Marie-Françoise Narcy-CombesUniversity of Nantes
CRINI-EA [email protected]
A blended Learning environment to cope with large groups of
students in French Universities
Teacher involvement = teamwork
Teachers: Jemma Buck, Françoise Hautcoeur, Martine Stirling, Françoise Tusques-Venisse, Jackie Baker.
PHD Students: Rebecca Starkey-Perret. (lectrice)
Master student: Julie McAllistairTechnicians: Christian Chervet,
Frédéric HabertCoordinator: Marie-Françoise Narcy-
Combes.
OUTLINEContext and problems to solveHow we attempted to solve the problems
- Theoretical background- Implementation of the blended learning system
Findings (April 2009)Generalisation?
1. CONTEXT600 students in Year 1 at UniversityStudents in the Applied Language section - two foreign languages on top of English:
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese
- courses in marketing, accountancy, fiscal law, international trade, business economics, human resources, and communication and computer science
Identified problem:60% fail in their first year
2.1 Theoretical background
2.1.1 A holistic approach (D. Little)
2.1.2 A constructivist answer
2.1.3 Language acquisition
2.2 Implementing a task-based approachA task-based approach will enable the learner
to take an active part in the construction of his/her own knowledge and to interact with other learners
Combine macro-tasks = real life activities such as scenarios, problem solving tasks and projects (Ellis 2003) and micro-tasks = practise and to be carried out individually to cater for personal needs.
2.2.1 Implementing a blended-learning systemUsing technology will greatly help to make
learning enjoyable and memorable and to cater for individual needs.
Distance learning : resources available on the learning platform (Moodle)
lectures, resources, Internet links.Tasks instructions and planning.communication tools (forums => Instructions
– discussion - help)Evaluation and assessmentA virtual resource centre
2.2.2 OrganisationLearners work in teams, hand in their
assignments and meet a teacher in small groups (15) once a week.
Teachers work in teams, and share the work and their experience: they have a space on the platform to that purpose.
2.2.3 AdvantagesSmaller groups = more efficient learning Contact with teachers made easierMore practice (in speaking or writing)Better preparation for adult life: taking on
responsibilities, autonomy, teamwork, using ICT.
A resource centre to help students in need and to motivate the most successful ones.
Dedicated teachersAdavantages for lesser taught languages =>
ability to reach a wider audience.
3 Findings April 2009
Student profile 660 Students in Business English year 1
Gender Women: 66%
Social origin Middle class 25% Lower middle 22% Working class15%
Majoring in Economics 32% Literature 27% Accountancy 16% Sciences 11%
Level in English A1: 3.69%A2 : 29.02%B1 : 41.16%B2 : 20.05%C1 : 6.07%
3 .1 Student involvement
Level in English % of students who never log in
% inside each category
A1 4.35 21.4
A2 43.48 27.3
B1 33.33 14.7
B2 14.49 13.2
C1 .35 13
4 A paradigm shift
Former paradigm
New paradigm
INSTRUCTION AUTONOMYTRANSMISSON CONSTRUCTIONCOLLECTIVE LEARNING
INDIVIDUAL AND INTERACTIVE LEARNING
4.1 GENERALISATION/ Conclusion Using a blended learning system• Helps to cope with large groups of students
AND with mixed ability groups• The various educational cultures should be
taken into account and explored before implementing such a system.
• Developing a database of significant items in university educational culture might prove useful (pedagogy, the respective roles of teachers and learners, materials, institutional issues etc.).
Thank you for your attention