2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
An investigation into Japanese students' note-taking skills in EMI/CLIL courses
| Project/Area Number |
19K00920
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| Research Institution | J. F. Oberlin University |
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Principal Investigator |
Broadbridge James 桜美林大学, グローバル・コミュニケーション学群, 講師 (30645198)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
楠元 洋子 桜美林大学, グローバル・コミュニケーション学群, 講師 (10749310)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | Teaching methods / Learning strategies / Study Skills |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The research has achieved a number of advancements this year. One of the main aims of the year was to invite a leading authority in listening and notetaking to Japan to consult and collaborate on the project. This goal was achieved in November when Professor Joseph Siegel of Orebro University in Sweden came to Japan. Professor Siegel’s recent research output in note-taking places him at the forefront of research in this field and his input on the project and offer of continued collaboration throughout the four years of the research will help it achieve its long-term goals.
In order to learn more about Siegel’s four-step note-taking cycle of instruction, replication studies were carried out by both researchers in the autumn semester. Results from the replication studies suggested that participants were able to improve both their volume of notes taken and units of information following instruction, but this did not lead to better performance in post-tests. While this may point to flaws in the four-step cycle, it also became apparent that the pre/post-tests used in the study could also be at fault. Work therefore began on improving the quality and reliability of the tests. Something which we hope to pilot in the coming academic year. Should this prove successful, it is hoped that the remainder of Phase one in which materials are produced may be unnecessary.
The replication of Siegel’s study and the collaboration with Professor Siegel led to a number of academic presentations in the past academic year
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The discovery of the flaws in the testing process used in Siegel's 4-step note taking instruction framework, mean that there is a strong possibility that our original plan to create our own lecture materials is no longer necessary. We plan to test this belief in the coming year using authentic lecture materials. If this succeeds, along with the implementation of a fifth step especially designed for Japanese students, we feel that we will have managed to progress the project at a rate much faster than expected.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The replication of Siegel’s study led to a number of discoveries in the difficulties that Japanese students have in taking notes in their L2. These point to the need for a fifth step beyond the four noted by Siegel that would better lead to the retention of information presented in lecture form. This possibility, when coupled with the discovery of the need to develop more reliable pre/post-tests as noted earlier, mean that a movement to an action-research approach for the coming academic year may prove to be the most beneficial approach for the study.
Plans for 2020 are complicated by the move to online learning in Japanese universities due the Covid-19 outbreak. We therefore plan to refine the 5-step method. It is hoped that a return to classroom teaching in the fall of 2020 will allow for both the principal investigator and co-investigator to implement the new 5-step process in class.
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| Causes of Carryover |
In our original plan, we budgeted to purchase IC recorders to record lectures for use in the research. Due to developments in the plan, it became apparent that we did not need to record these lectures, therefore this money remained unaccounted for. Dependent on results of the new testing process, we may need to return to the original plan of recording lectures, so this money may be required in the coming year.
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Research Products
(3 results)
