Ciao!

The first semester is over and we are starting to look into the results of the first part of our project. Throughout the semester, we collected quantitative and qualitative data on students’ learning and engagement, and on teaching staff’s teaching experience. Quantitative data still has to be fully analysed. Yet, we already have some insight. Check it below.

Students’ language skills 

One of the main of objective of our project is to enhance language learning through adaptive learning software. The data we collected on students’ performance during semester one suggest that regular and continuative practice on an adaptive-learning software is beneficial for language learning. Although we cannot establish a direct cause-effect relationship yet, the data we collected shows a positive correlation between the use of the adaptive-learning software and the improvement of language skills.

Students’ learning experience

We collected data on students’ learning experience through focus groups and online surveys. Overall, students’ showed a very positive assessment of the impact of the adaptive-learning software on their learning experience. Many students said that the software has allowed them to improve their language skills through day-to-day practice. Having the chance of practising on their phones or tablets was also a very positive aspect. On the other hand, students also highlighted that in-class activities were a fundamental part of their learning experience and that online practice cannot replace direct interaction with teachers and other students. We believe that this is an important point to make when re-thinking the way we teach integrating new technologies in our classes.

What’s next?

The data we collected shows that the introduction of adaptive and mobile learning technologies in beginner classes of Italian had a very positive impact on students’ learning experience. We will use this data to further improve our unit. Especially, we aim at achieving a better integration between online and in-class activities, as our students have asked for more writing practice in class. We will also start analysing our quantitative data in a systematic way, so that we can identify learning trends among our students over the whole year.