Structuring a German Course: A Comparison of Class Duration versus Frequency

Transcription

1 Structuring a German Course: A Comparison of Class Duration versus Frequency Nicholas J. Moller This paper was completed and submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master Teacher Program, a 2-year faculty professional development program conducted by the Center for Faculty Excellence, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 2014 Abstract: The United States Military Academy (USMA) recently changed intermediate-level German course attendance from every-other class day to meeting on every class day. After two academic years offering the new course format, student test results and course survey information from August 2010 to December 2014 are compared. This analysis could be useful for educators structuring foreign language courses.

2 Background In the Fall Semester of 2013, the United States Military Academy (USMA) changed intermediate-level language course schedule from every-other day attendance to meeting on every class day. Intermediate language instruction changed from meeting for 40 hours per semester for two semesters to meeting 80 hours per semester for one semester. As part of this change, the foreign language requirement for most Humanities and Social Science majors changed from four foreign language courses to three courses. This change was largely driven by non-pedagogical factors, primarily a reduction in Department of Foreign Languages faculty. After two academic years of offering the new Intensive Intermediate German course, student test results and course survey information are compared between the different course formats. These results could be useful for educators structuring foreign language courses. Language Proficiency Testing American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL) proficiency tests are currently being used worldwide by academic institutions, government agencies and private corporations for purposes such as: academic placement, student assessment, program evaluation, professional certification, hiring, and promotional qualification. USMA students take the West Point Prochievement Test, designed by ACTFL, upon completion of the beginning and intermediate language levels. The West Point Prochievement Test results analyzed in this paper come from students completing Intermediate German. Students took the ACTFL Prochievement Test during the Spring 2011 and Spring 2012 semesters, after completion of two semesters of intermediate language instruction at 40 hours per semester, and after the Fall 2012 and Fall 2013 semesters, after completion of one semester of intermediate language instruction at 80 hours per semester. All USMA students are required to take the West Point Prochievement test, so the student test completion rate is almost 100% for students who complete the course. The intent is to analyze results two years before and two years after the restructuring of the course. The West Point Prochievement Test is designed to assess both students proficiency and achievement in German. The test consists of forty multiple-choice questions. Proficiency is assessed by testing students ability to read German passages and answer questions to test comprehension. Achievement is assessed by testing students ability to demonstrate correct vocabulary and grammar learned in class through a series of questions. The West Point Prochievement test categorizes students into one of seven levels: Novice Low, Novice, Medium, Novice High, Intermediate Low, Intermediate High, Advanced Low and Advanced Medium. For purposes of comparison, I have given these categories a corresponding numeric value from one to seven.

3 Student Performance The mean ACTFL Prochievement score for students of Intermediate German ranges from 4.69 in the Spring semester of the academic year, referred to as 11-2, to 3.83 in the Fall semester of the academic year, referred to as This difference represents slightly less than one language ability level. A 3.83 represents a student between Novice High and Intermediate Low ability, while a 4.69 represents a student between Intermediate Low and Intermediate High Ability. Of note, there was a slight increase between the 12-2 and 13-1 semesters, the time frame when the course format changed to every-day instruction. By combining the populations into two categories, those who met for class every day and those who met for class every-other day, one can examine the differences between the groups. Using an Independent T-test to compare the means of two independent groups with a 95% confidence level, the data shows a significant difference between the two populations. In the chart below, the data seems indicate that decreasing class duration and increasing class frequency has a negative effect on student test performance. There is a relatively small difference, less than one language learning level, between the groups. This is also based on test scores from a relatively small sample size (243 students). More data is needed before drawing any definitive conclusion.

4 Population Data Class Meets Every Other Day Every Day Mean Standard Deviation Number Student Feedback Performance on standardized testing is an important factor when assessing course efficacy, but student feedback must also be considered. Do students have enough time to prepare for class? Do students have enough time to process information in a faster-paced course? How does class frequency impact student motivation? To answer these questions, I examine the results of students post-course feedback. The course survey information is reported by USMA students at the end of each semester. The survey data discussed in this paper is selected from a broader web-based feedback system at West Point, called the USMA Course End Feedback System. Providing post-course feedback is both anonymous and optional for students. The average participation rate for intermediate German students averaged 56.5% between the Fall 2010 semester and the Fall 2013 semester. In the USMA Course End Feedback System, students are asked if they strongly agree, agree, have no opinion (neutral), disagree, or strongly disagree with a provided statement. For clarity in displaying the survey data, I combined the strongly agree and agree responses, as well as the strongly disagree and disagree responses. I do not display the neutral responses, which make up a very small portion of the total number of responses. Based on the survey data, I examine three categories of student self assessment: student preparation, student reflection, and student motivation.

5 Student Preparation The chart above displays student responses to the survey statement: My personnel schedule allows me enough time to adequately prepare for my optimum academic performance. While the vast majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed with this statement in all semesters, it is worth noting the significant decrease in student who agreed with this statement from the Spring 2012 semester to the Fall 2013 semester during the first implementation of the every-day class format. Students agreement with the statement drops from 77% to 58% in this timeframe. This decrease is most likely due to the initial implementation of the every-day class format. During the Fall 13 semester, teachers had to adjust to the new rhythm of the course and adjusted their expectations for students. During the second iteration of the every-day course in the Fall 14 semester, student feedback was incorporated and the assigned homework was reduced. Of note, the percentage of students who agree or disagree with the statement increases to 76% percent during the Fall 14 semester. This increase returns student agreement near the 74.5% average of the four semesters prior to implementation of every-day German class. The subsequent increase in student agreement is likely due to the minor course changes that were implemented for the Fall 2014 semester. During the Fall 2014 semester, the number of quizzes, exams, and written assignments did not change from the Fall 2013 semester, but the expected length of the two primary writing assignments was cut in half. Additionally, the assigned homework was reduced during the Fall 2014 semester. These were the largest changes in course format between the Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 semesters.

6 Population Data Every Other Day Every Day # of Students Who Agree Total Number of Students By combining the populations into two categories, those who met for class every day and those who met for class every-other day, one can examine the differences between the groups. A Z-test for Proportions-Independent Groups enables comparison of from two independent groups to determine if they are significantly different from one another. A confidence level of 95%, there is a significant difference between the two groups of students. This seems to indicate that student assessment of their time to optimally prepare for class decreased when meeting for German class on a daily basis. Class frequency should be considered when assigning homework. Student Reflection The chart above displays student responses to the survey statement: My personnel schedule allows me enough time to reflect on the material I have learned in class. The majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed with this statement in all semesters. Like the previous survey question discussed, there was a decrease the percentage of students who agreed with this statement from the Spring 2012 semester to the Fall Students agreement with the statement drops from 82% to 66%. The percentage of students who agree with this statement

7 then increases to 76% in the Fall 2014 Semester. This decrease is most likely due to the initial implementation of the every-day class format, and the subsequent increase in student agreement is likely due to minor course changes that were implemented for the Fall 2014 semester. Population Data Every Other Day Every Day # of Students Who Agree Total Number of Students By combining the populations into two categories, those who met for class every day and those who met for class every-other day, one can examine the differences between the groups. A Z-test for Proportions-Independent Groups enables comparison of from two independent groups to determine if they are significantly different from one another. A confidence level of 95%, there is no significant difference between the two groups of students. This indicates that students assessment of their ability to adequately reflect on their work was not impacted by meeting for German class on a daily basis. Student Motivation The chart above displays student responses to the survey statement: My motivation to learn and continue learning has increased because of this course. The majority of students agreed with this statement in three of the four semesters of intermediate German offered in the every-other day format. Only in the Fall 2011 semester did more students disagree than agree

8 with this statement. After the course format was changed in the Fall 2013 Semester, there was a slight decrease in students reported motivation. 59% of students in Spring 2012 semester reported that their motivation had increased, while only 54% of students in the Fall 2013 reported the same after the course format had changed. The largest change in reported student motivation came between the Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 semester. 88% of cadets in the Fall 14 Semester reported that their motivation to learn and continue learning increased because of this course. This represents the highest reported student motivation of all semesters assessed. This increase suggests that having class every day could be a positive factor in student motivation. Population Data Every Other Day Every Day # of Students Who Agree Total Number of Students By combining the populations into two categories, those who met for class every day and those who met for class every-other day, one can examine the differences between the groups. A Z-test for Proportions-Independent Groups enables comparison of from two independent groups to determine if they are significantly different from one another. A confidence level of 95%, there is a significant difference between the two groups of students. This indicates that student motivation was increased by meeting for German class on a daily basis. Conclusion The restructuring of Intermediate German Course at West Point seems to have impacted student performance, student motivation, and students ability to prepare. There is no detected impact found on students ability to reflect upon the material. While student test scores and their assessed ability to prepare for class decreased as a result of the course restructuring, student motivation appears to have increased by having German class on a daily basis. The data available analyzed in this paper is limited, and a larger population would produce more reliable conclusions about the impact of class frequency on student performance and feedback. Additionally, many other factors influence course efficacy and student survey responses. Teachers change, courses are restructured, new textbooks are acquired, etc. making it difficult to isolate one variable. More studies need to be done to produce specific recommendations, but when possible, educators should consider class frequency when planning courses.

9 Bibliography ACTFL. (n.d.). American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from Layton, M. (n.d.). Stats Calculator. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from Stats Calculator: