Projects by Department | Proposal Guidelines | LTLC Homepage

UPDATE ON GREEK LESSONS USING SUPERMACLANG.

This Report is a brief update of the project I started in the fall semester of 1997. When I was hired for this position teaching Greek in the Classics Department last spring, it was with the understanding that one of the first pedagogical projects would be writing computer drills for the two-semester beginning Greek sequence. I started work on this in the fall, and met with mixed results, partly due to software compatibility problems created by the need for a non-Roman character screen font and keyboard mapping capability. The SuperMacLang software could not process --or even recognize-- the different symbols in the Greek alphabet as they were mapped by the GreekKeys software.

My first task in the fall, outlined in the January Report, was to get around this barrier. I ended up devising exercises that entailed column matching and multiple choice questions. This spring I continued to write similar sorts of exercises, each drill exercise keyed specifically to the readings of each unit of Athenaze, the Greek textbook I used for the course. I also wrote a quiz for each chapter, based on the computer drill exercise. Students had a syllabus outlining when drills and quizzes were due, and they dropped them in my dropbox. In April I gave each student a Report indicating which exercises I had received and what the quiz grades were.

Overall I continue to be pleased and I see the long range potential for a coherent, integrated approach to teaching beginning Greek. There are valuable exercises I have written that reinforce the students' visual recognition of the language and its forms. Since the fill-in-the-blank type exercises such as those Joel has developed are not possible for the Greek alphabet, I have worked on developing multiple choice and especially elaborate column-matching exercises that drill and test students' facility with whatever material we were currently working on. I have also been grateful for the opportunity to quiz students on-line, instead of having to allot so much time for quiz taking in class.

Class evaluations from the spring semester again indicated that some of the students found the computer assignments to be a distraction: 60% specifically said the computer drills were the weakest aspect of the course, while 40% indicated that the drill work helped them. It appears that the strongest and weakest students fell in that 60%, while the middle of the class comprised the 40% who appreciated the exercises. From conversations before class began, some students who are not adept (or persistent?) with computers Reported having problems loading the GreekKeys software onto their machine. If GreekKeys is not properly installed then the exercises I have written look like gibberish on their screen. Weaker students then have another excuse for why they have not finished their homework, or handed in a quiz.

My specific goals for next year begin with software concerns: I want to have the Athenian screen font made available (via a server?) to every public access Mac in the computer center. This will eliminate an annoying, time consuming and complicated step for students when they go to do their computer drills and assignments. The whole Greek font problem has been on my mind not only because of SML, but also when I have looked into internet and WWW sites. I plan on getting together and picking the brains of grad-school friends working at the Perseus project at Tufts, and at the Brown University Scholarly Technology Group. The Brown University Scholarly Technology Group supports the development and use of advanced information technology in academic research, teaching, and scholarly communication. STG pursues this mission by exploring new technologies and practices, developing specialized tools and techniques, and providing consulting and project management services to academic projects. This summer I also plan to look more carefully at SML drills written by other Wheaton faculty, to see if I can adapt their successes to my drills.

I have spent this first year with SuperMacLang learning how to best make use of this software's strengths, given the limitations I am faced with. I am looking forward to working with the program next year. I will be able to redevelop and refine what I have already done, and I will have a new set of students to work with. When they arrive in September, I will have the drills as well as a syllabus in place for them, and I will be able to anticipate their difficulties not only with the Greek, but with the software. Learning elementary Greek involves vast amounts of memorization. Many students start Greek not really even knowing how they, personally, best learn by rote. From my perspective, SuperMacLang can offer them yet another means, in addition to oral work in class, and written work in class and written homework, to memorize, recognize and identity the forms and patterns of the language. I do not think this alone in the answer to teaching Greek, but when used alongside other traditional methods, I strongly believe the students will benefit and learn the material more thoroughly. This in turn will enable them to read and comprehend Greek prose with increasing ease and speed.

Last updated on 1/26/99; 1:57:19 PM
Send questions about this page to: Nancy Evans
or contact Wheaton College.