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Refreshing in-sessional course provision

This report discusses the refreshment of the in-sessional course provision at Southampton University, including the introduction of online courses and preliminary findings. It also presents conclusions and suggests the way forward for improving the provision.

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Refreshing in-sessional course provision

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  1. Refreshing in-sessional course provision Centre for Language StudySouthampton University K.Richardson & J.Watson kmr2@soton.ac.ukjw17@soton.ac.uk

  2. Overview • In-sessional support pre-2004 • Refreshing the provision • Example of online provision • Preliminary findings • Conclusions • The way forward

  3. In-sessional support pre-2004 • Courses available per semester • 15 face-to-face courses of 1 hour each • 1 face-to face workshop of 2 hours • Individual tutorial help (6 hours per week) • Self-access language study • Content • Non-specific EGAP to non-specific groups of students

  4. In-sessional support pre-2004 • Issues • Erratic attendance • Varying satisfaction levels among students (lack of specificity in course content; mixed discipline groups; single session classes; course duration) • Tutor frustration • Timetable clashes

  5. Refreshing the provision • Face-to-face changes: • non-specific EGAP to discipline specific groups of students • task specific EGAP to task/context specific groups of students • ESAP to discipline specific groups of students • Shorten certain courses 6 weeks of double sessions • Introduction of online provision: • tutored online non-specific EGAP to non-discipline specific groups of students • non-tutored ‘International Students Online Resources’ (ISOR)

  6. Refreshing the provision Monitoring Face-to-face: • level of attendance • student feedback Online provision: • enrolments, participation, VLE tracking, student feedback

  7. Refreshing the provision Online • 04-05 S1: Academic Writing Skills; Academic Listening Skills • 04-05 S2: Academic Writing Skills; Academic Listening Skills; Academic Communication Skills • 05-06 S1: Academic Writing Skills; Academic Listening Skills; Academic Communication Skills; Academic Reading Skills; Academic Vocabulary Development; Aspects of Grammar for Academic Study • 05-06: International Students’ Online Resources

  8. Online coursesPreliminary findings • 04-05 S1: 93 students, 1846 hits, 30%-40% still active at the end of the course • 04-05 S2: 67 students, no data available (Blackboard) • 05-06 S1: 198 students, 7576 hits after 4 weeks • 05-06 non-tutored option: 124 students self-enrolled, 1247 hits after 4 weeks

  9. Online coursesStudent feedback On the 2004-2005 online courses: • … external websites and the comments after each question are particularly useful.  By reading them, it helps a lot with my writing. (AWS) • very useful learning material, clear instructions  (ALS) • The quality of the course content is high… the activities cover many important areas of communication (ACS) On discussion boards: • Since this online course is very self-learning, therefore, I may not have the time to discuss.  However, I think the tutor did a good job and offer help when necessary. • The topic of the discussions and activities was quite good and useful for student. • I did not benefit much as other course participants did not actively participate in the discussion forum. • I'm not confident about my English, that's why I'm not active in course discussion. • The better way of discussing is face-to-face  • ... people did not visit the discussion board regularly, maybe because of time-constraints. On self motivation & time constraints etc • The problem for me was especially the last unit I was very busy and as a result, I could not concentrate on them. Anyway, I read through all of them. • It is not because of the content etc. but solely because I just lost and do not follow the activity. • Hope we could have longer course duration.

  10. Face-to-face coursesPreliminary findings

  11. Conclusions • The more specific the student group, the better the attendance • The more specific the content, the better the attendance • Shorter ‘workshop’ courses do not have as much impact on attendance as expected • Online courses provide a flexible way to deliver • Online is an attractive option for some students • Untutored online resources might suit some students

  12. The way forward • Further research • Improve format and delivery of current online courses and ISOR • More ESAP to discipline specific students? • Introduce online ESAP to discipline specific students? • Integrate online courses with face-to-face courses: blended learning?

  13. Refreshing in-sessional course provision Centre for Language StudySouthampton University K.Richardson & J.Watson kmr2@soton.ac.ukjw17@soton.ac.uk

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