Dr Marina Orsini-JonesSchool of HumanitiesCoventry University
UK
6th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, Thresholds on the Edge, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada June 15-17 2016
Integrating a MOOC into the postgraduate English language teaching curriculum: edging towards the
threshold concept of autonomy in language learning and teaching through an innovative
blended learning approach
Learning as an act of identity formation – Davies 2006
Becoming an autonomous learnerBecoming an autonomous teacher
Kumaravadivelu (2011)
if we expect teachers to produce context-specific pedagogic knowledge then they must equipped with the knowledge, skill, attitude and authority necessary to become autonomous individuals
Module (course)’s aimsTheories, Methods and Approaches to Language
Learning and Teaching
[…] to give students an in-depth understanding of the theories of second language acquisition and illustrate their links to approaches and methods of language teaching which they inform. The theories examined will look at second language acquisition and learning from linguistic, psychological and sociological perspectives
The MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)Focus: Materials related to language learning and teachingLearners’ Goal at CU: Experiencing a new way of learning/Developing an understanding of autonomy
MOOC topics• Week 1 – Learning Language: Theory;• Week 2 - Language Teaching in the
Classroom;• Week 3 – Technology in Language Learning
and Teaching: A New Environment;• Week 4 – Language in Use: Global English.
Project features – also refer to: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files
/marina_orsini_jones_final_1.pdfAction Research‘Expert students’ registered on the MAAll involved in TEFLMOOC blend implemented in Semester 1 & 2 2014-2015, and semester 1 2015-2016Will to explore new blended learning avenuesPre-MOOC questions Weekly ‘post-MOOC unit’ reflective/knowledge sharing focus groupsPre MOOC and Final BOS (Bristol Online Survey)
Cycle 1 - participants agreed to:• Engage with the MOOC for 3 hours per week (the time
recommended in the MOOC instructions to complete each unit)• Carry out the set activities on it for the 4 weeks of its duration• Record their thoughts relating to the activities and their
‘metareflections’ on how their learning experience was affected by the platform and its global social collaborative features while engaging with them
• Share the recorded material with the principal investigator and the research assistant attached to the project
• Engage in a one-hour weekly focus group recorded by the PI using the ‘Voice Memos’ tool on her iPhone
• Write up the findings collaboratively and participate in their dissemination (self-selected participants with the PI)
• Fill in the post-MOOC survey (one designed for staff and one for students)
Cycle 1: 1 expert student, 6 members of staff, 13 students
Pre-MOOC blendface-to-face lecture/workshop on learner autonomy with questions assigned as homework for the taught session that followed
online posts to the relevant discussion forum on learner autonomy in Moodle posted before the second workshop on learner autonomy
face-to-face seminars based on the Moodle forum posts and face-to-face and online discussion forum group work to discuss learner autonomy (the module was delivered in a PC lab for some of the face-to-face contact hours)
delivery of formative group presentations on the topic face-to-face
individual reflections on the seminars and on the group activities to be posted either in Moodle discussion or to the tutor via email as homework
MA at CU - Focus on learner autonomy: pre-MOOC (blended delivery) subject-specific questions
1. How can we define learner autonomy?
2. How can we create an environment that promotes learner autonomy?
3. Are there any problems with the concept of learner autonomy?
4. What might be some positive outcomes of promoting learner autonomy within the classroom?
Module: Theories and Methods of LL and T (15/180 credits)
Learner autonomy section in Moodle
Relevant summative question at CU (seen exam, one of the 3 questions set)
Question 3Answer BOTH parts. 3.1 In the course of module M01ENL we have discussed the concept of ‘learner autonomy’ and read the article by Lacey: ‘Autonomy, never, never, never’ (2007). Summarise the article and discuss how and why Lacey adopted Dam’s views after his initial resistance.(30 marks)
3.2 During the course of the module you were encouraged to enrol on the Southampton University/British Council MOOC on Language Learning and Teaching. Reflect on the experience of taking part in the MOOC and discuss: 1. If and how it reflects the principles relating to learner autonomy; 2. What topics you would like to cover if you were given the opportunity to teach English with a MOOC to intermediate (B2/IELTS 6.5) students;3. Which of the 4 units your found most useful and why.(20 marks)
Threshold concepts
Lenses for analysis within the epistemological context of a discipline (Adler-Kassaner, Majewski and Koshnick 2012)
Reflection and metareflection support the crossing of threshold concepts
Participant Nationality L1 Sex Level of Proficiency Teaching experience Length Subject
1 British English F Native Yes >1 ESP
2 British English F Native Yes >1 Writing
3 Norwegian English F C2 No 0
4 British English F Native Yes 5 ESL/EFL
5 British English F Native Yes >1 GE
6 Taiwanese Chinese M B2 Yes >1 ESL
7 Chinese Chinese F B2 No 0
8 Chinese Chinese F B2 No 0
9 Chinese Chinese F B2 No 0
10 Chinese Chinese F C1 No 0
11 Nigerian Yoruba F C1 Yes 1 Literature
12 Indonesian Bahasa F B2 No 0
2nd Cycle carried out by ‘expert student’ for her dissertation - participants
Beliefs and troublesome knowledge
Beliefs of certainty (the right method to use) clashing with the uncertainty of the teaching world:
Participant E: They asked me to give my opinion […] Well, I wasn’t really sure that my answer was right or wrong
Troublesome engagement with epistemic communities
participants had not completely crossed to the postliminal stage. Despite ‘beginning to think like teachers’ when it comes to grammar teaching and learning, participants were reluctant to engage with the relevant discussion within the disciplinary and epistemic communities they are situated in, as demonstrated by their hesitation to do that on the MOOC with their peers. They still want to be told what is right and wrong, focusing on accuracy and rejecting the uncertainty that comes from expressing their personal beliefs. Thus, it could be argued that participants are at a state of ‘comparative uncertainty’ (Land 2011), in which they move back and forth between old initial and new emergent understandings. (lack of autonomy)
Would engaging with the MOOC change trainee teachers’ beliefs on language learning and teaching and related
troublesome knowledge? Expert student’s findingsThe pre and post MOOC surveys revealed that engaging with the MOOC had changed trainee teachers’ beliefs regarding some areas of troublesome knowledge. Trainees seemed to have moved from a behaviouristic view of English language learning and teaching towards a more cognitive and constructivist/social constructivist view. However, through the tracking of individual responses to the pre and post MOOC survey responses, it appeared that participants exaggerated the changes that were taking place in certain questions. Factors that might have contributed towards this may be related to the survey’s ‘halo effect’ (Dörnyei 2003), participants’ impressions being provided upon initial limited interaction with MOOC hence not going beyond the technology's ‘wow factor’ (Murray and Barnes 1998), or mimicry in the liminal stage (Meyer and Land 2003).
Autonomy as ‘alien knowledge’My experience was a little different [to British participants]. It’s because of cultural differences. My context in Taiwan- frankly speaking, I don’t want to try autonomy, to try that stuff….I think the learner over there- sometimes if the teacher doesn’t push them they don’t care. They tend to not do the extra reading, they tend to not do self studying. So if, like, I ask them to go online and check MOOC….I think they wont do it. But of course my teaching experience is not very long. I had only one year, it’s probably not very accurate either.
‘False’ perception of autonomy on a MOOC (Krause 2014:126)
With tens of thousands of students, Coursera’s MOOCs are obviously more similar to lecture hall courses than the are to small group discussion courses. The student-centered/de-centered pedagogy of EDC MOOCs works with a small group of students in face to face or in online environments, but with tens of thousands of participants and nearly absent teachers, the student-centred/de-centered online course becomes less of an experience of student empowerment and more one of chaos’ (2014: 126).
Role of scaffolding (in Bruner’s terms) ‘coming into light’ by using the MOOC
Tentative conclusions• Cultural context appeared to be an influencing factor for the
purpose of grasping the threshold concept of autonomy• Teacher trainers must ascertain what constitutes ’alien’
knowledge for trainees (e.g. grammar appears to be troublesome for UK trainees, but not for Chinese ones)
• The MOOC integration has ‘brought into light’ that this blend can support active reflection on autonomy and other troublesome areas, but that strongly held beliefs can impair the adoption of innovative practice and of an autonomous approach
• The declarations of ’changed beliefs’ and or understanding by some trainee teachers were not reflected in the answers once they were triangulated, betraying liminality and mimicry
Any questions?• References available on demand• [email protected]
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