Ferrari, E; Amorati, R; Hajek, J; Guarnieri, G
(Georgetown University Press, 2024-05)
This contribution discusses the podcast project Dagli inviati sul campus, developed at the University of Melbourne (Australia), aimed at incorporating experiential and project-based learning (PBL) (Kolb, 2015; Lee, 2015; Park & Hiver, 2017; Stoller, 2006) into an intermediate-level Italian language subject. After presenting the project, we discuss its aims and theoretical foundations, offer a detailed description of its mechanics (inclusion in the subject, internal organization, role of the teacher, assessment methods), and present an overview of the podcasts produced by students. Finally, we discuss some empirical data on students’ evaluation of the activity, in an effort to encourage future implementations of of the project in Italian and in other languages across different delivery modes and university contexts. This chapter also includes an overview of subsequent COVID-19 pandemic-related changes applied to the project, due to the online learning and teaching delivery mode, and some initial findings on its online application.