Abstract:

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a large, metropolitan public research university in Orlando, Florida; it is highly influenced by its proximity to the “Space Coast” and the technological industries that support it. UCF is also designated an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by the United States Department of Education, indicating that at least 25% of the full-time undergraduate student population is Hispanic. As an HSI, UCF has additional opportunities for funding to support the expansion of educational access and innovative programs for Hispanic students. [1]

To extend educational access and opportunities to Hispanic students, the Division of Digital Learning and the Department of Modern Languages developed an innovative program to support Spanish-speaking students that involves the translation of existing digital course content from English to Spanish and the delivery of the course content in both languages. The initial proof of concept focused on assisting Spanish-speaking students to learn complex, US-specific legal concepts and terminology. The pilot program translated faculty-created course content housed in the institution's learning management system (LMS).

The steps involved in implementing this pilot program include the following:
Translate into Spanish faculty-created course content. English-language course content was systematically downloaded and sent to a cloud-based automated Spanish translation program.
Integrate Spanish course content into the LMS. Spanish language translation of course content is displayed via a tabbing framework, allowing the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students to access all content in both languages.
Review Spanish content. Spanish faculty review Spanish-language translations for lexical and syntactical accuracy, specific terminology, and the inclusion of faculty’s online persona.

Empowering students to select their preferred language conforms to the Universal Design for Learning framework. For example, non-Spanish-speaking students benefit from exposure to discipline-specific concepts in Spanish by developing an increased familiarity with, and appreciation for, the second language. Preliminary results of this pilot program are encouraging, with both faculty and students developing positive perceptions of the usefulness and quality of the translated course content.

In this paper, lessons learned and best practices that emerged from this pilot project will be shared so that this model may be implemented at other institutions.

References:
[1] United States Department of Education. Hispanic serving institutions division [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2022 Jul 12]. Available from: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/hsidivision.html(2022, June).

Keywords:

Translation, University Design for Learning, online.