Project Investigator(s): Sunnie Wang, Instructor, Department of Asian Studies, Qian Wang, Director, Chinese Learning Program
Project Description
This experimental project is the intersection of collaborative-learning, service-learning, and language-learning, which have been stressed and discussed in today’s age of global education. Through two-semesters of advanced-level business Chinese courses, this project aims to 1) assist students in designing and implementing their authentic community engagement projects by working with local communities and NGOs, 2) examine how students develop their autonomous learning capabilities through collaborative learning in task-based courses, and 3) investigate how collaborative-learning, service-learning and language-learning can be integrated to increase students’ engagement in diverse local communities, while broadening their horizon of dynamic interdependence and interconnectedness of local and global issues.
Impact on teaching and learning at UBC
Two-semesters of advanced courses of LPS will demonstrate how service-learning and language-learning can be incorporated to strengthen students’ autonomous and collaborative learning, task-based curriculum development, and school’s cooperation with local communities. Through the success of this project, a community engagement project model can be developed, and the partnership between this course and local communities can be built up and maintained. Service-learning curricula have been reviewed at various higher education institutions, including UBC. However, how service-learning and language-learning can be integrated remains under-researched. This project contributes to community engagement and learners’ growth through language teaching and learning, and with success can be applicable to other advanced-level language courses and beyond.