从学生主体理念看智慧课堂对初中英语教学的影响

论文总字数：41987字

摘 要

本文以前人对“智慧课堂”教学模式的研究成果和学生主体理念为基础，明确界定了该模式和传统教学模式的区别，并深入阐述了当前“智慧课堂”教学模式在我国各中学英语教学中的建构。为了有一个更直观的理解，本文对国内一所采用“智慧课堂”的中学的部分师生展开了调查问卷，从学生主体理念视角进行分析，进而总结得出“智慧课堂”教学模式在初中英语的教、学、师生互动和班级管理等方面产生积极影响。

关键词：智慧课堂；学生主体理念；传统教学模式；初中英语教学

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 Foreign studies on Smart Class 2

2.1 Domestic studies on Smart Class 2

3. Theoretical Basis 3

4. The Smart Class in Secondary English Teaching 4

4.1 The definition of Smart Class 4

4.2 The Construction of Smart Class 5

5. A Survey on Smart Class 7

5.1 An introduction to the survey 7

5.2 Data collection and analysis of the result 7

6. The Influence of Smart Class on Secondary English Teaching 10

6.1 The influence on teaching 10

6.2 The influence on learning 12

6.3 The influence on bilateral interaction 14

6.4 The influence on class management 15

7. Conclusion 16

Works Cited 18

Questionnaire for Students 20

Questionnaire for Teachers 21

1. Introduction

Under the trend of global informatization, our country has put much emphasis on developing educational informatization. More and more Chinese secondary schools are putting great effort in promoting education informatization and actively exploring a new method “Smart Class”, which has greatly improved the quality of English teaching and generated a profound impact on secondary school English teaching. Smart Class has emerged on the basis of rapid development of education technology, and applies advanced learning theories, modern teaching tools and technologies to the class and is beneficial both to teacher’s teaching and students’ learning. To analyze the influence generated by Smart Class on secondary school English teaching, the author will introduce Smart Class and further illustrates the current application of Smart Class in Chinese secondary schools. By doing a survey in a local school in Huai’ an and preparing two sets of questionnaires for the students and the teachers, the author collects and analyzes the result to help reveal the influence of Smart Class in the following aspects of secondary school English teaching: teaching, learning, bilateral-interaction and class-management, thus helping people get a better understanding of Smart Class. It can help improve the quality of secondary school English teaching and promote the structural change in education to have a clear view of the exact influence of Smart Class on secondary school English teaching. What’s more, it can also help rebuild the public awareness towards Smart Class and promote the further development of such new teaching method in education in our country.

2. Literature Review

Under the development of modern technologies, Smart Class has become a mainstream trend in secondary English teaching. There have been many studies on Smart Class both at home and abroad.

2.1 Foreign studies on Smart Class

Previous foreign studies on Smart Class are carried out in the following aspects: Smart Class is characterized with personalized, diversified and autonomous learning style. (Rachida A Jhoun 14-22) Rachida A Jhoun found that Smart Class can provide learners with self-motivated and personalized study according to their own progresses and needs. Smart Class focuses more on learning activities based on Constructivism. (Rania Albalawi 31) Rania Albalawi found that the interface and physical interaction of smart devices used in the class can improve students’ abilities of learning for self-development and social interaction. Modern technologies applied in Smart Class can promote students’ learning. (Kristopher Scott 57-58) Kristopher Scott thought that the teacher can have a clear view of students’ learning condition with the aid of smart system and recommend different study materials to different students according to their different needs, which makes a real-time and effective teacher-student collaboration and bilateral resource sharing. Matt Rattp found that Smart Class which applies smart devices and modern technologies to the teaching process can greatly increase students’ enthusiasm in participating in the class activities, interacting with the teacher and putting forward their own questions or ideas.

As we can see, foreign scholars have carried out in-depth researches on Smart Class, pointing out that such a new teaching method focuses on developing learners’ ability for self-study and improving their wisdom. It applies effective learning methods as well as advanced modern technologies to the learning process, which breaks the space limitation of traditional class, makes the study time more flexible, enriches class assessment methods and improves learners’ abilities in learning and interacting with others.

2.2 Domestic studies on Smart Class

Domestic researches on the theory of Smart Class are mainly about the concept and features of Smart Class and smart learning system. Huang Huairong analyzes the dilemma of teachers and put forwards the new concept of Smart Class after analyzing the disadvantages of online learning. He found that Smart Class can help build a digitized school and overcome the problems of multimedia teaching, which contributes to the improvement of the efficiency and quality of teaching. Zhang Yonghe mentioned that in a smart learning environment, a proper learning situation can help learners learn more efficiently. Tang Yewei discussed the features of Smart Class, pointing out that Smart Class has the following five features: dataization of teaching decisions, timely feedback and assessment, cubilization of interaction and communication, diversity of resources and intellectualized activities. (Tang 14)

Chinese scholars focus on the research and analysis of teaching strategies based on Smart Class. Tang Yewei and Fan Yaqing pointed out the problems of Smart Class in primary school Math teaching through class observation. In terms of teaching methods based on Smart Class, Liu Bangqi found that intellectual teaching is the key to constructing a class based on Smart Class. He viewed the teaching process as a dynamic one which combines teaching and learning together to generate influence upon itself, he also emphasized on the student-centered teaching method and constructing a better class based on Smart Class through the process of interaction. After analyzing four cases of applied Smart Class teaching method in four subjects, Fan Yaqing drew the conclusion that the key to constructing Smart Class is to change the teaching mode to a new one which is student-centered, student-independent and teacher-led and further apply modern technologies to the teaching process. (Fan 23)

After analyzing works previously conducted, Smart Class is gaining attention from people around the world as a new teaching method, and has generated great influence upon many aspects of teaching. However, there are few researches and analysis on the influence of Smart Class on secondary school English teaching.

3. Theoretical Basis

In a traditional class, teachers control the whole learning process and students assume a receptive role in their education. With the advent of progressive education in the 19^th century, and the influence of psychologists, some educators have largely replaced the traditional teaching method with a student-centered one. The key among these changes is the premise that students actively construct their own learning. Theorists like John Dewey, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky whose collective work focused on how students learn are primarily responsible for the promotion of Student-centered Learning. Carl Rogers’ ideas about the formation of the individual also contributed to Student-centered Learning. Student-centered learning means reversing the traditional teacher centered understanding of the learning process and putting students at the center of the learning process. What’s more, Maria Montessori was also an influence in the development of Student-centered Learning for her studies on preschool children’s learning through play. (http://www.ipedr.com/vol47/032-ICERI2012-S10034.pdf)

Unlike traditional teaching theory in which teachers direct the learning process and students assume a receptive role, Student-centered Learning refers to the modern teaching model that shifts the focus of class from the teacher to the student, placing the teacher as a facilitator of learning for individuals rather than for the class as a whole. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student-centred_learning) Student-centered Learning allows students to actively participate in an autonomous discovery learning process and consume the entire class time constructing a new understanding of the material being learned without being passive, which is in striking contrast to traditional teaching theory in which students play a passive role and need to follow the teacher all the time. What’s more, unlike traditional teaching theory in which students’ interests are usually ignored and the content of learning is decided by the teacher in advance, the Student-centered Learning puts students’ interests first, allowing students to choose what they will learn, how they will learn and how they will assess their own learning, which enables lifelong learning and independent problem-solving. (https://www.esu-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/100814-SCL.pdf) On the basis of mass data collection and analysis, Student-centered Learning is now widely considered to be beneficial to English teaching

4. The Smart Class in Secondary English Teaching

4.1 The definition of Smart Class

As can be drawn from previous researches, the definitions of Smart Class include the following two basic definitions:

One definition is based on the concept of “Smart”, with scholars like Robert Manninger and Kathleen Patrice as representatives. Robert Manninger thought that compared with knowledge-oriented class or exam-oriented class, Smart Class focuses on more than the simple process of imparting knowledge but the process of developing students’ comprehensive literacies with wisdom as the core. (Robert Manninger 13-15)

The other definition is based on the perspective of informatization, with scholars like Richard Marcellus and Larry Cuban as representatives. Richard Marcellus thought that the definition of Smart Class is to realize the intelligence of education and create a smart learning environment for the students through applying advanced information technologies to the class, enriching the educational resources and improving teacher-student relationship. (Richard Marcellus 21-22) Sun Shuhui points out that Smart Class is a new teaching method which makes the class intelligent and efficient by applying modern technologies like cloud computing, big data and mobile network to the class. By creating a smart learning environment to provide students with intelligent and efficient learning, Smart Class promotes the development of all students’ wisdom. (Sun 17)

The definition of Smart Class in this thesis is the same as the second definition mentioned above. To put it briefly, Smart Class is a new teaching method enhanced by modern technologies. It integrates learning technologies like cloud computing, big data, audience response technologies, mobile networking and listening devices to foster opportunities for teaching and learning.

Smart Class is quite different from traditional teaching method for the schedule is flexible and the class duration is extendable. What’s more, unlike traditional class, Smart Class is technology-driven and learner-centric, with the teacher playing a role as a facilitator rather than a leader or commander.

4.2 The Construction of Smart Class

Smart Class has currently been employed in many Chinese secondary schools. The specific applications are as follows:

The use of multi-media equipment

In Smart Class, teachers use multi-media equipment to present pictures, videos or PowerPoint slides to the students, aiming to construct a situation related to the teaching content to better lead in new knowledge and arouse students’ interest, thus encouraging students to preview the book quickly, which can greatly improve the effect of teaching. For example, some secondary school English teachers play a video clip without subtitles and ask students some questions about the clip, thus enhancing students’ ability of using English. (Xu 15)

The use of audience response devices

Teachers take advantage of audience response devices to train students’ basic skills of listening and speaking in English. In some secondary schools, each student is equipped with an audience response device in class, which can interact with the student by recording the student’s voice and analyzing the student’s problems in listening and speaking. What’s more, such smart devices can track the learner’s learning history, thus revealing the learner’s problems in learning and offering advice on how to tackle them. Using audience response devices can fully mobilize students’ senses and realize their full potential, thus stimulating students’ enthusiasm for study and improving their learning efficiency. (Sun 157)

The use of speech classroom

The speech classroom is equipped with audio-visual facilities, which creates a virtual situation where each student can try interacting with a “virtual foreign friend”, practicing their learning and speaking abilities without worrying about making a mistake or getting embarrassed, which helps students build confidence in them and improve their abilities to use English in real life. By putting the speech classroom into use, the secondary school English teachers creates a great environment for students to overcome their internal fear in communicating with people in English and practice their listening and speaking abilities in English, thus developing their English thinking. For example, after finishing the learning of the textbook knowledge, the teacher can encourage students to perform oral practice in the speech classroom to consolidate the knowledge learnt. By using the speech classroom, students can actively practice their listening and speaking abilities and improve their English thinking.

The use of network platform

In secondary school English teaching, it is vital for teachers to know students’ learning condition, so teachers integrate the network platform into Smart Class to interact with students according to their needs in English learning, helping solve their problems and improving their performance. For example, teachers ask students to revise the knowledge after class, after which teachers interact with students through the network platform, checking their work and solving their problems. (Kim, MSong and Yoon 7835-7837)

The use of intelligent simulation system

While learning some complex knowledge points, many students find it difficult to understand the knowledge well. In Smart Class, teachers take advantage of the intelligent simulation system to simulate the entire scene and present real cases to the students, which makes abstract into concrete and helps students understand and consolidate complex knowledge points better. For example, when students don’t understand the Present Perfect Tense, the teacher can show students a video clip or some pictures containing Present Perfect Tense to help them understand the knowledge and usage better. Teacher can use the intelligent simulation system to create a real case to build a better environment for students’ learning, which helps them better use the knowledge learnt and apply English to their real life. (Kim, Cho and Lee 170-178)

5. A Survey on Smart Class

5.1 An introduction to the survey

The objects of this survey are English teachers and students from Grade 7 to Grade 8 in Huai’an Foreign Language School which applies Smart Class to English teaching. Altogether 14 English teachers and 325 students are surveyed. The author designs and prepares two different sets of questionnaires, one set for the teachers and another for the students. The questionnaires for students include 9 multiple choice questions designed from the following aspects: learning motivation, academic performance, in-class interactions, the ability of group cooperation and after-class study. The questionnaires for the teachers include 7 multiple choice questions designed from the following aspects: equipment usage frequency, teacher-student interactions, classroom presentation, in-class atmosphere, class management and after-class tutoring. This survey aims to find out the influence of Smart Class on every layer of secondary school English teaching.

5.2 Data collection and analysis of the result

The actual number of questionnaires for students is 325, only 297 in them being effective, while the actual number of questionnaires for teachers is 14, all of them being effective.

The following chart is based on data from students:

The result from the students shows that:

47.5 percent of the students prefer Smart Class to traditional teaching method, while nearly 30 percent holds that both of the two teaching methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. 62.5 percent of the students find Smart Class fun and vibrant, and they take an active part in the class, which shows that Smart Class creates a better environment for the students to study and participate in class activities. The data implies that the students’ interests and self-motivation are guaranteed in Smart Class, which meets the Student-centered Learning which requires the consideration of students’ interests and characteristics.

Over 50 percent of the students experience an improvement in their academic performance and 58.3 percent are willing to actively explore and study new knowledge by themselves, which shows that Smart Class, ensuring the central position of the students in class, serves as a great tool to stimulate students’ potential in study and cultivate their passion for active learning. The is consistent with Student-centered Learning which holds that students should be allowed to actively participate in discovery learning process and consume the whole class time constructing a new understanding of the material learned by themselves.

In Smart Class, 61.5 percent of the students are willing to interact with their teachers, and over 70 percent of the students witness a great improvement in their ability of group cooperation and communication. For after-school online tutoring, 37.5 percent of the students often use electronic devices to contact teachers for help in their study, while nearly 50 percent sometimes contact teachers through electronic devices after school. This is another evidence showing that Smart Class is designed in accordance with the Student-centered Learning in which teachers should put students in the central position and often interact with them in class to know their needs and problems, thus promoting their all-round development.

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