THE EFFECTS OF AN INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL USING CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY AND A TASK-BASED LEARNING APPROACH TO ENHANCE THE CHINESE TEACHING COMPETENCY OF NORMAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN CHINA
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Abstract
The purposes of this study were: 1) to compare students’ Chinese teaching competency after the experiment between the experimental group and the control group; 2) to compare students’ Chinese teaching competency before and after
the experiment within the experimental and control groups; and 3) to study
the students’ satisfaction after implementing the instructional model using constructivist theory and task-based learning approach in the experimental group.
The sample consisted of 80 undergraduate students majoring in Elementary Education at Sichuan Minzu College of Higher Education, China. Two intact classes were selected using cluster random sampling. One class (n = 40) was assigned as the experimental group, which received instruction through the instructional model, while the other class (n = 40) served as the control group and was taught using traditional methods.
The experiment lasted 48 instructional periods (3 periods per week, 40 minutes each). The research instruments included six lesson plans based on the instructional model, six traditional lesson plans, a validated Chinese teaching competency assessment, and a student satisfaction questionnaire. The findings were as follows:
1) The average post-test score of the experimental group was 85.109, significantly higher than the control group’s score of 79.134, with a t-value of 3.516 and a p-value < .001. The effect size 0.860 indicated a large practical impact of
the CTBL instructional model on students’ teaching competency.
2) The experimental group showed an average improvement from the pre-test score of 48.277 to the post-test score of 85.109, which is statistically significant, with
a t-value of 16.885 and a p-value < .001. The effect sizes ranged from 0.76 to 1.40, with the most noticeable improvements in teaching design ability (d = 1.40) and teaching implementation ability (d = 0.92).
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