Comprehensible Input 1

I have been utilizing portions of various ISD processes to design, develop, and deliver a series of training for the World Language teaching staff at Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA). The training addresses a gap in knowledge on best practices in world language instructional techniques.

Audience

Adult learners in the department of world languages at Commonwealth Charter Academy, the largest public school in the state of Pennsylvania.

Tools

Brightspace D2L LMS, Getty Images, Adobe Photoshop.

Role

I developed every aspect of this training from objectives to assessment and evaluation. This course was created at the request of the Vice President of Curriculum and Innovation and under the guidance of Dr. Luke Hobson at the University of Miami.

The Problem

Teachers at Commonwealth Charter Academy are using courses made by in-house instructional designers. These courses are designed using the second language acquisition principle of Comprehensible Input. Some teachers are unfamiliar with comprehensible input and struggle to implement it formally. Others know what it is and are hesitant to implement it. Many teachers are frustrated by not knowing or understanding how their World Language courses are designed.

Analysis

Analysis has been underway informally for a year. I sat in professional development meetings, did informal one-on-one and group interviews, met with the department's chair, and hosted brief Q&A sessions.

These sessions helped me understand their current approach to world language instruction, the state of the programs they are using, and what they need to feel confident, comfortable and better utilize the program to ensure student success.

When the Vice President approached me with the formal request, data was collected from the potential audience via survey with an 83.7% completion rate.

Design Process

The ADDIE model has been used as a waterfall design process from analysis through development of this train-the-trainer session.

The project has already gone through several rounds of changes as a result of feedback from stakeholders and testing with a small group of current teachers.

For actual course, content backward design was used once learning objectives were fully formed. From learning objectives both formative and summative assessments were designed, and then content and learning activities to carefully scaffold material were selected and designed.

Design Principles

Knowles' six principles of adult learning (andragogy) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) were used to guide the design and development of this train-the-trainer session.

I immediately set out to establish how the course will help teachers in their practice and what they will be "getting" out it. In other words, I let them know why they might want to participate!
Next, I considered the wealth of experiences my learners are coming to this training with. I did a pre-design survey to help me develop content that was engaging and relevant - to complement and build on their rich existing knowledge.
I also implemented UDL principles to not only reach each learner but provide a sense of autonomy that adult learners crave. The course is set up asynchronously and provides learners choice in how they learn and how they demonstrate their knowledge.
Lastly, I made sure that the training was relevant, pulling actual lessons from our LMS, and relating learning material directly to their everyday work. The course was problem-centric "How can we incorporate this into our live classes?" while making sure learners knew the answers to that question could be applied the very next day in their classes.

Next Steps

This training will be implemented in a live preliminary session in April 2024. Learners will then move through the rest of the course asynchronously with a final course deadline in the last week of May.

Learners are being asked to complete a course evaluation that has already been designed and placed in the course according to Kirkpatrick's model of evaluation.

The course will then be revisited and revised and a new training series will be developed in response to the results of the current training.

Goals

The Vice President of Curriculum Development came to me with the following questions she wanted a training to answer.

What is comprehensible input?
What is it not?
Why has the instructional approach changed?

Based on these questions and learner and gap analysis the following objectives were created:

define Comprehensible Input;
identify Comprehensible Input in practice;
determine what makes input comprehensible;
analyze Commonwealth Charter Academy courses using Comprehensible Input Strategies; and
make connections between Comprehensible Input and ACTFLs guiding principles.

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Contact

I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.

rachel@RMlearningdesigns.com