Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Zuzana Šaffková
In the last phase of the investigation, a summative as well as a formative assessment of the students´
progress was administered. For the reasons of the university requirements the students took a paperand-pencil
test in order to earn a credit. However, they could also check whether they had mastered
some of the critical reading skills and how competently they were able to apply them. The content of
the test corresponded with all the items that were rehearsed both in the in-class and on-line settings.
82 out of 97 students who finished the whole course (85%) successfully completed the test at a
required level, i.e. they achieved 70% and more of the total points they could obtain. Apart from the
selected tasks that required from the students to employ their higher-level cognitive reading skills in
the post-course test, a few items can be compared with the diagnostic on-line test (Figure 8) and thus
confirm an apparent progress in the students´ reading competence. Identifying the writer’s main idea
and detecting specific details, both stated implicitly (Q1, Q2), and especially guessing the meaning of
words from the context (Q3) were the areas that markedly demonstrated improvement. Regarding
higher-level thinking skills, the majority of the students also succeeded in spotting hidden
assumptions (67%) even if their ability to explain the preconceptions was not always accurate.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Q1 Main idea Q2 Specific
details
Q3 Meanings of
words
Figure 8: Comparison of pre-test (N=112) and post-test (N=97) selected items
Pre-test
End-of-course test
For the purposes of the investigation, a post course attitude questionnaire was designed for the
students as the last voluntary on-line assignment. The questionnaire, which was anonymous and
which was offered to the students as a platform where they could express their opinions about the
whole procedure of the course, provided a supporting picture to the analysis of their results as well as
useful suggestions for possible improvements. In the questionnaire (Figure 9), the students evaluated
various aspects of the course according to a five-point scale; however, they could also add any
comments or recommendations that they had considered valuable for the further improvement of the
instruction.
The results from the questionnaire show that the students appreciated the content of the course,
either in its in-class and on-line components and were aware of the fact that their reading skills were
developed. 64% of the students (Figure 10) considered working on-line supportive (12% strongly
agreed, 52% agreed) and appreciated especially immediate feedback provided on Moodle as well as
remedial work in the in-class sessions.
A lot of students valued the possibility to improve their critical thinking skills and even requested more
time devoted to practicing reading skills and thinking in general. They also indicated that they had
become aware of some areas in which they had made progress as Figure 11 demonstrates.
On the other hand, many students (56%) complained about the texts that were too difficult as regards
demands on both L2 proficiency and higher-level thinking skills. As far as the on-line tasks are
concerned, the students said that the most difficult for them was to uncover hidden assumptions and
even if they were able to spot them, then they struggled to explain them in an understandable way in
L2.
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