November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
How Useful are Podcasts in Reinforcing Content Learning?
Johanna Katchen (柯安娜教授 )National Tsing Hua University,
Taiwanhttp://mx.nthu.edu.tw/~katchen
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Context• Required freshman course: Introduction to
English for majors in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
• Course gives some basic information about the English language: a review of the sound system, overview of the history (diachronic), overview of Englishes around the world (synchronic)
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
• Taught in English
• Text—excerpts from Crystal, D. (1995). The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge University Press.
• In addition to lecture and textbook, wanted other ways to reinforce learning
• Wanted to cut down on handouts and save trees
• Fall 2007, 84 students, including non-majors
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Supplemental Materials
• University uses Blackboard with both English and Chinese interface
• Despite some difficulties with internal links with sound files, generally it is easy to use
• Can upload HTML files, pdf, Power Point files, sound files, video files
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
• Word files are problematic; there may be difficulties in downloading
• Linguistics symbols may turn up as nonsense characters (especially if students are using a different default language on their computers)
• To eliminate these problems, convert the files to pdf before uploading
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
The Power Point Slides
• Files were uploaded at the beginning of the semester
• Students were encouraged to download these before class and follow them during the lectures, take notes on them
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
On-line Quizzes
• Used Hot Potatoes
• Immediate feedback; I did not collect results nor require students to use them
• Mostly multiple choice, a few matching
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
The Video Clips
• For this course, use parts of The Story of English (BBC, nine-part video series, each part 55 minutes, accompanying book)
• Digitized using Windows Movie (wmv) format
• Also provided transcripts
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Audio Files
• Some clips come only in audio, such as recordings of Old and Middle English
• Audio-recorded my lectures and uploaded them as MP3 files as an additional way for students to review
• Adding the audio lectures was new; I wanted to see whether students would find them useful
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Questionnaire
• At the end of the course I gave a questionnaire to find out how the various aspects of the class were being received
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
How often did you use the PowerPoint lecture slides?
3 or more times per week 7
Once or twice per week 43
Only right before an exam 32
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
How did you use the PowerPoint lecture slides?
Print them out before class and take notes on them in class
39
Look at them after class. 21
Check them before an exam. 39
Other 1 (Check them before class)
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
The Power Point lecture slides were
Very useful 58
Somewhat useful 24
Not very useful 1
Not useful 0
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
How often did you use the quizzes?
Three or more times per week 3
Once or twice per week 5
Only right before an exam 76
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
The quizzes were
Very useful 61
Somewhat useful 20
Not very useful 2
Not useful 0
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
How often did you use the MP3 audio recordings of class lectures?
Three of more times per week 0
Once or twice per week 9
Only right before an exam 69
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
The MP3 class lectures were
Very useful 6
Somewhat useful 44
Not very useful 24
Not useful 4
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
I did NOT attend class
Always attended 15
1 or 2 times 19
3 to 5 times 28
6 to 10 times 14
Over 10 times 7
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
I think my final grade in this class will be
Over 80 16
70 - 79 32
60 - 69 30
Below 60 5
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Comments on the Questionnaire
• Volume on the MP3 was not clear; with larger classroom I now use a microphone, and I also know how to boost the volume on the audio file
• Liked PowerPoint but wanted some lectures without PowerPoint
• Liked the video clips
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Data from Blackboard on Number of Hits on Class Recordings
Celtic and Latin 723 French Vocabulary I 516
Early Britain 486 French Vocabulary II 464
Old English 787 Middle English Pronunciation 27
The Sounds of Old English 75 Early Modern English 466
The Vikings I 367 Influence of Shakespeare and the Bible 406
The Vikings II 324 Changes in Early Modern English I 19
Norman Conquest I 417 Changes in Early Modern English II 16
Norman Conquest II 403
November 15, 2008 Seventh International Symposium on English TeachingETA-ROC
Data from Current Semester on Hits on My Audio-recorded Lectures
1. What is Linguistics? 405 7. Influence from Celtic 375
2. Sounds of American English 571 7. Influence from Latin Part 1 277
3. Indo-European Part 1 606 7. Influence from Latin Part 2 40
3. Indo-European Part 2 22 8. Scandinavians Part 1 323
4. Romans and Celts 422 8. Scandinavians Part 2 256
5. Old English Grammar Part 1 611 9. Norman Conquest 77
5. Old English Grammar Part 2 581 10. French Influence on Vocabulary 1 55
6. Sounds of Old English 135 10. French Influence on Vocabulary 2 7
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