Course ePortfolio

 

Students participating in the Master of Arts in Spanish program must successfully complete a minimum of 30 units of approved graduate courses in Spanish which include the following:

1. 6 units of required foundational courses: SPAN 5400 (Graduate Research Methods) and SPAN 5410 or 5420 (Literary Theory or Methods of Teaching Spanish)
2. 21 units of elected Spanish offerings (7 courses) at the graduate level.  Students must take at least one course in each of the areas of literature, linguistics/pedagogy, and cultures, and at least two courses must be at the 6000 level or above.  Courses previously taken at the 4000 level may NOT be retaken for credit at the graduate level.
3. To be accepted for degree candidacy, students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA.
4. 3 units of required culminating experience: SPAN 6900 to be completed in the final semester of program study.  The culminating experience is intended to demonstrate a breadth and depth of knowledge in the discipline and will integrate what the student has learned over the course of graduate study.  The default culminating experience is in the form of a comprehensive exam. If the student prefers to pursue the master's thesis or culminating project option, it must be approved by the graduate committee. In all three cases, the student will present their work to an established panel for evaluation.

Pedagogical Approach

A mixture of collaborative and inquiry-based approaches.

 

The collaborative approach emphasizes collaborative learning, which is the idea that learners work together to gain a greater understanding of the information they’ve been presented with. 

This process allows learners to create an environment where people can interact with each other by sharing experiences and knowledge. This can be done in various ways, including exchanging ideas and information and even evaluating or monitoring somebody else’s work. We will get together on Zoom once a week, and they will have time to interact in groups and/or pairs and develop exercises for future students, and discuss theories and ideas presented in class by the instructor. 

 

 

The inquiry-based approach is unique in the sense that it encourages learners to engage in exploration, investigation, research, and study. It begins with presenting questions, scenarios, or problems that require critical thinking to solve, which is vastly different from other approaches where facts are presented straightforwardly.

This approach requires more than just giving the correct answers to questions and encourages more thoughtful and engaged participation from learners. This makes it incredibly effective when teaching science, as many science topics are more easily learned through an understanding of processes rather than isolated facts.

Learning Outcomes

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (ADDRESSING CONTENT AND

SKILLS)

CO1. Students will be able to recognize and describe different elements and

concepts related to language teaching. Assessment: questions, quizzes,

summaries, and outlines.

CO2. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of highly

sophisticated discourses (oral or written) in Spanish. (Comprehension).

Assessment: questions.

CO3. Students will be able to summarize and explain their ideas related to a

topic or text orally, fluently and with a high level of correctness. Assessment:

In-class discussions.

CO4. Students will be able to respond in writing, fluently and with a high

level of correctness, to questions derived from a text or question written in

Spanish. Assessment: questions, discussion boards.

CO5. Students will be able to summarize and explain in writing oral and

written texts with correctness. Assessment: summaries, outlines, questions.

Those learning outcomes have to do with all the modules.

Module 1. Methodologies, varieties and variation, and myths about varieties

and learning. (Students will be able to summarize and identify the main

methodologies, myths, and varieties of and about Spanish).

Module 2. Creation and evaluation. Global Competence, SDGs and World-

Readiness Standards. (Students will be able to identify the various types of

activities created in foreign language classes, and the aspects of global

competence, SDGs, and world-readiness standards, and how to incorporate

them into the activities).

Module 3. Cognitive and emotional aspects in the teaching of languages.

(Students will be able to identify them and discuss about their influence in

the classroom).

Module 4. Linguistic disciplines in the classroom: Phonetics and Lexical

activities. (Students will identify their characteristics and discuss and reflect

on their importance in the classroom; they will also list the main difficulties

English speakers experience).

Module 5. Improving strategies in the classroom: Interaction and Mediation.

(Students will identify different activities and discuss and reflect on their

importance in the classroom).

Assessment

 

-Assignments (summaries, outlines, questions, Flipgrid videos): 35%.

-Discussions: 30%.

-Review quizzes and quizzes related to the materials: 20%.

-Final: 15%

Other Information

Apart from some materials available in Canvas, we will use the Open book:

Innovación y nuevos enfoques en la enseñanza de la lengua, la literatura y la cultura hispanas: experiencias prácticas para llevar al aula, by T. Fernández-Ulloa and E. Saneleuterio. The link to download it will be available soon.