In which context should I use stellar-learning.app with my class?

Our data showed that students more easily engaged with the app when used outside the school. We then advice to use stellar-learning.app as a homework tool on top of traditional learning, using the app on a phone or a tablet, or using the browser version (stellar-learning.app). You are also encouraged to use the app for lessons in class, but we recommend not using Stellar-learning.app only in the classroom. The minimum being using it as a homework and the best being using it both in class and as a homework tool.

What is a wordpool?

A wordpool is a set of vocabulary composed of words in class’s first language and their corresponding translation in the second language learned. One or several wordpool can be used to create a lesson during which the students will learn the content of the wordpool(s).

For instance, one could imagine a lesson with 25 word-pairs composed of first and second language translations of common animals.

What is a lesson?

A lesson corresponds to a learning period, lasting several weeks, during which the students learn the vocabulary from the wordpool(s) composing the lesson. It is possible to use several wordpools in a lesson and to give different weights to these wordpools. In other words, words from wordpools with more weight will be seen more frequently by the students.

Continuing with the example described above, one could imagine that students will learn the translation of the 25 common animals for 3 weeks.

What is a session?

A session is the minimal learning unit. Each time a student starts stellar-learning.app she/he is invited to complete a session. A session is composed of several trials where students are exposed to the translations and learned through the interaction with the stellar-learning.app.

Using the same example as above, one could imagine a lesson with a session length of 25 trials (i.e., the presentation of a translation pair) with a goal of 5 sessions per week for 3 weeks.

What is the ideal duration for a lesson?

Our advice is to learn the vocabulary from a lesson for a period of 3 to 6 weeks. Based on the data we collected so far, if the planned lesson duration is shorter, the learning period may be too short to ensure proper learning. Our suggestion is then to merge the lesson with the next planned lesson to increase the learning period. If the planned lesson duration is too long (more than 6 weeks), the number of exposures would exceed the number that is suitable for efficient learning. Our suggestion is then to split the lesson in two shorter ones.

Note that before and after each lesson, a short paper-and-pencil vocabulary test assessing the level of knowledge of the previous and upcoming lesson is completed in class (~30 minutes).

What would be the ideal number of words in a lesson?

On basis of the data we have collected so far, we advise to use between 25 and 40 words in a new lesson to avoid the need to create too short or too long lessons to ensure a good level of learning. It is important to take into consideration the following information if you want to mix wordpools from new and old lessons. It is possible to adapt the ratio between new and old wordpools and our advice is to present the vocabulary for the new lesson at least 80% of the time. If you want to mix old and new wordpools, we advise to use around 30 words for the new vocabulary list.

How frequently should my class use stellar-learning.app?

We consider best to complete at least 5 sessions per week on a regular basis with the app. Based on evidence from scientific research that spacing learning sessions is more effective, the best would be to perform the sessions on different days. A good example of session length is around 25 trials per session. Performing 25 trials takes approximately 5 minutes. Then, asking your class to complete 5 sessions of 25 trials represents 25 minutes of vocabulary learning per week using stellar-learning.app. Performing sessions of 5 minutes is practical as it can be quick and easy run a session and can be spaced at different moments in a week.

How can I ensure that my class will effectively learn the vocabulary?

Based on data from a first study using stellar-learning.app, being presented with the vocabulary of a lesson around 15 times for each translation is associated to a 75% of chance of answering correctly to a vocabulary test. Moreover, our data shows that increasing engagement with the app enhances learning, with the largest gain when the app is predominantly used as a homework tool and not exclusively at class. Based on our suggestion of completing 5 sessions of 25 trials per week, here follows some examples of how long a lesson should last to ensure that each translation is presented approximately 15 times:

• 25 words → 3 weeks
• 30 words → 4 weeks
• 35 words → 5 weeks
• 40 words → 6 weeks

What happens if microphone and sound are turned off?

Activating microphone and audio maximizes the chance for all words to be presented in a session. As the audio and/or microphone activation is required for some words, disabling these settings prevent the app from presenting these words. If you then apply a learning schedule as described in the previous points and allow the use of audio and microphone, it is very likely that your class will be exposed often enough to the words to learn them.

What kind of vocabulary can I use to create the content of my lesson?

Stellar-learning.app works best for single words (i.e., nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs) and using short expression (e.g., “Listen to me”), is also fine although not encouraged. We kindly advise against using sentences in both first and second languages. Here are some reasons why:

• The app is mainly designed to learn vocabulary (i.e., words) rather than sentences
• Long sentences may not be properly displayed in the app
• Sentences frequently contain punctuation marks that are not consistently detected by the speech recognition
• Speech recognition requires a lot of care from the user in terms of pronunciation when using sentences, even more when the sentences are long

We also advise against the use of blank spaces in the vocabulary in both first and second languages. This is because blank spaces cannot be detected by speech recognition. For instance, do not use “I am…” but rather complete the blank as desired (e.g., “I am Anna”).

If you are using sentences/short expression with your class, one solution is to split the content to make it suitable for the app. For example, if your vocabulary list contains “Hello, my name is Anna”, one solution is to have the word “hello” and “name” (or “hello” and “my name is Anna”) as separate words in your vocabulary list. This strategy can also be used if the lesson contains too few words with regards to our instructions.

It is important to keep in mind that we work with 1-to-1 translations. For instance, if your class is German-speaking and you teach French, and that you ask them to learn the French word “salut” that may correspond in German to “hallo/hoi/salü”. In such a case, only one German word can be used as the translation of “salut” in the app. If you have any questions regarding how to implement your lesson vocabulary into the app, feel free to contact us to discuss a plan.