Student engagement and pedagogical innovations for the pandemic-precipitated online delivery of university Chinese courses

Abstract

This paper addresses the critical issue of student engagement in the online delivery of university Chinese courses during COVID-19. It first outlines principles of student-centered course design in the context of the full-scale online conversion. It then focuses on two main approaches to student engagement. One approach is to leverage active communication with students both before and during the semester for the purpose of learning-community building. The other approach is to design and apply pedagogical innovations to address challenges inherent in online Chinese teaching and to enhance student learning experiences and outcomes. The presentation is reinforced with critical reflections of those feasible hands-on strategies, students’ feedback and demonstrated learning outcomes. It is hoped that the sharing of the lived teaching experience and critical reflections will contribute to the understanding and improvement of online Chinese teaching and will eventually inspire and empower our students in their learning odyssey. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Yanyin Zhang and Xiaoping Gao;individual chapters, the contributors.