Implementing and comparing online delivery methods in reading and writing activities Kerrie Beros RMIT English Worldwide, Melbourne Peter Higgins RMIT English Worldwide, Melbourne
Context and research focus RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) English Worldwide (REW) offers ELICOS programs for students on pathways to foundation, vocational and degree programs at RMIT University. The Advanced Plus program represents the highest-level offering for students who are proceeding to undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs. Successful completion of this course is equivalent to an IELTS band score of 6.5 which is a minimum requirement for RMIT university undergraduate entry. This action research (AR) focused on the reading and writing macro skill components of the Advanced Plus course. These skills are closely integrated with group discussion activities that are designed to facilitate a deep level of engagement with opinion-style coursebook texts. The process has a strong focus on authentic academic skill development and refinement, preparing students for mainstream tertiary learning. Our initial research proposal was to offer comparisons between blended learning strategies and traditional classroom approaches to integrated reading and writing skill development. That was subsequently adjusted to reflect the rapid transition by REW to an online delivery model brought about by the Covid-19 crisis. Since April 2020, REW has not delivered any content in a traditional classroom environment and so the research focus shifted to the study of various online delivery strategies.
Participants We were allocated an Advanced Plus class to share for the duration of one course cycle. There were 15 students enrolled in the class (see Table 1 for a breakdown of the course participants’ background information). Table 1: Information related to course participants
Nationality
Pathway
Mainland China
12
Engineering/Design
8
Saudi Arabia
2
Business/Commerce
4
Brazil
1
Science/IT
3
Study Location
Previous Weeks Enrolment at REW
Onshore
6
> 20 weeks
5
Offshore
7
10–20 weeks
9
Transient*
2
Direct Entry
1
* Two students relocated offshore during the course
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CAMBRIDGE ASSESSMENT ENGLISH – RESEARCH NOTES: 80
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