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At NYIT/NUPT Nanjing, China we are endeavoring to find out. So far we have found PBS materials not only helpful but crucial.

In 2007, New York Institute of Technology opened its American-style Nanjing campus in collaboration with Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT). Four academic degree granting programs are offered to qualified Chinese students. All programs are taught in English by NYIT professors; the curriculum mirrors the programs offered in the United States.

The Problem

As the only American degree granting program in China, NYIT/NUPT found their entering students to be in need of EFL help. Though their grammar and reading were adequate, writing coherence and listening comprehension were not.

The Solution

In 2007 an intensive six-hour-a-day, three-week program was created to address this. The program was taught by three American ESL instructors and nine Chinese English teachers. Limited improvement occurred in the 300 students. Comprehension studies included excerpts from NPR shows as well as PBS films (without educational support materials).

In 2008 the program was expanded to five weeks using all American ESL or speech instructors and incorporating new materials.

Thirteen’s Education Department Materials Introduced

The primary tool for this was the use of PBS programming and their collateral teaching aids. Program choice was based on student need to prepare for an American education based in western culture; preparation for future course work, concepts; and vocabulary, with a simple to moderate degree of difficulty.

The students had had ten years of Chinese-taught English. They all had the same materials, and the same vocabulary They had memorized and learned by rote. English conversation was limited, and comprehension of anything of length was nearly impossible.

The PBS materials were excellent tools, as they are visually arresting and of the highest quality. The programs were well received in rooms of 150 students with no air conditioning and 90 degree temperatures (with humidity to match).

We started and ended with CYBERCHASE. Cartoons are favorites with these 18 year olds. We also showed WHAT’S UP IN FINANCE (Economics), WILD TV (Environmental studies), THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN (science and psychology), and the WIDE ANGLE presentations “The Empty ATM” and “Turkey’s Tigers.” Also included as part of educational readiness was the POV special, “The Hobart Shakespeareans.” The WIDE ANGLE ‘Back to School’ segment gave them a global perspective.

Each presentation was divided into 40-minute segments. We accompanied each with vocabulary, outline topics, discussion items and listening goals. We followed up the presentations with break out Q&A sessions of 25-30 students.

We tested their comprehension and note taking with open notes quizzes. We held to an English only, no dictionaries or electronic devices rule.

Conclusions

Though rules of the Chinese educational system prevented us from formal pretesting, using informal short tests and subjective written student feedback we concluded the following.

Students improved in listening for main ideas and listening for details. Listening for inference was still a challenge. The students’ abilities and backgrounds were not as uniform as anticipated. The non-urban students were less prepared. Motivational levels of students were highly mixed. The students appreciated the openness of the classroom, the opportunity to freely ask questions, and the “kindness” of the teachers.

Subsequent teacher evaluations, as the students began their academic term, noted that the students had an increased readiness from 2007, participating in class discussion with original and well articulated ideas.

Most significantly, Chinese students, fearful of school, exhausted from the rigors of a high school experience concerned only with the test score, expressed a first-time joy of learning.

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To find out more about the Celebration’s sponsors, please click on the links below.

FOUNDING SPONSOR

• Chase

PREMIER SPONSORS

• National Education Association (NEA )
• New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)
• United Federation of Teachers (UFT)

• CSA-ELI
  
• Educational Testing Service (ETS)
• Fordham University Graduate School of Education
• New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)

PRESENTING SPONSORS

• Adelphi University Ruth S. Ammon School of Education
• Teachers College, Columbia University

EVENT SPONSORS

• Barnes & Noble
• EmblemHealth
  
• New York State Federation of School Administrators (NYSFSA)
• NYU Steinhardt

MEDIA SPONSOR

• Education Week

Dear Educator:

Welcome to Celebration ‘09!  Our plans for this year’s conference are bolder than ever, and I hope you’ll find this Web site much improved over previous years as you explore all that the conference offers.  Many of the changes are a direct result of what we’ve learned from attendee surveys, our partners, and our Advisory Committee.  And with all that talent focused on making the Celebration better, I know you’ll find speakers, sessions, and exhibitors that have much to contribute to your professional development.

What is the Celebration of Teaching & Learning?  One prominent educator has dubbed it the “World’s Fair of Education.”  We try to make it the place where the best thinkers and practitioners come together to play a role in shaping the future of schools.  From that perspective, then, the Celebration is where knowledge meets inspiration. 

We’ve expanded our content strands for 2009.  Teachers, administrators, and policy makers from elementary, middle, and high school will find exciting offerings in science, math, technology, global awareness, English Language Learning, literacy, autism, and whole school issues.  Whenever possible we’ve connected Feature Speaker sessions with In the Classroom sessions, workshops that allow people to dig deeper.

The Celebration is probably best known for its incredible array of Keynote Speakers, women and men who are at the very top of their fields and whose insight will raise your expectations for your profession and for yourselves.  That tradition continues in 2009 with Alan Alda (on science), Temple Grandin (on autism), Sir Kenneth Robinson (on creativity), Eric Schmidt (on technology), and the cast of the new ELECTRIC COMPANY (on literacy).

If you’ve been to the Celebration before, we hope we’ll see you again.  If you’re hearing about us for the first time or if this is the first time you’ve been able to join us – welcome!  We know how busy you are and how difficult it is to find dollars to support your professional development.  We believe the Celebration will provide you with immediate returns, but it is also an experience that will stay with you for years to come.

With all of my colleagues at Thirteen/WNET, WLIW21 and throughout public television, and on behalf of our partners and sponsors, I thank you for considering the Celebration.  We look forward to seeing you on March 6-7, 2009.

Ronald Thorpe

Vice President and Director of Education