Meeting 13 • 15 May 2012 • Tuesday

Version:
5/17/12

People (√ = present; strikeout = absent; e+strikeout = excused absence): √Fischer; Chapman; Choate; Couture; Hinsinger; Hunter; eIdrissi; Looney; Moore

Today

(X') = anticipated time in minutes (to total 100 minutes + 10-minute break)
(0001) etc.=item in document collection (will be explained in class)
Key to notes added AFTER the class meets:
√ = topic / activity that was adequately dealt with during the class
+ = topic was begun but needs more attention & will be resumed at next / subsequent meeting(s)
- = a topic / activity that was proposed but not carried out - will be taken up later
Struckthrough text like this = a topic / activity that was proposed but is not going to be taken up after all
Italic green text like this = comments after the meeting

Week 6: More about more projects; learner & teacher attitudes; examples of CBI; assessment; grants

materials:

a college course that combines third-year German with hydraulic engineering (0712 on disk)

(0785 on disk), CBI course about environment

(0094 on disk), "Integrating Language and Content"

Handout includes articles about assessment:

0108 scoring guide definition; from SpeakEasy - evaluating a competing product (SE 0016 taks; SE 0271 scoring guide; sample from 08sp RK

(05') Depending on mood of group: tests from hell - our own experiences replaced by discussion of how to add CBI elements to PSU summer 2012 French 3XX course about fashion

(35+') Discussion of projects - hope people have brought something to the table; if assessment comes up, but we have plenty else to discuss, we'll move the assessment part to the second hour

check: have people read the article (0712) about German & hydraulic engineering, and at least one of the other two articles (0725, 0082) about large-scale topics that could be augmented with CBI? Need to see how ready the group is for discussing them

I haven't forgotten the request for videos of CBI in action.

if time: more about the CBI course about environment (0785 on disk)

(10') Break: Go get your coffee or your snack.

(20+') finishing up last week's special topic: learner motivations, styles, strategies: Allen's article (0384) - its conclusion (p. 525) and its questionnaire (p. 527-9) - what do we think about those items, what do our learners think, and what do we see in the classrooms?

Focus topic: What happens when we give them what they say they want? Reflections on student course evaluations.

(10) starting out this week's special topic, assessment: 0108 scoring guide definitions; an example (see list above)

-

(10') The modest proposal for an immodest culminating event of a subversive nature: progress report about possible attendees. If time: What would we want to accomplish with our target audience?

-

(5') If time: more about grants - COFLT Mini-grants; little/medium grants that might support the Humboldt Project


Upcoming class meeting(s) (#14 15 May 2012)

1) Continue Stryker/Leaver

2) Look at the work samples for projects from earlier years.

3) See "schedule" page for links to sources of lesson plans for various subject areas.

4) Proposed next major topic of general discussion: assessment; suggested readings from the CBI disk: 0104 Donato; 0108 scoring guide definition; 0114 Rifkin, Guidelines; 0304 Integrated thematic Unit; 0702 Linguafolio;

At meeting #8 the group expressed preference for these topics for further discussion, perhaps one a week: assessment; thematic units; styles, strategies, & motivation; portfolio development. So that is what we will emphasize. There was some interest in the following areas, which will receive attention as time allows: the various content areas; literature; culture; changing the curriculum; businessa; grants.

5) Start reading either 0712,"A Problem-Based Learning Approach to Integrating Foreign Language into Engineering", or 0725, "Landscapes of technology Transfer: Rice Cultivation and African Continuities". These articles will (0712) help you avoid over-estimating your learners and (0725) show you a large-scale possibility for CBI, with special relevance to minority and disadvantaged learners (see also 0082, "Discovering Science and Technology through American History".

Below here are notes for myself; read them at your peril!

grant info: ••PSU grants; ••small-/medium-scale external grants & a sample application; ••large-scale external grants & a sample application; ••conference ideas & sample proposals

••how to assess CBI activities (the projects; in general); SE course SG; Hypothesis: If the CBI activity is designed properly, and you then assess the student's performance according to how well the CONTENT was learned, that will also indicate how much LANGUAGE was learned.

••Portland Public Schools "Recommendations for the Second Language Minimum Performance Standards" (#0010a)

••Drake

I think we need a discussion about what we (ourselves, our learners) want language teaching and learning to accomplish, so that we can examine the pros and cons of CBI (and other teaching methods or tools). Example: Some people prize language courses for what they contribute to the development of students' intellectual rigor (logic, clear thinking, understanding of system, rules, principles); such people may also say: "…especially Latin" or "…but of course they can get the same things from a stiff geometry course". To what extent is that view / goal compatible with CBI? What if the students' goal is to… [name several different goals]?

Teaser: OK, we've talked about turning study of literature into CBI. Now what about that other beloved subject-area of our foreign-language programs, C/culture?

Upcoming assignment(s)

This section offers a PREVIEW, not activated assignments. Assignments are made, with announcement of their deadlines, both in class and on the "schedule" page.

Announcements

••

Misc.

••

top of page