Due to a reporting error, and earlier version of this story misstated which Spanish classes will be moving to the online-only format. Spanish 101 is the only one currently slated to move online-only. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Introductory Spanish classes will now be taught entirely online — and the rest of the romance languages could soon follow.
Spanish 101, which recently shifted from traditional face-to-face classes to a hybrid online and classroom model, will move completely online to counter budget troubles and limited class space.
While students who have taken online versions of the courses have not performed as well as their peers in traditional classes, administrators said the school will save a significant amount of money and campus resources over time because of the change.
If the shift is successful, the other romance languages are likely to adopt the same model, administrators said.
The Department of Romance Languages made the change to accommodate for recent budget cuts. But Hosun Kim, director of the of the Foreign Language Resource Center, said in a presentation Monday there were many benefits to the decision.
“The financial situation was important,” Kim said. “But the main reason for redesign is that students who wanted to take the Spanish 101 and 102 courses were numerous, and there were enrollment issues.”
This semester, there are 18 hybrid Spanish courses: 10 Spanish 101 and eight Spanish 102 courses. That’s a total of about 360 seats.
Research data show that while students in the online classes were only narrowly outperformed by traditional class students in most categories, their pronunciation scores were drastically lower.
But the financial benefits were obvious. There has been a 43 percent reduction in cost and a 50 percent reduction in classroom use.
Student opinion has varied dramatically.
“Nothing can take the place of the face-to-face teaching,” said junior Paul Atherton. “Sitting in front of a computer and typing is tedious. It’s stunting. It does not flow.”
Others saw more benefits to the hybrid program.
“The hybrid course allows you to run on your own pace at your own time,” said junior Terence McPherson. “I guess it’s really just your learning style, though.”
Overall, Kim said he feels the hybrid program was a success and wants to transition Spanish 101 to entirely online as soon as possible.
“We did an assessment and the students’ perception was not positive, but the learning outcome was very positive,” Kim said.
The hybrid courses consist of four total credit hours a week: two online exercises, one face-to-face class and one small group session led by a hired peer tutor. The goal is to give the students the chance to complete and revise exercises on their own and receive help in class with problems and pronunciation.
The entirely online Spanish 101 class will include similar exercises, but rely instead on lesson videos, partner conversations with other members of the class and mandatory weekly office hours.
Kim said he hopes the office hours and partner conversations will help with pronunciation.
But with the results of the hybrid classes, some are not convinced the move is a good thing.
“For people who want to take Spanish from the get-go who have never taken spoken Spanish before, the transition to an online class might be a bad thing,” said sophomore Chris Koller.
“Professors will need to take extra steps to ensure the students can actually speak Spanish.”
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
