takes the students from the reading of the novel, //Animal Farm//, to the final product of creating a multimedia presentation intended to persuade the local school board to re-think its student code of conduct, in particular the dress code."

3. [|The Power of Persuassion] This WebQuest gives students the chance to explore propaganda and how it is used in the English Language. Many unintentional symbols in the English language are also types of propaganda despite our recognition of it.

4. [|Why you shouldn't start smoking...] This WebQuest is designed for a health class on the statistics of smoking. How hard it is to quit? How many people die a year from it? The task is to persuade "Syndney" to stop smoking and get her act together. This seems like a fun way to give the class information that they need to know.

5. Going for the Gold! This WebQuest helps students develop persuasion skills while learning Canadian history and geography. It would be fun for students who would like to learn how to persuade people and learn about the Olympics. It might be boring for kids who are not interested in either though.

6. [|Stem Cell Research] This WebQuests is a scientific one, but about stem cell research. Within this you need to do research and discuss the pros and cons of using stem cell research. You will then be presenting your information to a board. This is a interesting and information way to have science with persuasion.

7. [|WebQuest] This webquest was about the use of propaganda and how it is so influential. I think this project would engage my learners in the webquest by wondering how they have seen persuasion in their every day lives.

8.[|Is Earth the Only One?] This WebQuest asks students to visit all of the planets in the solar system and collect data on each. After the collection of the data, students must write a paper which gives proof supporting the notion that Earth is the only planet which we can live on.

9. [|Cold War] Students are assigned a presidential administration. Each administration has an issue that needs to be argued, for example, Harry S Truman: Should we share atomic bomb technology? The students will research there issue and then try to persuade the president to consider their position. 20A2547C-C5B7-B06F-6A95-E10011BDF7A71.02.28