Abstract
• Project Chrysalis aims to develop a sustainable program using the Blended Learning approach that provides students with the necessary linguistic foundation to take community initiative.
• The project targets the gap between students who wish to initiate community projects and student initiative funding bodies like Social Service Projects for I·Care, Office of Student Affairs, and colleges by providing students with the relevant language skills to give them confidence to apply for such funding.
• It contributes to the university’s goal of internationalizing students’ vision and horizon by providing a platform that trains students’ core communication skills, including: using formal English to conduct presentations, deliver pitch and answer inquiries, enabling them to communicate more effectively with community partners.
• It consists of four components: (i) one 1.5-hour interactive workshops, (ii) five web modules, (iii) one 15 min face-to-face pitch session, and (iv) one practicum project that requires students to produce a 3-min video on a solution for a social/ community issue of students’ own choice.
• It has a competition element to motivate students to utilize what they have learnt.
• It has an initial expected number of participants of around 200-320 in total.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The Project aims to develop a sustainable program using the Blended Learning approach that provides students with the necessary linguistic foundation to deliver an effective pitch, enabling them to take community initiatives.
Activities, process and outcomes
Project Chrysalis runs in multiple rounds, each round (taking place in a single academic term) consisting of 2 1.5-hour face-to-face/online workshops, 7 web modules plus an exit quiz that students work on their own time, and submission of a 3-10 minute video for a competition.
Deliverables and evaluation
• 7 web modules (5 originally anticipated)
• A total of 33 workshops were held (40 originally anticipated)
• A total of 52 participants have participated in at least 1 workshop (200 originally anticipated)
• 40.4% of the participants completed the web module exit quiz (100% originally anticipated)
• 16 student videos have been submitted; another 4 are anticipated to be received by the end of the project (30 April) (60 originally anticipated)
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
The development of the website is crucial for easy accessibility of the web modules for our participants. The website is not password protected, so the web modules could also be available to all students at the university.
Impact on teaching and learning
Students find Blended Learning to be a suitable learning mode, particularly given the pandemic and the necessity of having Zoom lessons. Participants found the workshops to be purposeful and useful. The first workshop was useful to help orient students with the Project’s learning outcomes and expectations. The second workshop helped students practice what they learnt in the web modules, with immediate oral feedback for improvement. Finally, the video competition serves as a way to consolidate participants’ learning. The entire project teaches students how to conduct a pitch, a skill previously only taught to students of the Faculty of Business Administration.
