Development of a Training Course Based on Task-based Learning to Cultivate Film Academic Paper Writing Ability at Xi’an University

Background and aim: University students in China are required to complete an academic graduation thesis during their undergraduate studies. Therefore, it is particularly important to cultivate the academic paper-writing ability of undergraduates. The purpose of this study is to improve the film academic paper writing ability of students majoring in film literature at Xi’an University through the film academic paper writing training course. The purposes of this research were: (1) compare the film academic paper writing ability of students after the implementation of the training course based on task-based learning with the determined criteria at 70 % of each time. And (2) assess the students’ satisfaction with the training course based on task-based learning to cultivate students’ film academic paper writing ability. Materials and methods: The sample of this study was 12 students of film literature at Xi’an University, in the Xi’an City of Shaanxi Province which were selected by using a purposive sampling method. Set the sample size by using the G*Power program and set effect size = 0.80 (choose a large effect size), error prob. = 0.05 and power (1-B error prob.) = 0.80. After calculation, the size of the sample was 12. The instruments used in this research were 1) a Film academic paper writing training course based on task-based learning, 2) 8 lesson plans, 3) 4 film academic paper writing learning achievement tests (the reliability of each test was between 0.80 – 0.85), 4) film academic paper writing ability test with 0.84 of reliability, and 5) students’ satisfaction questionnaire with 0.85 of reliability. Data were collected four times during the implementation and one time after the implementation. The statistics used to analyze the data included the mean, standard deviation, and t-test for one sample. Results: From the study, it was found that: the results of the film academic paper writing ability of students after learning through the film academic paper writing training course, with the full score of 20. The mean score (time 1) of film academic paper writing ability was 16.83, SD was 1.70. The mean score (post-test 2) of film academic paper writing ability was 15.58, SD was 1.00. The mean score of (post-test 3) of film academic paper writing ability was 16.25, SD was 1.14. The mean score of (post-test 4) of film academic paper writing ability was 16.67, SD was 1.30. The mean score of the final test of film academic paper writing ability was 16.83, SD was 2.29. The finding of this table revealed that after learning through the film academic paper writing training course, every post-test score of students’ film academic paper writing ability after implementation of the training course is higher than the criterion set at 70% (14 scores) and the difference was statistical significance (p<0.05). The student's satisfaction with the film academic paper writing training course based on task-based learning was very high level (M= 4.53, SD=0.64). Conclusion: According to the research, the film academic paper writing training course based on task-based learning can effectively improve the academic paper writing ability of students majoring in film literature at Xi’an University and cultivate their ability to consult literature and integrate resources, ability to use the correct academic paper writing norms, ability to use words and organize language, ability to apply academic theories to analyze film and film phenomena.