Introduction to Language (LING001) is a long-standing survey course, providing an introduction to the scientific study of language. LING001 instructors use teacher-fronted class sessions to cover the many topics included in this course. The goal of this project was to create online learning materials for the Introduction to Language (LING 001) class that would move some knowledge-building activities out of the classroom, thereby decreasing the amount of teacher-fronted lecture and freeing up in-class time for interactive classroom activities for students to apply concepts and analytical skills to real language data.
One of the distinctive features of the grant was a reliance on graduate students for the design and implementation. It has been an incredibly time-consuming, but highly valuable learning experience for the involved graduate students.
Jeffrey Connor-Linton
Technology-enhanced materials were created in the summers of 2013 and 2014, in the form of interactive online modules that combined lecture and interactive components, and made available through Blackboard. Online modules were created for five out of twelve curriculum units on the Introduction to Language standard syllabus. Students’ responses to comprehension quizzes in the online modules were reported to instructors through a custom-designed instructor dashboard. In addition to these analytics, lesson plans were developed providing advanced in-class activities that were meant to build on the content delivered online. In the Fall 2013 semester, five sections of Introduction to Language were offered; the new online and in-class materials were implemented in three of these sections, for a total of 56 students. In the Spring 2014 semester, the online materials were not used; rather, the team conducted preliminary data analysis and planning for a second round of materials development. During Fall 2014, online modules were used in two of the four sections of LING001.
Analysis of a variety of data collected from these pilots, including videotaping of classroom discourse, student feedback, and student grades, is being conducted in Spring and Summer 2015. Preliminary results from student feedback show that some students claim that access to these modules improved their understanding of content, while others found traditional in-class instruction to be more effective.
Connor-Linton, Jeff and Daniel Ginsberg. “Technology-Enhanced Learning in Introduction to Language.” Presented at TLISI, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, May 19, 2014.
Connor-Linton, Jeff and Laura Siebecker. “Introduction to Language ITEL Project: Preliminary Findings.” Presented at LING 501-Linguistics Teaching Practicum, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, November 2014.
CNDLS blog post: "Introducing the Latest CNDLS Innovation: SCORMie"
Georgetown College News: "Rotating the Classroom"
The Prospect Issue 3: "ITEL Thematic Spotlight: Flipping the Classroom" (page 11)
