Instructional Technology
Conference 2005
Proposal #7
Title: A Hybrid Design for Introductory Spanish: Increased Enrollment, Online Management, Cost Reduction, and Effects on Student Learning
Name: Dr. Robert Sanders
Audience Level: All
Audience: administrators, program directors, and teachers.
Length:
30-45 minutes, plus questions, as program allows.
Abstract:
Online course management (WebCT) of a hybrid beginning Spanish program allowed enrollment growth of 85% (205 additional students per term) and decreased cost per student by 29% while lowering section sizes from 30 to 25 students each. Student retention, successful course completion, and scores on the Brigham Young University Web-based Computerized Adaptive Placement Exam were comparable to those of traditional instruction. Student satisfaction was also high, but proficiency results (certified by the ACTFL) were mixed.
Description:
In many language departments the success of Spanish as a second language is welcome but problematic. Enrollment growth outstrips the capacity of most Spanish programs, and because investment in faculty is long-term, most departments are unable to adjust instructional staff accordingly. New technologies can be applied to help contain costs, reduce the burden on instructors, and serve the growing number of students who despite studying a foreign language per force are not willing to study any language other than Spanish.
This presentation describes the integration of online course management (WebCT), Computer-Mediated Communication, extensive online, customized quizzes, and new teaching strategies in a year-long beginning Spanish program. By automating many grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension activities, the instructors are able to focus on communicative student tasks. The program design was successful in lowering cost per student and absorbing expansive enrollment growth with its limited instructor pool. The program has grown from an enrollment of about 240 students per term to 445. Whereas the program previously employed 9 graduate teaching assistants, it now employs 11, including an administrative assistant to the coordinating course faculty. Enrollment growth of this magnitude would have been impossible with the previous course design and would have required increased section sizes. Delivery of the new program requires more instructor training than traditional instruction, in the areas of software, hardware, classroom management, and learner-centered pedagogy. It also requires more student training, coaching, responsibility, and collaboration, resulting in ìlearning teamsî. Results from two years of assessment will be presented, including head-to-head comparisons with traditional instruction and reduced seat time instruction. The presenter will share lessons learned from course design, implementation, student surveys, and assessment.
Session Type: Presentation
Contact information/affiliation:
Dr. Robert Sanders
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Coordinator, First-Year Spanish
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
FLL - NH 393
P.O. Box 751
Portland State University
Portland, Oregon 97207-0751
Telephone: (503) 725-5296
Fax: (503) 725-5276
Equipment: Web projection and screen, Internet connection.