Course Planning


2 SEMESTER SYSTEM

This chart illustrates how the VISTAS program can be completed in a two-semester course. This division of material allows the present indicative tense, the present progressive tense, and the preterite to be presented in the first semester. The second semester focuses on the imperfect, the subjunctive, and the perfect tenses.

3 SEMESTER SYSTEM or 3 QUARTER SYSTEM

This chart shows how VISTAS can be used in a three-semester or three quarter system. The lessons are equally divided among the three semesters, allowing students to absorb the material at a steady pace.

Lecciones 1-6		Lecciones 7-12		Lecciones 13-18

4 SEMESTER SYSTEM

This chart shows one way to configure the VISTAS materials for a four-semester course of study. This arrangement allots only four lessons to the first and fourth semesters; this gives students time to get their bearings in the first semester and permits extra time for review in the fourth semester.

Lecciones 1-4		Lecciones 5-9		Lecciones 10-14		Lecciones 15-18

QUARTER SYSTEM

In this chart, the VISTAS materials are organized in three balanced segments for use in the quarter system, allowing ample time for learning and review in each quarter.

Lecciones 1-6		Lecciones 7-12		Lecciones 13-18

ACCELERATED COURSES OR LIMITED CONTACT HOURS

Philip Redwine Donley, Late
VISTAS Co-Author
Austin Community College
Austin, Texas

When planning for accelerated courses or courses with limited contact hours, it is important to keep in mind that the VISTAS program is designed for flexibility and can be used in all sorts of programs and course configurations. The VISTAS author team made a concerted effort to give all users more material than they could possibly use so that individual instructors will be able to select the materials that best suit their teaching styles and the needs of their students.

Instructors who are using VISTAS in an accelerated course, or who are teaching courses with limited contact hours, may want to pick and choose among the contents of each lesson when planning for their courses. Here are some things I would consider doing if I were teaching an accelerated course or a course with limited contact hours.

1. In the Contextos vocabulary sections, I would do no more than two or three activities during class time. I might assign some of the other activities as written homework on an as-needed basis.
2. Since all students will have the video available to them in a use-at-home Video CD-ROM format, I might assign the video modules as homework and do simple comprehension checks in class. If necessary, I could omit the Fotonovela section or the video entirely since they are stand-alone instructional tools that can be used independently of each other
3. I might assign the Pronunciación sections as homework and do a few items from each pronunciation activity during class time.
4. For each grammar point in the Estructura section, I would do only two or three activities during class time. I would probably do one closed-ended activity, one transitional activity, and one open-ended activity. I might assign some of the other activities as written homework, as needed.
5. I might present only one segment of the Adelante section each lesson. In Lección 1, for example, I might do the Lectura only, in Lección 2 the Escritura only, in Lección 3 the Escuchar section only and so forth. This strategy would free up class time for other activities but would not hurt students academically; the Adelante section was always conceptualized as a supplementary, synthesis-type section that instructors can use as their schedules permit.
6. I might assign the Panorama material in each lesson as a reading assignment and ask comprehension questions in class.
7. I might consider lightening the cumulative class load by doing one of three things:
       a. Eliminating Lección 18,
       b. Eliminating Lecciones 17-18, or
       c. Eliminating Lecciones 16-18.

This option is practical in certain instructional situations because these lessons contain material (e.g., past subjunctive, future perfect, conditional perfect, past perfect subjunctive) that some instructors prefer to present as part of the second year course.