Fall 2005
Students in fall 2005 did not do better than students in fall 2004. One reason for this may be because the course was in the evening that semester, which may have influenced the workload students were willing to do since many of them were not full-time students. Another reason might be that the group in 2004 was a rather strong one, only the course was not as well designed. Even though the grades were not higher than in 2004, the 2005 course was more structured and enjoyable for both the students and me. Class time was pleasant and a good number of students participated actively in the discussions initiated by the videos and DVDs.
It was a great surprise for me to see that for the hands-on tapas-making activity on the last day of class, through which a little extra credit could be earned, all the students came in with an authentic self-prepared Spanish dish. Additionally, students really enjoyed the culinary activity. They actively searched for recipes to prepare authentic Spanish dishes, and we enjoyed a fantastic evening meal! I plan to continue this activity the next course offering.
My course evaluations were much higher fall 2005 than the first time I offered the course. Students felt that the lectures were clear and enjoyed the added visuals via PowerPoint and videos. With that being said, I felt that students did great if their performance was based on something we did in class (e.g., watching a documentary, commenting on a picture) but that things were different if the preparation had to be done outside of class. The results of the midterm test showed that quite a few students could have dedicated considerably more time to do the assigned readings.
Fall 2006
The course went very smoothly in fall 2006, which could be expected when one is teaching a course for the third time. I was happy with the different papers I assigned and also with both exams. The material was all well paced over the semester.
Since this course was a first encounter with Spain for all but one of the students, it was harder to go into the depth that the past courses touched on, particularly as compared to fall 2005 when several students had already studied abroad in Spain. However, since it was a smaller group, I was able to do more activities in class.
The students could have done a little better as far as the readings were concerned; even if the articles were in English, they often did not read the assigned text unless I announced a quiz. I need to explore other ideas to encourage all students to complete the readings.
I think that I will keep the course essentially as it is, but always incorporate new materials since culture is a dynamic phenomenon and societies change rapidly. I am also interested in adapting new editions of the course books.| << Student Performance | ^TOP^ | Comments >> |
