Early supervision of MA seminar students involves finding ways to help them produce blueprints of research projects. Throughout their first year, the students definitely have to read, think and write intensively. Here is how I got my CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) students-researchers going - fully online this semester. This is what my Week 2 Research Writing Moodle module looks like. In Task 1, I remind my students of what it takes to design a CALL research study. In fact, my students are familiar with research methods in technology-assisted language education - we covered that in the previous semester but I thought that a short review would do no harm. First, I instruct them to read one article related to the topic of their MA thesis. From my experience, students find it difficult to find reliable literature, so I provide them with a short list of quality journals to choose from. Recommended journals I also provide them with a Research Design Worksheet and I ask them to paste the document into their MA thesis proposal e-portfolios. Research Design Worksheet Then, they are invited to follow my online Google Slides presentation "CALL Research Design" PART 1 in which I refer them to the article they have just read. CALL Research Design - Google Slides presentation In Task 2, the students design their own studies by following the same presentation - PART 2. They reflect on the questions formulated in tasks 1-9 and write their answers in appropriate sections of the Research Design Worksheet pasted in their MA thesis proposal e-portfolios. This is what instructions for Task 2 look like in my Moodle course In my next post I will explain how I gave feedback on students' designs and how my students keep developing project ideas.
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In my Research Writing Moodle course (comprising Seminar and Academic Writing content) I engage my students in the coursework on weekly bases. Each Monday I publish a new module and notify the students of its availability by email. Each task consists of a number of activities. For example, in Task 3, as part of their coursework this week, the students submit a reference list for proposed MA theses. I use a video to help my students 1) get familiar with APA style guidelines and 2) practice applying the rules. I also provide them with more reference examples.
They publish lists in their e-portfolios so that I can grade and give them feedback on this assignment. Links to the online resources used in this task: APA Style References - 6th Edition Reference Examples
Designing Moodle-based classes does not have to be time-consuming. I save time by instructing students what to do in the title of each resource.
In my Research Methods in Language Education class, I typically include these six tasks for my students to do within a week.
Task 1. Interaction. The Ss interact on each others’ forum posts (see Task 6 below). They are instructed that their response – 100-150 words – MUST be any of the following:
Task 2. Follow this presentation… The ss follow my online Google Slides presentation in which I pose questions to raise their interest and I give them an overview of the most important issues.
I use Google Slides – here is a tutorial prepared by the SNEC student society [in Polish] on how to use this web-based application:
Szkolenie Google Slides by Natalia Góraczyk Alternatively, online presentations can be created in Microsoft PowerPoint or existing PowerPoint presentations may be uploaded as files. Task 3. Read chapter… The students are invited to learn more about the topic. Bearing in mind copyright, I refer my students to online or paper-based materials. Task 4. Check yourself. The students do a short quiz on the content of the material read in task 3. I use the Moodle quiz builder, but Google Docs or Microsoft Forms will also do. Task 5. Read this article… I provide the students with a model of a study to inspire their own pending research. Task 6. Reflection. Forum-based - the students think and write how the knowledge of the method presented this week relates to their own MA thesis research projects. These reflections will be used for student interaction next week in Task 1. If you need more about online design, you can read more in this article: |
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