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Mapping educational trajectories: What effect does transitioning between online and on-campus courses have on learning?

Lori Straus — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:57:22 +0000

Mapping educational trajectories: What effect does transitioning between online and on-campus courses have on learning? Lori Straus Tue, 04/12/2016 - 09:57

We are seeing a push towards offering more courses online because they can provide students with new forms of social and learning interaction, widen their access to education, and offer an individualized learning experience in large classes. Little research exists examining how students transfer between online and on-campus courses and what effects this has on students’ academic success. Research thus far has investigated the design of online courses, retention rates, and the efficacy of new technologies in terms of learning outcomes and student perception (see Beard, Harper and Riley, 2003; Diaz and Cartnel, 1999; Dutton, Dutton and Perry, 2002; Schulze, Liebscher and Su, 2004; Felix, 2008; Lee and Choi, 2010; Kruger-Ross and Waters, 2013). We analyzed student data from language courses with online and on-campus counterparts, to better understand the extent to which online learning enables students to meet their intended learning outcomes. Our goals were to establish how the medium of learning (online vs. classroom) impacts an individual student’s academic success in these courses and in subsequent upper-year courses in the language program, to identify patterns in the students’ transitioning between online and on-campus courses, and to gather evidence-based information about students’ course choices and their decisions online vs. on-campus.We conducted a statistical analysis of student data from three early university language courses offered both online and on-campus from the spring term 2004 to the winter term 2014.

Data from other higher-level courses provided us with evidence as to which students continue their language studies successfully. In addition, we conducted a qualitative analysis of surveys (n=157) and interviews (n=23) with students currently enrolled in the program. While the statistical data provided a birds-eye view of student trajectories over ten years, the surveys and interviews gave us in-depth information about individual learning trajectories and students’ curricular decisions. We gratefully acknowledge the funding of this project through a LITE seed grant.

The talk is organized through collaboration by the Centre for Teaching Excellence, the Centre for Extended Learning, the ��ݮ��Ƶ Centre for German Studies, and the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies.

Digital Games for Language Learning: State of the Art, Research, and Practice

Lori Straus — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 16:10:49 +0000

Digital Games for Language Learning: State of the Art, Research, and Practice Lori Straus Tue, 11/03/2015 - 11:10

As digital gaming has increased in popularity and become a global practice, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers and second and foreign language (L2) educators have begun reconsidering games as potential L2 teaching and learning (L2TL) resources. To provide an overview of this new field, this talk surveys the history and theory of games in CALL and presents the origins of the field, rationale for the use of games in L2TL, games purposed for L2TL, and major research findings. The talk then presents three useful heuristics for interpreting research on games in CALL: metaphor, research object, and research orientation. The talk concludes with implications for future research and practice, focusing on challenges and calling for cooperation and collaboration among the stakeholders in the field—CALL researchers, L2 instructors, and the L2 educational gaming industry.

This event takes place at our Stratford campus. Please register with us if you'd like transportation. The bus will leave outside Environment 2 at 3:00 p.m. and return at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Jonathon Reinhardt is Associate Professor of English Applied Linguistics at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on technology-enhanced second and foreign language pedagogy and the relationships between technological change and the epistemologies of CALL theory and practice, especially with everyday technologies like digital games, social media, and mobile apps.

Guttenberg to Google Street View

Varmanaa Rajakulendran — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:00:43 +0000

Guttenberg to Google Street View Varmanaa Rajak… Mon, 01/20/2014 - 13:00

Poster: Guttenberg to Google Street View Poster (PDF)

Christophe Fricker, Craig-Kade writer in residence at Rutger University, held an entertaining and informative lecture on Guttenberg to Google Street View – Germany today as seen by its Cartoonists, on October 4^th 2011.

The career of one of the most glamorous politicians in post-war German politics came to an abrupt end when it was revealed that 94% of his dissertation was plagiarized. In a seemingly unrelated development, hundreds of thousands of Germans objected to their house being filmed by Google Street View. Both events have been the subject of much ridicule by cartoonists at Germany’s newspapers.

In his richly illustrated lecture, Fricker provided background information to these issues, highlighted mainstream views on them and showcased humoristic motifs and techniques employed by op-ed artists.

Christophe Fricker’s first collection of poetry Das schöne Auge des Betrachters (2008) was awarded the 2009 Hermann Hesse Förderpreis. He is also author of Larkin Terminal – Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (2009), a collection of portraits of places and people, and Stefan George: Gedichte für Dich (2011), an introduction to the works of the controversial and inspiring poet.