This project addresses critical challenges related to the Grammar Sheets in regards to equity and accessibility in the 1st Year Japanese courses (JAPN 1010 and JAPN 1020) at the University of Virginia. Our Grammar Sheet is designed to provide a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the grammar introduced in each chapter of the current textbook, providing useful and valuable information that is beneficial and crucial in real-life contexts. They also guide students beyond mere textbook content or online Japanese resources such as YouTube videos and address common errors made by learners. While the previous curriculum survey clearly indicates that the students find the Grammar Sheets very valuable and useful, it strikes us that more students are struggling with completing it or creating quality sentences to contribute to in-class grammar discussion. Despite our efforts of revising the content multiple times and making it easily accessible to the students in multiple means, a variety of challenges persist. The reduction in course contact hours from five times a week to four times was coupled with an increase in student absences and SDAC accommodations. When the students are significantly underprepared or miss such important discussion, it significantly affects not only their level of engagement and performance but also conflicts with the course goal set.

With this project, we will transform the existing Grammar Sheets from printed paper into multimedia platforms which are freely accessible online. We will make the transformation by refining the contents, adding multimedia components, and creating self-paced assessments. We envision that the transformed products would attract students with widely diverse styles of learning and needs and reduce obstacles that prevent students learning efficiently and effectively. Ultimately, our goal is to elevate student’s preparatory level and performance levels as their challenges or barriers are minimized.