Course Redesign ePortfolio Showcase

SPAN 1A is a prerequisite for SPAN 1B – the course that fulfills the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement. The current SPAN 1A (and also SPAN 1B) would benefit from redesign strategies that will allow students to focus on the learning of vocabulary and grammatical rules as well as pronunciation and speaking strategies through online video-lectures while leaving more class time for practicing conversational skills within a cultural context.

To increase the number of students who succeed in elementary Japanese, this lower-division general education (GE) course was redesigned to maximize in-class activities on developing speaking skills. Writing skills were enhanced via written homework. The redesigned course also required online exercises and quizzes that focused on developing receptive skills (script and word identification, listening, reading, and grammatical competence). These online assignments were supplemental to in-class instruction, thereby increasing instruction hours and students' Japanese language proficiency.

Spanish courses are in high demand to meet the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement. In order to accomodate students' needs, we created an intensive one semester course that combines Spanish 1A (4 units; the prerequisite for Spanish 1B) and Spanish 1B (the graduation requirement). Using the redesign the course has the potential of serving 50 students in every section of Spanish 1A and 1B combined.

JPAN 1C fulfills the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement and this course would benefit for highly motivated students and those with some background. The course will be redesign through "flipping" (online video-lectures, online assessments, and online activities) and the development of interactive learning activities while focusing on communication activities in class.