A case study on blended learning in technical English teaching at the National Institute of Technology

ISATE2018@Science Park, Hong Kong
September 19, 2018

Transcript

1. A case study on blended learning in English classes teaching at the National Institute of Technology Takuro FUJITA National Institute of Technology, Fukui College t-fujita@fukui.kosen-ac.jp ISATE 2018@Science Park, Hong Kong September 19 2018
2. •About NIT, Fukui College •What is blended learning (BL)? •A case study •Tips and Tools
3. About NIT, Fukui College Basic Philosophy - “To cultivate engineers who possess excellent practical ability, rich humanity & creativity, and who contribute to diverse growth in society. ” Five Departments - Mechanical Engineering - Electrical and Electronic Engineering - Electronics and Information Engineering - Chemistry and Biology - Civil Engineering
4. In what situation do engineers use English? (Fujita, 2017) Affiliation - Introducing one’s company - Describing one’s company’s products - Collecting information about companies Socializing - Daily conversations Business - Arranging schedules - Reporting on the progress of work - Discussing work-related matters - Giving instruction and/or advice Research and Engineering - Searching for technical information - Reading academic articles and technical documents - Explaining the operation of machinery Learning English - Studying English
5. English for Occupational Purposes English for Specific Purposes
6. Textbook Kameyama, Aoyama & Takeda (2017). Fundamental Science in English. Seibido. - Numbers & Calculations - Figures, Graphs, Functions - State of substance, Ions - Electricity, Heat, - Human body, - Stars and planets - Energy - Written by teachers at NIT
7. What is blended learning? “Blended learning refers to a language course which combines face-to-face (F2F) classroom component with an appropriate use of technology” (Sharma & Barret, 2008, p.7) “...a ‘narrow’ definition – for example ‘blending face-to-face plus web-based learning’ – excludes the use of CD Rom and other technologies and therefore could be seen as excessively restrictive (Sharma, 2010, p.457)
8. BL in this study refers to F2F classroom + web-based training (WBT)
9. A Case Study
10. Participants 3rd-grade students at NIT, Fukui College - N=47 (42 were men, and 5 were women) - 17-19 years old - (Hopefully) Good relationship with students
11. Learners and Class Lesson 6 Electricity - Electric charge - Electrical current - Electrical conductors and Insulators - Ohm’s law Lesson 7 Heat - Thermal conductors and insulators - Convection - Radiation
12. Procedures Homework Quiz Form-Focused Practice Communicative Activities - Instructional videos - Vocabulary exercises - Translate English phrases into Japanese - Translation (Lesson 6 & 7) - Vocabulary Exercises (Lesson 6) - Output task (Lesson 6) - Input task + output task (Lesson 7)
13. Instructional Videos Explicit Grammar Instruction Syntax Idioms, Phrases
15. Procedures Homework Quiz Form-Focused Practice Communicative Activities - Instructional videos - Vocabulary exercises - Translate English phrases into Japanese - Translation (Lesson 6 & 7) - Vocabulary Exercises (Lesson 6) - Output task (Lesson 6) - Input task + output task (Lesson 7)
16. Vocabulary Exercise • Multiple-choice Questions • Matching Questions
17. Vocabulary Exercise: Quizlet • Important phrases both in L1 and L2 • A variety of exercises • Embedded html tag on Moodle.
18. Vocabulary Exercise: Quizlet
19. Vocabulary Exercise: Quizlet
20. Vocabulary Exercise: Quizlet
21. Vocabulary Exercise: Quizlet • Important phrases both in L1 and L2 • A variety of exercises • Embedded html tag on Moodle.
22. Procedures Homework Quiz Form-Focused Practice Communicative Activities - Instructional videos - Vocabulary exercises - Translate English phrases into Japanese - Translation (Lesson 6 & 7) - Vocabulary Exercises (Lesson 6) - Output task (Lesson 6) - Input task + output task (Lesson 7)
23. Data Collection & Analysis Reaction Paper (RP) - Comment about F2F classes and WBT - More than 100 letters - Qualitatively analyzed - Google form Advantages of Google form - Easy to collect and analyze data - Clear deadline - Words restriction
24. Results Favorable comments about F2F and WBT - Usability of LMS and instructional videos - Importance of preparation - Challenging tasks - A positive attitude towards English classes Increased Flexibility - Learners worked on WBT at their own pace repeatedly in their free time.
25. Tools and Tips
26. Put everything into one place
27. Homework: Moodle
28. Why Moodle? An instructional video (YouTube) Vocabulary exercise (Quizlet) Vocabulary exercise 1 Vocabulary exercise 2 Comment form (Google form) Put all learning materials in one place Create quiz on Moodle
29. Tips for Instructional Videos Shorter is better • Learners are required to watch a certain amount of videos, so they do not have time to watch long videos (e.g. 30mins, 40mins) every time. Don’t try to make a beautifully perfect video without any tiny errors. • That deprives teachers of the motivation to create videos. Consider how to deliver videos • Limited amount of internet connection on smartphone • Filtering software • YouTube, Office 365 (online) and USB drive (offline)
30. Use Import functions • Creating a quiz on Quizlet - Microsoft Excel • Creating a quiz on Moodle - Aiken format ( for multiple choice questions) https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Aiken_format - Gift format ( for various kinds of questions) https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/GIFT_format
31. A case study • Homework (WBT): A instructional video + vocabulary exercises • F2F: Form-focused practice (+ input task) + output task Tips • Put every material into one place • Make a shorter video / Try not to make a perfect video / How to deliver a video • Use import functions Thank you for listening Takuro FUJITA t-fujita@fukui.kosen-ac.jp http://www.takuro-fujita.com A case study on blended learning in English classes teaching at the National Institute of Technology Blended Learning F2F classroom + Web-based Training (WBT)
32. Reference • 独⽴⾏政法⼈国⽴⾼等専⾨学校機構 (2012). 『モデルコアカリキュラム（試案）』Retrived from http://www.kosen-k.go.jp/pdf/mcc20120323.pdf • Fujita, T. (2017). A needs analysis for constructing a task-syllabus in the National Institute of Technology. JABAET Journal, 21, 5-33. • Kameyama, T., Aoyama, M., & Takeda, J. (2017). Fundamental Science in English I. Seibido. • Sharma, P. (2010). Blended learning. ELT Journal, 64, 4, 456-458. • Sharma, P., & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended learning: Using technology in and beyond the language classroom. London: Macmillan Education.