New Tools, New Designs: A Study of a Redesigned Hybrid Spanish Program

Authors

  • Emily E. Scida University of Virginia
  • Jill N. Jones University of Virginia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i2.26053

Keywords:

, hybrid courses, blended learning, foreign language anxiety, flipped classes

Abstract

This study reports on the rehybridization of three beginning-level Spanish courses and the effect of the new redesigned courses on student learning and on self-reported levels of anxiety. The data collected included pre- and post-tests of listening comprehension, linguistic knowledge, and foreign language anxiety, as well as qualitative data on student perceptions of the new courses. Results showed that students significantly improved in both listening comprehension and linguistic knowledge and that self-reported levels of anxiety decreased over the semester. In addition, comparison data was collected in the form of final exam grades from the former hybrid SPAN1010 and SPAN1020 courses and from the corresponding redesigned hybrid courses. Results showed that students in the new redesigned SPAN1010 hybrid course performed significantly better than students enrolled in the former SPAN1010 hybrid course. However, for the SPAN1020 course, there were no significant differences in students’ final exam grades between the two hybrid formats. Student perceptions of the redesigned hybrid courses were mixed, with positive comments about the effect of the online work on student progress, but frustration at encountering initial technical problems and at the number of hours required to complete online work.

Author Biographies

  • Emily E. Scida, University of Virginia
    Emily E. Scida is Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish and Italian Language Programs, in the Department of Spanish, Italian, & Portuguese at the University of Virginia, where she has worked for fourteen years. Her areas of research include teacher education, instructional technology, assessment, applied linguistics, and historical and comparative Romance linguistics. Emily has been the recipient of a number of grants and awards, including the 2011-2014 Daniels Family NEH Distinguished Teaching Professorship, a Fall 2012 Hybrid Course Challenge Grant, Learning Assessment Grants, a 2005-2006 Teaching + Technology Initiative Fellowship, and a 2001-2002 University Teaching Fellowship. In 2011, she was inducted into the University Academy of Teaching at UVA.
  • Jill N. Jones, University of Virginia
    J. N. Jones is currently a Ph.D. student in higher education program at the University of Virginia, Curry School of Education and works at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Her research interests include effective pedagogical practices, student learning outcomes, and student/faculty professional development.

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Published

2016-05-28

Issue

Vol. 33 No. 2 (2016)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Scida, E. E., & Jones, J. N. (2016). New Tools, New Designs: A Study of a Redesigned Hybrid Spanish Program. CALICO Journal, 33(2), 174-200. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i2.26053