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: Service Learning Subject "Advancing English Oral Presentation Skills through Teaching"
Learning Outcomes of the Subject
Upon the completion of the subject, students will be able to:
- (a) plan, structure and deliver presentations that meet different audience needs and speaking purposes, for example, speaking to their peers, their subject lecturers and service recipients for teaching, persuation or experience sharing purpose;
- (b) deliver presentations with clear articulatio and vocal variety;
- (c) apply the knowledge and skills learnt to deal with complex issues in the service setting;
- (d) develop a sense of empathy for people who need assistance in learning English; and
- (e) reflect on their role as a responsible member of the society, of the Chinese nation and of the global community.
Implementation of the Subject
The work undertaken has mostly followed the implementation and evaluation plans described in the proposal. The table below describes the tasks performed at different periods, with changes from the proposal indicated.
| Time | Action | Changes |
| Nov 2011 |
|
Promotion and recruitment started later than planned |
| Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 |
|
Nil |
| Jan - Apr 2012 |
|
Nil |
| May 2012 |
|
Nil |
| June 2012 |
|
Completed earlier than planned |
Evaluation of the Subject
Evaluation of the project was conducted as below:
| Evaluation Area | Speficic Items | Evaluation as Planned | Evaluation Added/ Modified |
| Achievement of intended learning outcomes | Learning outcome (a) | Students performance in the three assessed oral presentations | The number of assessed oral presentations was cut down from 4 to 3 as this might reflect a more reasonable assessment load for a 2-credit subject. |
| Learning outcome (b) | A focused group study was conducted to compare students performance at the pre-subject interview and that in the first assessment. Special attention was paid to students articulation and use of stress and intonation. | Nil | |
| Learning outcome (c) | Students teaching performance in teh classroom was observed and advice was provided. Students achievement of learning outcome (c) was evaluated by (1) their performance in the submitted teaching video; and (2) classroom observation by the teacher. | Teachers observation was also included when evaluationg this outcome. | |
| Learning outcomes (d) & (e) | Students written reflection and post-programme questionnaire. | Nil | |
| Feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed subject administration mechanism | Promotion of the subject and pre-subject registration interview | Students feedback was collected at the student-staff consultative meeting. | Opinions from SAO and ELC General Office were also collected. |
| The pedagogical desig, i.e., coursework + a service component, of the subject. | Students feedback was collected at the student-staff consultative meeting. | Opinions from ELC General Office and stduents parent departments were also collected. | |
| Suitability of assignments |
|
Nil | |
| Impact of service on the service beneficiaries |
Questionnaires for teachers in the host school were replaced by meetings. |
Post-programme meetings with school heads and teachers were hosted instead. |
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Subject
The intended learning outcomes of the subject have mostly been achieved. This can be demonstrated by the results indicated in the Student Feedback Questionnaire. All of the students reported that the teaching and learning activities helped them to achieve the subject learning outcomes (mean: 4.2), and that the assessments required them to apply the learnt skills (mean: 4.4).
The academic focus of the subject is English oral presentation skills. The intended learning outcomes (a) - (c) reflect this aspect. Students performance in the three assessed oral presentations can be perceived as indicators of the achievement.
The three oral presentations expected students to:
- present a story to an imaginary group of young learners
- introduce the teaching kit they developed and explain why it should be included in the reading programme, i.e., the service component of the subject
- facilitate an English lesson for the target learners on the reading programme
Judging from students performance in the three oral presentations, learning outcome (a) has been satisfactorily achieved. The three oral presentations helped sharpen students awareness of the need to pay attention to the speaking purpose and audience when planning a presentation. Their performance in the persuasive presentation was particularly impressive as most of them were able to achieve the speaking purpose of promoting their teaching kit and highlighting its strength to audience. Students teaching performance in the i classroom, however, varied slightly from that in the persuasive presentation. While they were able to present the teaching points clearly, students lacked the classroom management skills, which could impede the effectiveness in teaching/ presentation. A technical problem encountered was that the sound quality of the submitted video was generally poor because of the noise in the classroom. Subject lecturers will need to review if students performance in the classroom could be assessed live in future.
To evaluate the extent of achievement of learning outcome (b), a focus group study was conducted among 6 students. Their performance in the story-telling tasks at the pre-subject interview and the first assessment was compared. It was found that students who started with a high level of proficiency did not make significant progress. Students with a lower I level of proficiency, however, were more able to use stress and intonation to highlight information and to convey different meanings. They have become more expressive and can better engage audience in narration. Their articulation unfortunately seems to require longer time of practice, and significant progress in this respect has not yet been noticed.
One important pedagogical functions of the teaching service component is to engage students in a setting where they learn to make spontaneous revision to their prepared plans and to deal with the unexpected challenges in the service setting, i.e., learning outcome c. As observed, students constantly made revisions to their teaching plans. They had meetings until late in the evening to modify and improve their lesson plans. By comparing students lesson plans and their actual delivery in the classroom, subject teachers had no difficulty noticing sensible and practical revisions made. This reflects that students were alert of the needs and levels of the school children and were able to make spontaneous modification of their plans.
Two points, however, were noticed by the subject teachers:
- some students had a tendency to switch to Putonghua quickly if they found their students had difficulty in following the instructions.
- some students were not sure how to give instructions effectively in simple English.
Efficacy of the Curriulum and Pedagogical Design
The subject comprised course work during the semester and a service learning component, i.e. a reading programme rendered for primary school children in Shaoguan, in early summer. The content of the course work prepared students with the necessary presentation and teaching skills, as well as the appropriate attitude when providing service. Students were expected to develop a teaching kit which comprised a reading text (usually a children story), relevant teaching plans and teaching materials. The four assessments of the subject evaluated different aspects of students attainment but were inter-related.
The curriculum and pedagogical design of the subject have generally been perceived as effective by students, as reflected in the post-programme questionnaire and at the SSCM.
All of the students agreed that the subject has provided them with a richer learning experience than that they would get from an ordinary GE subject. The service learning component was highly valued by students. About 80% of them strongly agreed that the teaching experience they gained in Shaoguan was valuable. When asked to comment on whether they had applied the content learnt in the subject into the teaching practice, the opinions varied slightly. But still about 70% of them reported that they had applied the professional knowledge and skills learnt from the course work in the teaching service component. Most interestingly, students valued the experience of developing a teaching kit for the reading programme. The task of developing teaching and learning materials for their peers and their pupils, initially appeared to pose a challenge to some students, but in the end almost all of students (94.7%) enjoyed the intellectual challenge.
At the SSCM, students expressed similar views as reported in the paragraph above. But they made some valuable suggestioins on the pedagogical design. For example, they suggested that students could be asked to start developing the teaching kit earlier in the semester so that they could have more time to make revision with reference ot the feedback from subject teachers. These suggestions will be taken into consideration when implementing the service learning subject for 4YC students.
Feedback from the Students
Students feedback indicated in the post-programme questionnaire showed that learning outcomes (a) - (c) also supported the findings above. Among the four questions related to the academic content of the subject, students response to questions 2 and 3 were particularly encouraging.
In evaluating the achievement of learning outcomes (d) and (e), students reflection and the post-programme questionnaires were referred to.
Students in general agreed that the service component of the subject has allowed them to better understand the life and educational needs of the less developed community in the Chinese mainland. The result extracted from the postprogramme questionnaire (see Appendix 5) can demonstrate this. In fact, students had a number of channels to learn about the life of the Shaoguan children. Apart from meeting the learners in the classroom, students had discussions with school teachers, as well chances to visit selected families. These home visits marked the climax of the whole Shaoguan experience. By chatting with school children and their parents, students witnessed in real life how common socioeconomical problems in rural China, such as poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, and gender discrimination, could deprive young children of the opportunities of receiving English language education, or perhaps education in general. These live stories have allowed our students to develop a sense of empathy for people who are less advantaged. Many students wrote very emotionally in their reflection about their home visit experience.
Students expressed repeatedly at the SSCM and in the post-programme questionnaire and students reflection that the subject ELC 200 1 has provided them with a valuable learning opportunity in which they gained not only teaching and presentation experiences, but also a chance to reflect on their role as a responsible member of society. The home visit experience let them cherish what they have and at the same time consider what and how they could contribute to the community. Prior to this service component, about 70% of the students had never taken part in any voluntary service. After this subject, all of them believed that they had the responsibility to serve the community even if they did not get paid for it. About 90% of them strongly agreed that it was meaningful to help the needy people and claimed that they would take part in voluntary service activities in future.
Feedback from the Collaborators/ Partners
Two collaborative partners were involved in this project. One was Tin Ka Ping (TKP) Foundation, who referred us to one
Meetings were held with the English language teachers and principals of the host school. Since the number of involved teachers was small, meetings, in lieu of questionnaires, were organised to collect their views. In general, the school management was very grateful for our support. They have repeatedly invited us to visit this school again in future. Teachers opinions varied slightly. It is not surprising that some teachers felt some degree of pressure from their pupils, who had been exposed to a different approach to teaching English. Most teachers, however, were very supportive and appreciated our students effort. They asked for copies of the teaching materials developed by our students for future reference.
Lesson Learned
Subject teachers of other service learning subjects might want to consider the following points.
- An interview seems necessary for service learning subjects that involve language teaching so as to ensure suitable candidates are selected. We feel that we need to be answerable to our collaborative partners and the school children involved. The drawback of running a pre-registration interview is that extra administrative work is required and extra time needs to be scheduled.
- It might be worth considering including an assessment component to evaluate students level of commitment and attitude demonstrated. Not all students are ready and mature enough to render quality service to the needy. Despite the fact students who took our subject went through an interview, not all of them were always sure of the meaning of responsibility and commitment. Lateness for meetings, for example, was not an u ncommon problem noticed. Having such a component included in the assessment might help promote better service attitude.
- Students might need to be encouraged to take the service learning subject before they reach their final year of study. Some subjects, such as ours, run the service component after the examination period ofsemester 2 and will not have the grades ready until later in the summer. Final year students might encounter some administrative problems in getting their final results.
Disclaimer
The experiences reported in this section are collected from the project leaders. EDC is not liable for the accuracy of information and possible infringements of copyright associated with individual cases.
