Project idea development and connecting with project partner

(Teacher task) Generating and refining project idea, connecting with community partner, making logistical arrangements

Task Description:

Chinese clan hall, HPV

Hawaii's Plantation Village, an outdoor museum highlighting Hawaii's plantation labor heritage, is run by a community-based nonprofit and operates on a minimal budget. In recent years the Village has acquired a modicum of fame locally as the location of one of the top-ten scariest Halloween attractions nationwide, the Haunted Plantation, which was featured on the television show "Ghost Hunters," but most of the time the museum is open in the daytime, offering docent-led tours of the museum's "village" of plantation-style worker housing, offices, shops, temples, and social spaces. Many of the docents are descendants of immigrant sugarcane workers and have connections to the local Waipahu sugar mill (now converted into a community center). As such, they have rich and varied knowledge of the various ethnic groups that made up Hawaii's plantation labor culture and of how plantation life used to be, so each tour is likely to yield new historical treasure for the visitor. Given that Hawaii's sugar-producing days are over and the economy has shifted away from agriculture, HPV has particular significance as a locus for historical preservation.

However, due to the Village's budgetary limitations, it is not really well-resourced enough to reach its full potential in terms of curating of its trove of artifacts, developing interpretive displays, editing and printing visitor guides, and so forth. Many of the existing displays are showing their age or have an improvised air, and while HPV does host scores of school group visits each year that feature activities such as trying on ethnic garb or learning how to perform lion dances, non school-group visitors of school age are not provided with anything beyond a basic schematic of the layout of the Village's structures. With this in mind, developing a resource in support of the visitor experience for children became the starting point for this project. 

The idea of creating an activity book focusing on forming associative connections between a child's own life experience and the things he or she would see at HPV was arrived at only after a long gestational period. Given that the targeted level of instruction was Novice, the idea of a product for children was settled upon fairly quickly. But the shape and theme of the product took a long time to emerge. There were detours into exploring the different jobs that plantation workers used to do, creating a coloring book or a story book, or even designing a scavenger hunt. The idea to produce an age-appropriate activity book of the type that parents use to keep the kids quiet on a long road trip was arrived at only after we had been in contact with HPV staff for quite a while -- assuring them that we would come up with SOME idea -- and a fairly short time before the actual beginning of the project. 

Since we were in contact with HPV staff (acually with the Executive Director) for many months in advance of the project, and made some preliminary visits to the Village to discuss the possibilities for collaboration, we were well known to them, and making arrangements for the group visit was a relatively simple matter aside from the usual logistic complexities -- scheduling, transportation, and food. HPV kindly granted us the use of an air-conditioned activity room to use on the day of the project visit after we finished our tour.

We knew that we would want to use actual images of Village buildings and artifacts as the basis for activities in the activity book, but we anticipated that it might be frustrating to attempt to gather images from the learners' individual devices in real time on the day of the visit. Therefore, we did an advance visit with the specific aim of taking lots of pictures, after which we placed more than 200 photos we had taken into an accessible folder in Google Drive, so that the learners could simply choose and use images. (Of course, we did not restrict them from using their own images if they wanted to.) 

After creating the image archive, we took the additional step of trying our own hand at activity design, producing several prototypes that could serve as examples for the learners. Additionally, we examined a good number of existing commercially produced activity books and from them distilled 16 common activity types for which we created generic instructions in English, accompanied by translations in Chinese and Pinyin romanization, for the reference of the learners. In addition to these resources, of course we had to create the other "pieces" you will see in the subsequent stages of the project. It is perhaps worth noting that the comprehensible-input story used in the Entry Event was conceived and composed just two days before it was used in the project, replacing an earlier Entry Event document that presented the project idea in English. The story turned out to be a key element in the project, providing a beautiful, level-appropriate entrée into Mandarin Chinese while effectively embodying the Driving Question in the story of a little girl who visits Hawaii's Plantation Village and succeeds in making a connection between an unfamiliar object she sees there and a familiar object she has seen her mother use.

Task Time:
Up to half a year in advance of the project
Task Extension:

Variations of this project (non-English resource for young visitors) can be imagined for practically any museum.

Technology Tips:

Google Drive provided an effective repository for project planning documents.

Potential Hurdles:

Establishing a working relationship with the institution in advance is obviously essential.

Files

Input activity / Entry Event

Comprehensible-input story that provides initial language input and helps learners understand the need behind the Driving Question.

Task Description:

This story about a little girl is intended to reify the motivation behind the project, viz., the idea that younger visitors to Hawaii's Plantation Village will benefit from a resource that helps them make connections between what they see at HPV and their own lives. In the story, a 6-year-old girl named Jiajia sees her mother ironing and develops a mental image of the concept "clothes iron." Later, her mother takes her to visit HPV and Jiajia sees an object that she is not able to identify. When she asks her mother, her mother tells her "That's an iron!" and Jiajia suddenly realizes that a clothes iron from the past looks different from a clothes iron today. The story concludes with Jiajia's mother giving her an activity book from HPV in which Jiajia finds a connect-the-dots activity. When Jiajia connects the dots, she sees an iron and she is very happy. 

This story was presented onscreen with live narration modified to suit zero-beginners, using lots of repetition, gesture, slowed-down speech, etc. At various points during this first day, such as on the bus going to HPV, the story was repeated without visuals as a means of spaced repetition. Although the story is not really intended as anything more than a framing device, it was plain that some of the language in the story "rubbed off" on the learners, and that they were primed to hear some of the language in the story recycled into other comprehensible input or tasks. 

Below is a narrated version of the story produced after the fact as reinforcement for the learners. The slides from the story are also attached as a PDF. (Look for three dots near the bottom of this page and follow the link.)

Following the input story activity, learners were presented with the Driving Question:

Driving Question

Task Type:
driving question
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
30 minutes
Task Extension:

In an instructional sequence longer than this project (which is quite limited in scope), one might carry the character of Jiajia forward and base other project products on similar projections of her needs and wants. 

Technology Tips:

Slideshow was produced in Google Slides, which can be exported as a PDF. The narrated movie was produced as a screen capture using QuickTime Player on a Mac, then uploaded and published in YouTube.

Potential Hurdles:

It is very important that the story be presented as comprehensible input (though not perhaps 100% comprehensible) with suitable modulations of language.

Files

Examine existing exemplars

Learners examine existing children's activity books to spot desirable features, item types, layout, instructions.

Task Description:

Following the story input phase, learners were taken by bus to visit Hawaii's Plantation Village. On the half-hour bus trip, they were offered a number of examples of activity books for children and were asked (in English) to discuss with a seat-mate what activities they liked best and why. They were asked to consider attractiveness and clarity of layout, clarity of instructions, pedagogic benefit, and overall appeal, and to start thinking about what kind of activity they themselves might like to design. 

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
30 minutes
Task Extension:

Given that these are zero-beginners, we asked them to complete this task in English. It is difficult to imagine how the L2 might be deployed in this instance, unless there were perhaps an L2 form the learners had to fill out to "rate" the workbooks -- in which case they would need a key to decipher the rating form. It doesn't seem worth the investment.

Technology Tips:

No technology required

Potential Hurdles:

A variety of commercially-produced children's activity books had to be procured and used for this activity, which represents an organizational challenge / expense.

Files

Tour Hawaii's Plantation Village

Learners arrived at Hawaii's Plantation Village and underwent a typical HPV tour, led by docents.

Task Description:

The typical visit to HPV involves a guided tour about two hours in duration. Since we felt it was important for the learners to know what their target audience for the final Public Product would experience, we had them go on the typical tour before beginning brainstorming their ideas for the activity they themselves would like to develop for the Activity Book. 

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
2 hours
Task Extension:

In a longer-term project, the capture and curation of images could become a point of focus for further language development and technology skills development. By providing the scaffolding of the image archive, we reduced cognitive and affective load on the learners.

Technology Tips:

Learners were informed in advance about the image archive in Google Drive, so they were freed from the necessity of capturing and curating their own images. 

Potential Hurdles:

Organizing the logistics of a group museum visit is always a challenge. We had the expense of bus transportation, lunches and beverages for the participants, and museum admissions.

Files

Determine "need-to-knows" for the project

Before beginning their project work, learners examine what they need to know to produce the Public Product.

Task Description:

Inquiry by learners in PBL is driven by what learners need to know in order to successfully produce the Public Product, including all the component steps along the way. If, for example, the Public Product is to be based on data gathered by the learners, then the "need-to-knows" for the project will include not only the needed data itself, but how to gather and assess the data. With this in mind, a PBL designer can project the "need-to-knows" for a given project, but she may not be able to make a final determination on what they are until she gets input from the students, or has even embarked on the project, as some "need-to-knows" may only become apparent as a project proceeds.

In this project, the "need-to-knows" were fairly straightforward; the designer prepared this slide set

and went through it at HPV just after the tour was completed, projecting the slides on the wall, walking through them briefly and asking for any questions. The slide set anticipated questions learners might have and pointed them to resources to help with some of the questions. This way, learners could always return to the slide set and follow the links when needed, strengthening their ability to work independently.

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
30 minutes
Task Extension:

If I rework this slide set in the future, I would like to find ways to build in the target language and use images more effectively to support comprehension.

Technology Tips:

Google Slides is an ideal medium for developing a "need to know" document.

Potential Hurdles:

Learners must have a clear concept of the Public Product for a "need to know" document to be effective. The teacher should anticipate adding to or modifying the document based on student input.

Files

Sketch out activity design

Learners work in L1 to sketch out their activity design idea, then obtain critique and feedback through a gallery walk.

Task Description:

At this point, learners have looked at sample activity books, have taken the tour of Hawaii's Plantation Village, and have been encouraged to think of an activity of their own that will help Chinese-speaking children connect what they see at the Village to their own lives. They have also have seen the example connect-the-dots activity that the little girl in the story (Jiajia) completes to make the connection between the modern iron that she sees her mother use and the rusty old iron she sees at the Village. As part of the Need-to-Knows, the learners have seen the teacher's expectations with regard to their activity design -- that it needs to have a title, an illustration based on a photo from the Village, and a set of instructions.

So at this point the time is ripe for the learners to put their idea on paper, sketching out a title, an image, and a set of instructions, and to give and receive feedback on the activity ideas with their classmates. The teacher shows another example activity and invites the learners to use large-format newsprint and marker pens or crayons to rough out their design. The teacher also specifies that once an activity design is finished, it is to be posted on the wall for a "Gallery Walk" in which other learners will stroll by and annotate the posters with "I like" and "I wonder if" statements to provide feedback. The whole process takes a little over half an hour. In this case, learners tracked their progress on the design task using a checklist.

 

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
30~40 minutes
Task Extension:

This process could profit from iteration, i.e., having the learners re-sketch and do a second Gallery Walk to refine activity ideas.

Technology Tips:

Technology tools could substitute for the large-paper format, but there is something about working on paper that seems to get the creative juices flowing!

Potential Hurdles:

Learners who are not accustomed to critique and revision may hesitate to offer feedback suggesting revisions; the "I wonder if" format of the critical comments is designed to mitigate any negativity. It is very important to allow sufficient time in the instructional plan for this activity; in our experience, activity designs underwent significant revision through this process.

Files

Prepare to use the target language

Teacher pre-structures learners' linguistic interactions as they seek the language they need for the Public Product.

Task Description:

In the Need-to-Knows, the learners are offered various resources for the completion of their project. It is assumed that the beginning learner needs total scaffolding in order to accomplish any task that uses Chinese, since the learners have no previous background, and they have had just one story's worth of comprehensible input. For example, the learners do not know the Chinese sound system, and do not know how to pronounce something written in Pinyin, much less characters. To delay use of the language until after learners master Pinyin and the sound system would mean adding a considerable time cost, with the attendant risk of a loss of student drive and motivation. Therefore, rather than conceiving the learner's need in terms of "language they need to learn" to accomplish a task, this project design conceives of need in terms of "rough-and-ready tools they need to use." Granted, this implies that students will be using language without some of the background information that beginning learners typically gain in the first few weeks of instruction, and that their production accuracy will be low. The risk of forming bad habits or making gross errors is considered worth the potential return of successful production of the public product. 

Two key tools listed in the Need-to-Knows prepare learners to use the target language to produce their page for the activity book. One is a table of instructions for a set of 16 different activities typically found in children's activity books, such as Connect-the-Dots, Color the Picture, Spot the Difference, etc., all provided in English, Pinyin, and Chinese characters. The other is a flexible script for an interview with a language informant, designed to help the learners obtain language that they wish to use in their activity design. In this case, "obtain language" means to come away from the interview with a paper on which the interviewer has successfully directed the informant to write the desired phrases in Pinyin and in Chinese characters. This paper will be useful to the learners when they do layout of their activity in the group Activity Book draft online. 

In line with the "rough and ready tools" concept, the teacher does not engage in extensive practice with the learners using the model activity instructions or the interview script. Instead, the teacher leads the students on a listen-and-repeat of the interview script, and then models one brief interview with one of the informants. Participants are directed to perform the interview in pairs, i.e., two learners interview one informant. The teacher holds up an example and reminds them of their goal for the interview: obtain a paper with the instructions they need for their activity, written in Chinese characters and Pinyin.

 

In the original project design, participants were expected to perform these interviews by the end of the first day's time at Hawaii's Plantation Village. This proved to be impracticable in the allotted time, so the interviews were carried out on the following day. In this particular instance, five Chinese-speaking informants were available to serve pairs of participants. In a classroom situation in which native-speaking informants are not readily available, the design can be modified so that the teacher is the informant; further variations can be imagined in which students attempt to pose interview questions asynchronously online via audio recording, and the teacher responds to each audio recording in writing -- or, if the teacher wishes to eliminate the learners' need to type, the teacher can respond via email so that the learners can copy and paste text directly from the email.

Having received and reviewed the "cheat sheets," the learners are ready to embark on their "language-getting" interviews.

Task Type:
scaffolding
Task Focus:
grammar
Task Time:
30 minutes
Task Extension:

If there had been more time available, the instructor might have had the learners stage mock interviews using the "cheat sheets," but instead of asking "how do you say X in Chinese" they might have been prompted to ask for different information -- for example, "How is your last name pronounced?" and "How do you spell your last name?" These questions are very similar to those on the "Survival Sheet."

Technology Tips:

In this case, the teacher distributed paper copies and reviewed the docs using a projector. As mentioned above, other technology-enabled variants on the interview process are possible.

Potential Hurdles:

The teacher will need to adjust his or her thinking to get used to the idea that students will be using "cheat sheets" and stabbing wildly at pronunciation to communicate from the very beginning. An approach in which students worked on spelling and sounds before attempting any communicative use of the language would probably not be an appropriate fit for this project-based curricular model. 

Files

Interview language informants

Learners interview Chinese speakers to obtain the target-language equivalent of the activity instructions they need.

Task Description:

In the previous step, "Prepare to use the target language," learners have had a short orientation to the process of getting into, through, and out of an interview with a native speaker to obtain a written version (in characters and Pinyin) of the activity title, instructions, and any other language they need to design their activity in the drafting document. In this step, they carry out the actual interview. In this case, the group of learners had access to several native-speaking informants, but in various other instructional contexts, a teacher might have to use alternative strategies to help the learners "source" the language they need.

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
grammar
Task Time:
30 minutes
Task Extension:

Depending on the time available, the teacher might want to draw out formulaic language from the interview script and use in in a language practice activity. For example, students might practice an interview with one another in which they become more familiar with getting into, through, and out of a query process by (1) asking whether the other person is free, (2) using the polite preface to a request for information, (3) asking how to spell their names in English, (4) thanking the other person and expressing gratitude for their effort. In this way, the utterances used in the interview would begin their transition from "rough-and-ready tools to use" to "language we are starting to learn and practice."

Technology Tips:

In this case, the interviews were performed face to face. Technology-based alternatives to this model are possible.

Files

Draft activity design in TL in group document online

Learners take the language they have obtained from their informant, incorporate it into their activity design, process images as needed, and do layout.

Task Description:

At this point, learners have a critiqued and revised English version of their activity (on poster paper) and have a written version of the Chinese language they need for their activity design. In this task, they process any images they need, then proceed to a group document that has been preformatted as a drafting space for the activity workbook. In this instance, we used Google Slides as a drafting platform, with the slide format set to match a standard publication format The teacher needs to scaffold the activity workbook design by assuming responsibility for parts of the design that are beyond the learners' capabilities, such as drafting the front material (cover, title page, colophon info). 

The step begins with a transfer of ideas from paper to pixels: learners need to transfer their activity idea from the marked-up poster paper, plus the target-language instructions (Pinyin and characters) they obtained from their language informant, to an electronic design document. The challenges in this step include (1) working jointly in an electronic design format with which the learner may or may not be familiar, without destroying other people's work; (2) selecting and digitally manipulating an image file to be suitable for the activity-book format; (3) typing in Chinese using the paper-based Pinyin-and-characters "clues" the learner has obtained from the informant.

In this particular instance, although originally planned for the end of the first day, this step was performed the day after the learners had returned from their field trip to Hawaii's Plantation Village. The master Google Slides document was ready with a page for each participant to work in. Some used their own computers and some used lab computers to work on layout. Learners' attention was redirected to the "Need-to-Knows" document, where support for their work was provided with a tutorial on basic skills in Google Slides, search results on how to type Chinese text on the computer, and a link to "Stencil Maker," which allows a user to abstract a photo for use as an illustration. Learners helped one another to complete their layout in Google Slides. In several instances, the language informants provided additional guidance on language when requested by learners. 

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
60 minutes
Technology Tips:

If the application used is Google Slides, learners will (of course) need to have Google accounts to edit the document.

Files

Post-production and publication

Learners' draft materials are critiqued and revised a final time, then taken to publication.

Task Description:

There are several possible variants of this portion of the project scenario. In a "max PBL" situation, in which learners are taking the maximum amount of responsibility for bringing the project to completion, postproduction would be performed by the learners in duly organized committees. Tasks include the work of finalizing layout (in our case, we used a sophisticated page-layout program), determining the exact publication format (Glossy or matte? Cover design? Designation of copyright?), shopping for printing bids, identifying funding sources, and distributing the printed books. In this particular case, after the teacher had provided the learners with a final round of feedback and learners had made their last revisions, the teacher and university staff performed all of the above-listed steps to bring the product to final publication and distribution. Two hundred copies of the activity book were delivered to Hawaii's Plantation Village for them to offer to young Chinese-speaking visitors. You can view a PDF of the book (file size 10MB).

Task Type:
need to know
Task Focus:
content
Task Time:
30 minutes

Files

Ongoing assessment and evaluation

At each stage of the project, learners used a self-assessment instrument to reflect on their learning and to provide feedback to the designers on the project experience.

Task Description:

As a "mini-project" experience, this project design was focused more on having participants experience PBLL from the student perspective than it was on language acquisition per se. As designers, while we were interested in how this project "worked" as an initial language use experience -- and whether learners came away with some bits of language -- we were equally interested in activating participants' awareness of themselves as project team members: how prepared and motivated they felt, and how they liked the project design. All of these aspects of (self-)assessment and evaluation were combined into a journal-style assessment and evaluation worksheet that participants were directed to revisit and complete the appropriate section of after each segment of the project. 

While the use of more traditional-style language assessment tools is definitely not excluded as an assessment possibility in PBLL, in this particular context the designers felt it was important to engage the participants in self-assessment -- not to mention that the notion of "mastery" of particular bits of language in such a short beginning experience is not particularly useful. 

Task Type:
scaffolding
Task Focus:
reflection
Task Time:
varies

Files