1. Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Bryn Mawr, May 2015
A multi-dimensional approach to understanding blended learning courses:
a pilot assessment project of a blended Intensive Beginning Italian course.
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf, Lecturer, Department of Italian Studies
Verónica Darer, Senior Lecturer, Department of Spanish
A project sponsored by the
Andrew W. Mellon Blended Learning Initiative of
Wellesley College
Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts
Bryn Mawr, May 2015

2. Agenda Introduction to session and presenters Description of course
Description of assessment instruments
Discourse Analysis
Student Surveys
Conclusions and questions

3. Fall 2015: open to selected high schools
edge.edX
first year [+] Italian language and culture
Fall 2015: open to selected high schools
as a “textbook”
self-study
Wellesley
(Fall 2014):
3 hours/week F2F
SPOC (Summer 2014)
- 560 students (alumnae, incoming students, prospective HS students)
BLENDED
COURSE
MIT (Spring 2015):
2 hours/week F2F

4. different but parallel ways to learn the same material
Ciak! videos: conversations between two or more native speakers;
video interviews with native speakers;
video of a slide show presentation with narration.
Podcasts (downloadable)
exercises w/audio files;
audio files of examples in grammar charts.
“drag and drop” type of activities (with images and written and/or audio files to match)
pdf files (downloadable) with grammar explanations, examples and charts

5. THE FOUR STEPS OF DISCUSSIONE3. 1. 2. 4.

6. ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS
Anonymous and online student survey
Discourse Analysis
Students’ SEQs
Interviews with professor
Analisys of students’ activities while online

7. Discourse analysis
A highly objective process, discourse analysis questions who learns, what, where, when, and why. Who speaks? Who questions?
Discourse analysis takes a microscope to a classroom to reveal the underlying classroom culture through analysis of social and pedagogical interactions.

8. Process of Discourse Analysis
Videotape several sessions
Transcribe all discourse of one randomly selected session
Divide into Interaction units-IRF Pattern
Message Units
Instructional Units/Lesson Phases

9. Sample of Discourse Analysis

10. Results of Discourse Analysis
Instructor shorter grammar explanations
Student use of target language in a more personalized and creative manner
Instructor language is more unplanned
Instructor use of language at native speed
Instructor use of humor
Instructor extemporaneous talk about target culture
Students’ acceptance of instructor’s native like language

11. Conclusions and questions
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf, Lecturer, Department of Italian Studies
Verónica Darer, Senior Lecturer, Department of Spanish