Practical Exploration of “PAD Class + Hybrid” in the Japanese Course ()
1. Introduction
The PAD class is a new teaching mode with local cultural characteristics proposed by Professor Zhang Xuexin of the Department of Psychology of Fudan University in 2014 (Zhang, 2014). It clearly divides teachers’ teaching and students’ learning into three parts: presentation, assimilation and discussion. It retains the advantages of teachers’ professional guidance in traditional teaching and conforms to students’ learning and cognitive patterns. In the PAD class, personal learning and thinking habits, learning ability and learning rhythm are respected among students, and the advantages of interactive learning in discussion and sharing are preserved. As the hybrid teaching has gradually matured after its nearly 30 years of development. From a simple combination of online and offline teaching to the “student-centered” teaching that pays more attention to students, hybrid teaching creates a truly highly participatory and personalized learning experience for students through the Internet, mobile technology and face-to-face teaching (Feng, Sun, & Cao, 2019). The integration of the PAD class and hybrid teaching concepts helps form complementary advantages, which is more beneficial to students’ learning and teachers’ teaching.
2. Research Objects and Methods
2.1. Research Objects
English Class 1 and Class 2 with undergraduates enrolled in 2019 (hereinafter referred to as 2019 English Class 1 and 2019 English Class 2) are selected as the research objects, and the Japanese language is their compulsory second foreign language course. Among them, 2019 English Class 1 is the experimental class (with 4 males and 27 females, a total of 31), which adopts the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode; and 2019 English Class 2 is the control class (with 4 males and 25 females, a total of 29), which adopts the traditional lecture teaching mode. Besides, there is no significant difference in age, gender and learning foundation between the two groups.
2.2. Research Methods
The “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode is conducted in the experimental class. Due to the Japanese language as a second foreign language, most students have no foundation for Japanese learning. Hence, the teaching objective is to build a solid linguistic foundation, master vocabulary, grammar and discourses to an extent, and understand certain cultural knowledge after one year’s Japanese learning. Moreover, a solid foundation will be laid for future postgraduate entrance examination, studying abroad, working in foreign trade and foreign companies, and lifelong learning. The New Edition of the Standard Japanese Language for Sino-Japanese Exchanges (Elementary Course) is used as the textbook, which serves as a booster to achieve the teaching objectives.
The “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode divides “teaching and learning” into five parts, namely preview, presentation, assimilation, discussion and review, the integration of which embodies the coherence and unity of learning. In the preview part, teachers integrate the high-quality learning resources of “Internet Plus”, like cultural background knowledge and academic frontier knowledge, which can enrich their learning horizons and expand their cultural knowledge. Guo Yuanxiang believes that symbols are the expression form of knowledge, and that cultural significance and cultural spirit are the core of knowledge (Guo, 2017). Learning and understanding the relevant cultural background knowledge before class gives life to the dull written language. In the presentation part, teachers help students efficiently build a learning framework, explain the important and difficult points, and help build students’ knowledge systems, so that students can form a clear learning logic, and draw inferences from their knowledge. In the assimilation part, the independent assimilation embodies the “student-centered” teaching concept in which students’ thinking characteristics, learning ability and learning rhythm are respected (Cai, 2021). In the discussion part, under the organization and supervision of teachers, the discussion is purposeful and in order. The review is a process of reflection and knowledge sublimation. After teachers’ presentation, assimilation and discussion, some students have a solid grasp of knowledge, while others do not have a deep understanding of knowledge, so they can continue to learn deeply through the auxiliary learning materials uploaded by teachers after class.
The traditional lecture teaching mode is applied in the control class, whose teacher also teaches the experimental class.
2.3. Effect Evaluation
A questionnaire survey is conducted at the end of the course among the students in the experimental class and the control class to allow the students to evaluate the learning experience and ability training in the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode and the traditional lecture teaching mode. Each item of the questionnaire is rated through Likert 5-grade scoring, in which 5 scores mean being very satisfied and 1 score very dissatisfied.
2.4. Statistical Results
The SPSS 22.0 software is applied to statistical analysis. The counting data are expressed in percentage (%), while the measurement data in mean ± standard deviation.
3. Results
3.1. Comparison of Learning Experience between the Experimental and Control Classes
Students in the experimental class and the control class are investigated about their learning experience in six aspects, namely “resource delivery, classroom atmosphere, interaction between teachers and students, interaction between students, timely communication and timely evaluation”. The findings are shown in Table 1. The average satisfaction rate of the experimental class in the learning experience of the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode is 88.71%, in which 24.19% is “very satisfied”, 64.52% is “satisfied”, and the rest is largely in the
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Table 1. Comparative results of learning experience between the experimental and control classes.
“generally satisfied” range. Those who are dissatisfied and very dissatisfied account for zero or a very low proportion. On the contrary, the average satisfaction rate of the students in the control class in the traditional lecture teaching mode is 60.35%, of which only 6.90% are “very satisfied”. And most of the remaining students are “generally satisfied”, with a few ones “dissatisfied”. It is clear that the learning experience in the experimental class is significantly better than that in the control class.
3.2. Evaluation of the Training of Learning Ability in the Experimental and Control Classes
The students in experimental and control classes are investigated respectively about their ability training in seven aspects, that is, “abilities in acquisition of knowledge, communication, independent learning, information acquisition, language expression, team cooperation and innovative thinking”. The findings are shown in Table 2. The average satisfaction rate of students in the experimental class on the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode is 90.33%, in which 41.48% of the students are “very satisfied”. It is obvious that about half of the students in the experimental class are very satisfied with the learning changes caused by the new teaching mode. By contrast, the average satisfaction rate of students in the control class on the traditional lecture teaching mode is 63.54%, in which only 10.34% of the students are “very satisfied”. Judging from the findings of the experimental and the control classes, the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode can promote the development of students’ comprehensive quality ability.
3.3. Comparison of Academic Performance between the Experimental and Control Classes
The experimental class and the control class take the final exam after the course ends. The exam refers to the requirements of the examination syllabus in its question types, scope and difficulty, which is mainly set to check the students’ comprehensive ability. The final exam results are shown in Table 3. The average
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Table 2. Comparative results of the survey on the training of learning ability between the experimental and control classes.
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Table 3. Comparison of academic performance between the experimental and control classes.
score of the experimental class under the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode is 85.02 ± 8.60, while that of the control class under the traditional lecture teaching mode is 80.46 ± 16.01. Those who score over 90 points account for 38.71% in the experimental class and 31.03% in the control class. More importantly, those who fail the exam account for 0% in the experimental class and about 10% in the control class. It shows that the final grades of the experimental class are significantly higher than that of the control class, which conforms to Zheng Lili’s conclusion from her research, namely the Practical Exploration of PAD Mixed Teaching Model in Pharmacology (Zheng, 2022).
4. Discussion
4.1. “PAD Class + Hybrid” Teaching Mode in Improving Students’ Learning Experience
More attention is paid to the high-quality learning resources from the “Internet Plus Education” in the implementation of the “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode. As teachers can consciously integrate relevant learning resources to assist students in deep learning, this mode is more abundant, more immediate and more efficient than the traditional teaching in resource delivery. The exemplary role of peers fully promotes a pleasantly relaxing classroom learning atmosphere in the discussion part. Meanwhile, this mode also allows teachers and students to communicate and interact timely. And the PAD class emphasizes the “student-centered” approach to improve students’ learning. In the discussions within and between groups, teachers can give more timely and accurate evaluation and feedback.
4.2. “PAD Class + Hybrid” Teaching Mode in Improving Students’ Learning Ability
The “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode can promote students’ mastery of knowledge. Guided by teachers’ presentation, students acquire and then assimilate knowledge. After the sublimation in the discussion part, knowledge is no longer simple symbols and texts, but personal experience internalized in one’s mind and transformed into personal knowledge. Meanwhile, different problems, discoveries, experiences and insights will be triggered in the constant thinking and reflection, thus embracing new thoughts and ideas. Therefore, deep learning is deemed as an essential condition for innovative thinking. Besides, the PAD class can promote students’ independent learning, activate their learning potential and stimulate their internal learning motivation. The brief and succinct presentation advocated in the PAD class does not mean that students do not need to study comprehensively, systematically and profoundly, which emphasizes independent learning. In the assimilation part, students can learn deeply based on the textbook and auxiliary learning materials provided by teachers. Continuous learning can help students obtain the required knowledge in the “zone of proximal development” and calmly handle the peer pressure in the discussion part, thereby enriching their feelings about learning significance and value. Deep learning requires enough width, depth and relevance of knowledge. The channels for acquiring knowledge are flexible, diverse and colorful under the background of “Internet Plus” learning characterized by the information explosion. To acquire high-quality related knowledge, it is necessary to constantly sum up experience and reflect, thus further improving the ability to acquire knowledge. In the discussion and sharing within and between groups, the process of organizing logical and persuasive speeches improves students’ expression ability, but also strengthen their team cooperation ability.
4.3. “PAD Class + Hybrid” Teaching Mode in Improving Students’ Academic Performance
The improvement of academic performance is influenced by many aspects, including external and internal factors, which restrict and promote each other. When teaching the experimental class, teachers attach importance to internal and external factors of students’ learning, inspire their interest in learning, stimulate their intrinsic motivation, cultivate their comprehensive learning ability, and tap their independent learning potential. Besides, teachers also focus on balancing students’ pressure from the learning environment, consequently improving students’ academic performance in an all-round way.
5. Conclusion
The “PAD class + hybrid” teaching mode not only promotes students to have a better command of knowledge, but also improves students’ comprehensive learning ability. The PAD class embodies the “student-centered” teaching concept and fully taps students’ independent learning potential, while the hybrid teaching concept emphasizes the high-quality learning resources from “Internet Plus Education” and focuses on the great integration of information technology and education. Hence, students can engage in learning in an organized and planned way under the guidance of the combination of these concepts, which makes knowledge vividly, completely and profoundly internalized in personal experience and in one’s mind.
Fund Program
Undergraduate Teaching Reform Project of Guangxi Higher Education in 2019 + Research and Practice of the Teaching Mode Based on Mobile Combination Platform and PAD Class—A Case Study of Foreign Language Courses of Medical Colleges in Minority Nationality Regions + (2019JGA265).