Learning Solution Review Blog

Description of the learning solution

The eLearning course I selected is a 5-week MOOC course titled Mandarin Chinese for
beginners. I reviewed a 50-minute lesson in week 5 on “Learn How to Order and Talk about
Food”. This topic is not only interesting and useful to learners, but also easy for learners to
practice in real life. The structure of the lesson can be categorized into following sections:

Section 1: Vocabulary (written characters and pronunciation)

Section 2: Instructional video with interactive activities
Section 3: Quiz
Section 4: Introduction to phonetics
Section 5: Discussion prompt
Section 6: Review

Screenshot of the table of contents

Principles of Serious Learning

After completing all sections of this lesson, I concluded that this eLearning module contained
several elements that reflect the Principles of Serious Learning. There are also several principles
that could be better incorporated in the design of this eLearning product.

Tie Learning to Performance Goals

For adult learners taking Mandarin Chinese courses, their performance goals include using the
language in authentic settings, communicating with Chinese people, and applying the language
in daily activities. In this eLearning module, right after the basic vocabulary was introduced, the
Chinese instructor started her lesson with an introduction of the common features of Chinese
cuisines and three major cuisines from different regions in China. She attracted the learner’s
attention and then brought up that the lesson would teach how to order Chinese food properly in
a restaurant. Learners are motivated to learn this lesson because they can practice the knowledge
when they go to a Chinese restaurant. The lesson executed the “Tie Learning to Performance
Goals” well.
 Screenshot of the instructional video

Use Interactivity to Prompt Deep Engagement

During the 8-minute instructional video, the on-screen texts prompted the learner to listen and
repeat after each subtopic. This activity made the learners pay attention and actively engage in
the lesson. After the instructor taught a few popular dishes, the learners were asked to choose a
correct answer to the practice question. Then they needed to do another pop quiz after another
subtopic was introduced. The interactive activities had some merits to prompt learner
engagement, but the question type lacked creativity and validity. There were only two choices
for each question. Even the learners don’t learn the content, they still have a good chance to get it
right. To prompt deep engagement, the instructional designer should choose the type of
interactivity that prompt the learners to put some thoughts to it. The lesson partly applied the
“Use Interactivity to Prompt Deep Engagement” principle.

Enlist Authentic Contexts

The third part of the instructional video is a scenario video. It showed a dialogue between a
waiter and a customer in a Chinese restaurant. It provided an authentic context to use the
language learned in the lesson. For foreign language teaching, using a realistic scenario applies
the “Enlist Authentic Contexts” principle. The learners get to see how to use the language in an
authentic setting by watching the video. The scenario included the greetings from the waiter, the
ordering process, display of the Chinese dishes, and asking for checks.

Screenshots of the scenario video

Provide Realistic Practice and Provide Guidance and Feedback
The lesson lacked realistic practice. The focus was still for learners to recognize the vocabulary
and phrases by making correct choices. They didn’t get a chance to practice in a role-play or
simulation. The practice quiz and the final quiz were both 2-choice questions. The practice quiz
did grade the answers automatically, but it only said “correct” or “wrong” without any further
explanation. In the final quiz, 11 out of 15 questions could be answered without learning this
module because only one choice was related to the topic of the lesson. Both the “Provide
Realistic Practice” and “Provide Guidance and Feedback” principles are missing in this module.

Adapt to Learner Needs

The learning module allowed the learner to proceed the lesson in any order they want. The
learners can choose the section of the lesson through the menu. It is helpful for learners to review
and refresh their memory. They can also skip the practice questions if they want. If the learners
see no value in the practice questions, they don’t need to waste their time and can just advance to
the next section. Furthermore, the transcript was provided in both English and Chinese. Learners
can make note on the transcript directly for later review. The eLearning module applied the
“Adapt to Learner Needs” principle.

Mapping the learning module to serious learning principles allows us to evaluate the eLearning
product and also improve our instructional designs in our future work.

Resources:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/mandarin-chinese-1/supplement/fFy2Z/new-words-sheng-ci

https://elearningmanifesto.org/