The Qualitative Research of Student Learning Outcomes for Freshmen Chinese Curriculum

• Main Authors: Pei-Yu Lee, 李珮瑜
• Other Authors: Pei-Fen Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05132508264965099195

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 學習與教學研究所 === 103 === This study will explore how students cultivate the core competencies in the Freshmen Chinese Curriculum, and which are the aspects them lack of. To non-Chinese major students, Freshman Chinese is their last formal Chinese education in the college years. The importance of Freshman Chinese encompasses a better understanding and realization of Chinese literature and culture rather than standard linguistic knowledge and examination skills even though freshmen no longer encountered the pressure of college entrance exams. Studies on students’ learning outcomes in the past were mostly conducted through questionnaires. However, the information gathered is oftentimes fragmented because learning behavior becomes overly simplified when made into variables of measurement for questionnaires. Apparently, such simplification overlooks the complexity and context of a learning process and the in-depth understanding of the process about how students acquire their core competencies. In addition to interviewing students, researchers observed the classes for one semester in order to witness how these freshmen developing their core competencies and to explore students’ learning outcomes in Freshman Chinese. After analyzing the interview, the results show that the most rewarding aspects they received from Freshman Chinese curriculum are the logical thinking skills and cultural literacy. Regarding their logical thinking, students have learned to: 1) find the answers through the questions, historical background and the context the of the readings, 2) think more deeply about the purpose and significance of classical works, 3) learn how to brainstorming through group discussion, 4) understand the cause and effect of things, and 5) see things from multiple perspectives. In terms of their cultural literacy, students have learned to: 1) understand who they really are during the process of composing an autobiography, 2) reflect upon themselves by reviewing their past experiences, and 3) contemplate their own self-worth by exploring the writers’ attitude about life. In addition, this study also discovered that there existed a cognitive gap between the teacher and the students regarding the starting point of the background knowledge prior to the class. Finally, based on the implications of the finding, this study proposed constructive suggestions to improve the learning outcomes of Freshman Chinese in the near future.