Language Learning Support Section

Abstract

R & D Background

Purpose & Design

Action Plan

Findings & Analysis

Implications

Remarks

> Findings & Analysis

1.	Increased student collaboration to co-construct knowledge both inside and outside class
	The majority of students agreed that they had more time for working with their peers in student-centred collaborative activities during class time. However, the design of the flipped drama module did not merely emphasise students’ collaboration during classes. Students were also required to achieve a number of tasks collaboratively outside class time, so that they would be able to help each other to deepen their understanding of the module content and learn the skills to work as a team.
	While completing tasks such as the original script writing and preparing for their readers' theatre competition, the students had to learn to respect each other’s point of view, adapt and negotiate so that they could make collective decisions and share responsibilities. Apart from this, they were also able to help each other to improve their speaking and acting skills when preparing for their performances and help each other to develop a better understanding of the module content when they were having discussions in class and responding to each other’s entries in their group reflection log. The following extracts show examples of students' response to the sharing in class and their online interactions.




2.	Increased confidence in speaking English
	With the space created, students had more opportunities to communicate and perform in English during lessons. This had a positive impact on their confidence and skills in speaking the language.



3.	Deeper learning and development of high order thinking skills for all students
	In the past, a lot of class time had to be spent on unidirectional teaching during which the students' role remained passive and their learning remained at the more basic levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, such as understanding and comprehension. However, with the flipped learning approach, the input of the key knowledge and skills was carried out at home. Therefore, students had more time to process the content and think more deeply before they responded to the high order thinking questions which were always included in the pre-class independent learning tasks. While usually only the more proficient students will answer the high order thinking questions in the traditional classroom, the least proficient students in the flipped drama classroom were also challenged to think more deeply and contribute their thoughts about the topic because they had more time to prepare and become more ready to cope with the tasks. They were even provided with the opportunity to raise questions they still had on the topic which is essential for the development of their high order thinking skills and deeper learning of the topic. The teachers appreciated that the flipped approach provided opportunities for even the 'quieter' students to provide quality responses to the higher order thinking questions in the pre-lesson worksheets and raise good questions. These not only created opportunities for more in-depth discussions on the topics during lessons but also allowed the 'quieter' students' a voice in class. The following extract shows how students gave varied and thoughtful responses to the questions in the online pre-lesson preparation tasks and raised insightful questions about the information given.


4.	Better management of learning through the use of different e-learning tools
	Students were also given opportunities to develop competence in managing their learning and collaborating with their peers using interactive e-learning tools. By working with the various e-learning tools and setting their own schedule to ensure the completion of their long term tasks, such as their group's original drama script writing, students were able to develop their adaptability and basic competence in the use of technology to support and manage their learning and collaborate with their peers.


5.	Students' satisfaction with the module and the flipped approach
	The findings of the post module survey indicate that 87% of the students agreed that the pre-class independent learning tasks could always help them learn the key concepts of the lessons and that 90% of them agreed that they had a lot more opportunities to put their learning into pracitce during the flipped drama classes than in the other English lessons which were conducted using a traditional approach.

	As for their overall satisfaction with the Drama module, 91% agreed that they enjoyed it very much. These findings reflect that the new approach of learning was well-received by the S4 students. It made it possible for the students to not only gain a deeper understanding of the key concepts but also engage in higher level student-centred activities during class time.