Less is more : reducing contact time, improving learning outcomes

1. Less is more :reducing contact time, improving learning outcomes French Intermediate (2nd year) & French Beginners (3rd year) School of Humanities Janette Bradley and Rachel Munns

2. Who? • 18-20 students : diverse cultural backgrounds and learning habits • Majority of group worked together in previous years • Motivated and enthusiastic learners • Module is 25% of degree • Languages ‘protected’ contact time @ 3 hrs per week • Includes one scheduled hour in language lab • Tutor’s expectation of 8 hrs weekly directed/independent study • Continuous assessment throughout semester in 4 skill areas @ 25% weighting each.

3. Why? Graduate Attribute intellectual curiosity and effective learning and research abilities. • Surface learning • task as external imposition • strategic approach to task • completion rather than • understanding • Traditional view that maximum contact is essential for language learning • Over-teaching/spoon-feeding • Insufficient choice/lack of flexibility for students • ‘Safe’ learning environment creates culture of dependency rather than independence • Assessment tasks used as a tool to keep students on track • Process of learning not sufficiently intrinsic • High expectations not explicit for all students.

4. What? • Reduced contact @ 2 hours per week • 1 hour designated ‘off-campus’ Weekly learning grid : designated on-line and seminar preparation tasks to cover all skills • Emphasis on collaboration • Variety of materials • Choice of tasks • Completion of OL formally logged each week • Bonus points 4-1 on overall grade for 100-75% task completion.

5. Outcomes Graduate Attribute The skills of communication, independent and team working…and self-management. • Deep learning • higher level of processing • relation of previous knowledge to new knowledge • challenges are rewarding • higher quality learning outcomes • Majority embraced challenge • ‘Reluctant’ independent learners more engaged • Students trained themselves to understand native delivery speed through enforced exposure to TV websites • Improved results in listening ability, acquisition of vocabulary and oral expression • Sense of achievement • Increase in learning time • Improved overall grades, no failures (5 @ 1st) • Learning outcomes surpassed.

6. Student viewpoint •  • Without this I might not have spent as much time on French as I should have; it's a great motivation to push yourself harder. • It speeds up the learning process, in terms of acquiring new vocabulary and practising pronunciation • It ensured that I did the activities and once I was engaged in them I found other areas that I wanted to work on, which I would do independently • I was able to focus more on the areas that I was weaker at, whereas in class with set tasks it was more difficult to do this • When collaborating on-line, we were able to comment on each other’s work. This meant that students like me who struggle with grammar could learn from other students. • The real web-based programmes were a great opportunity to prepare for my year abroad.

7. Some challenges • Colleagues enjoy face- to-face time with students and don’t want less contact • Only suitable for students with advanced levels of language • Possible dissolution of the learning time • Time-consuming to prepare materials • New fees structure and ‘supermarket’ mentality may lead to expectation of maximum scheduled contact time. • Students at all levels of learning should be offered a similar experience • Importance of coherence between levels of study • Exposure to content used daily by native speakers • Important preparation for employability • Students are given higher expectations of themselves • Increases sense of achievement • Emphasis on collaboration, sharing knowledge and independent learning.