Summary: Professor Chen Gao used WeChat, a popular social networking app in her EAST-UA 205 Advanced Chinese I course to create an online learning community. Students submitted their essays and short stories based on classroom reading. Selected student writing was published on the WeChat official account “四海八荒青年说 (World Youth Forum)”. Students read each other’s writing and provided constructive peer review via the WeChat app. They were invited to read and comment on other students or native speakers’ responses. At the end of the semester, Gao collected students’ writing, produced a student journal, and each student received a physical copy.
 

Goals:

• Build a virtual learning community to facilitate collective and immersive language learning
• Promote students’ interest in writing and build their awareness both as a reader and a writer
• Provide level-appropriate reading for students

Selected Student Feedback:

• “I liked that it was a different way to learn!”
• “It allowed me to view other peer’s writing that was close to my own level.”
• “Reading classmates’ posts helped me in reviewing the content of the lessons.”
   

Summary: Professor Chen Gao developed grammar mini lesson videos for her EAST-UA205 Advanced Chinese I class to introduce sentence structures prior to the class. These videos detailed grammar usage, reviewed points of confusion and provided grammar exercises. 

Learning Objectives:

• Leverage instructional videos to deliver new material and prepare the students in a guided setting
• Promote student self-learning and scaffold students’ understanding of the reading
• Increase in-class engagement as students learn challenging material
• Highlight the most common grammar errors
• Allow students to access material anytime, anywhere and study at their own pace
   

Student Experience:

• Watch videos as many times as needed to achieve mastery of the material before class
• Answer guiding questions to gain familiarity with new material before class
• Reviewing material outside of classroom in a stress-free environment
• Prepare a presentation about the topic to participate in classroom discussion
• Step back and revisit old material
   

Selected Student Feedback:

• “Grammar mini lessons are very helpful. Emphasis on which grammar structures are important. Concise, clear, straight to the point.”
• “I like [that] people come to class with basic foundation, making it easier to learn more information in class time.”
• “It gave me a resource to refer to outside of class.”
• “It gives [me] more time to process.”