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EDU 763: Instructional Design; Kristina Peachey # 0635585 (updated Feb.

21, 2015)

Form 3b: New Course Thoughts


Complete the following form and upload to the Dropbox. Use this
form if you are proposing a new course.
Description: What will this course be about? Where/how will it be
taught?
This course is about deepening understanding of and extending vocabulary and the
processes that encourage this.
It will be taught at Vientiane College (Laos) as part of a pre-departure course for Lao
students (ages 22-35) with government scholarships to study in Australia for their
Masters Degree. We help the students develop the language, thinking,
communication and cross-cultural awareness skills they need to be successful in
their future studies.
This vocabulary course is designed to be an online course between two trimesters of
face to face classes. While it will be completed online, orientation and follow up can
be done in face to face classes.
Learners: Who are the learners? What do you know about them
that might make a difference in what you design? (Think about
age, prior knowledge, familiarity with technology)
All the students (ages roughly 22-32) are introduced and begin to use a Coursesites
(Blackboard) LMS in their first term of study. The students are highly motivated
and generally find vocabulary development an area of interest. They are concerned
by the length of the break between trimesters and have requested more structured
learning activities. Their familiarity with technology varies considerably but the
face to face support provided at that time should help them achieve a level of
comfort that they can work independently during the break and access any online
support they need.
Things that you want to accentuate in your course. This can be
related to what or how you teach, how students respond, or
about the technology. What do you want to see happen in this
course?

I want students to understand that the short course itself will not magically
increase their vocabulary but is providing a foundation for what they need to
continue working on throughout their course (and beyond). They also need
to complete the course in an active, engaged and reflective manner to truly
benefit.

Form adapted from Smith, R. M. Conquering the Content. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2008.

EDU 763: Instructional Design; Kristina Peachey # 0635585 (updated Feb. 21, 2015)

I want students to be self-directing their learning in the sense they are


exploring vocabulary areas, aspects of vocabulary and the vocabulary
systems that they are interested in and not just doing things for the teacher.

I want students to interact with each other so they can continue learning
from each other and building relationships.

Problems that youd like to avoid in your course. Based on past


experience, what would you predict will drag you down? It could
be technology, disinterested students, lack of discussion, etc.

When independently selecting new language (vocabulary) to focus on, they


select language that is low-frequency (or if it is low frequency it is not
connected to their field of study, e.g. ahoy).

Students value teacher interactions and feedback more than their own
ability to self-assess and peer assess.

Students have trouble moving beyond a one correct answer mindset and
are uncomfortable with ambiguity and independent choices they are given in
the course.

What might be the most problematic aspect of this course as you


teach it?

Students may not participate regularly enough and lose contact with the
teacher (not respond to emails).

Students have technical issues and dont know how to specify the issue
clearly enough to easily help them.

Students may return home to provincial villages where internet access may
be patchy at times.

The most time consuming aspect of this course as you teach it


will be:
Im not exactly sure yet. Part of it depends on the capabilities of the Coursesites which I
have not fully explored. I imagine giving feedback on student output that is in the form
of written and oral tasks will be most time consuming but depending on the LMS,
monitoring student involvement may also be an issue.

Form adapted from Smith, R. M. Conquering the Content. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2008.

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