New tools, new designs: A study of a redesigned hybrid Spanish program

Abstract

This study reports on the rehybridization of three beginning-level Spanish courses and the effect of the new redesigned courses on student learning and on self-reported levels of anxiety. The data collected included pretests and posttests of listening comprehension, linguistic knowledge, and foreign language anxiety, as well as qualitative data on student perceptions of the new courses. Results showed that students significantly improved in both listening comprehension and linguistic knowledge and that self-reported levels of anxiety decreased over the semester. In addition, comparison data was collected in the form of final exam grades from the former hybrid SPAN1010 and SPAN1020 courses and from the corresponding redesigned hybrid courses. Results showed that students in the new redesigned SPAN1010 hybrid course performed significantly better than students enrolled in the former SPAN1010 hybrid course. However, for the SPAN1020 course, there were no significant differences in students’ final exam grades between the two hybrid formats. Student perceptions of the redesigned hybrid courses were mixed, with positive comments about the effect of the online work on student progress, but frustration at encountering initial technical problems and at the number of hours required to complete online work.