To: Dr. Erika Paterson, ENGL 301 Instructor
From: Darius Zhang, ENGL 301 Student
Date: November 1st, 2021
Subject: Proposal for introducing a 10-minute quiz in UBC Chinese language program’s OP (oral practice) sessions.
Audiences:
The intended audience of this proposal is the director of the UBC Chinese Language Program, Dr. Duanduan Li, the organizer of oral practice sessions, Victoria Ni; and the TAWLs and volunteers in the OP.
Introduction:
The UBC Chinese language program (CLP) offers courses in traditional and simplified Chinese as well as in Chinese Literature. The program also offers Chinese-learning students with extra oral practice sessions, that aim to help students to review course content and improve their Chinese speaking skills. Oral practice sessions recruit volunteers and teaching assistants every semester, volunteers are all native Chinese speakers who either have a solid Chinese learning background or who have passed advanced Chinese courses at UBC. The teaching assistants would check on work attendance and make sure each student is grouped with one volunteer. One OP session would last 50 minutes, and the sessions are held online, using the CollaborateUltra tool.
Statement of Problem：
Even though the OP sessions are not traditional teaching lessons, they should include the basic elements of a lesson plan such as Objectives, Activities, and Assessments. Without these elements, students and volunteers would be studying or teaching in dark. The OP sheet does include objectives and activities, but students’ learning is not being assessed. When such an issue was brought to the teaching assistants, their reply is that students will be assessed in the classroom, they can know how they are doing by taking actual tests which count toward the course grades. This would diminish the value of going to the OP sessions because students do not know if OP sessions are really helpful. Even if the students can gain extra credit by going to the OP sessions, the help is minimal if they fail their course tests.
Proposed Solution：
Introduce a 10- minute quiz after 50 minutes of OP session. Since the OP sessions are all online, volunteers can use technology such as Digital Quiz Maker on typeform.com to create quizzes for the students. The website is very accessible and easy to use, the quiz provides a great opportunity for the students to review what they learned, and acknowledge what they need to learn in the next session.
Scope:
To assess the feasibility of the quiz as a part of UBC’s OP sessions, I plan to pursue five areas of inquiry :
- How many volunteers know how to create a quiz using an online website?
- Will hands-on workshops improve volunteers’ ability to create quizzes？
- What kind of quiz will make students more engaged (eg. multiple questions? short paragraphs questions?)
- What are some limitations of introducing the quiz in OP sessions?
- What are some barriers preventing students to complete the quizzes?
My primary data source will be surveying UBC Chinese language program members to determine their perspectives on quizzes in OP sessions. Surveys will be distributed virtually and data will be collected anonymously. Secondary sources will include research articles on assessments, which will help me to understand the pros and cons of having assessments in one’s learning process.
My qualifications:
I have worked in CLP for a half year now, and I am an OP volunteer this semester. It is based on my experience that there’s a need for some form of assessment in the OP session. Not only because I could not track my student learning process, but also because I feel frustrated when I see my student struggling to apply what they learned previously in new conversations.
Conclusion:
To conclude, action is required to better assist students who are in the OP program. I can determine the feasibility of quizzes in the OP because I am also currently working in the program.