Diversity of learning through archaeology
Archaeology is a clear educational all-around winner. Not only is it able to fire the imagination of the least academically minded student, enabling the ancient past to come alive with tales of resounding triumph, bitter conquest, lavish human prosperity, personal tragedy and cataclysmic natural disaster; but it is also an extremely effective teaching strategy because archaeology is inherently analytical, interdisciplinary, collaborative and caters for all learning styles. Archaeology encapsulates so many of the educational goals sought after in a modern classroom setting.
Archaeology is the very definition of inquiry based learning. We begin with questions or a hypothesis, seek evidence, and form conclusions based upon this evidence. These higher order thinking and reasoning skills can be difficult to incorporate in the classroom in an engaging way. So why not go out into the field? Bloom's revised taxonomy is a useful tool for tracing student engagement with higher order thinking skills in any given task or series of activities. Click HERE to download a table which outlines the ways in which the IDA simulation engages students at different cognitive levels.
The teaching of archaeology is by its nature cross-disciplinary. It is underpinned by scientific method, and both in the field and during the analysis of material culture, directly integrates several branches of science such as geology, botany, metallurgy, zoology, physical anthropology, chemistry, physics, biology, paleopathology, medicine, mathematics and computer science. Archaeology also draws on knowledge and skills from a range of humanities such as sociology, anthropology, geography, epigraphy and numismatics, to name but a few. The incorporation of cross-disciplinary outcomes will, of course, broaden and deepen student learning.
Archaeology is also fundamentally a collaborative endeavour. Even at the basic fieldwork level, there is invariably a "team" of archaeologists - we almost never work in isolation. In the post-fieldwork phase of the discipline, there is generally even greater collaboration, as the archaeological team works in conjunction with scientific and other experts. It is this spirit of collaboration which enables students participating in a program such as IDA to not only develop academically, but develop socially and emotionally as well. Students must work with peers, teachers and professionals throughout the day in all aspects of the archaeological process.
The creation of inclusive, differentiated learning activities has been a high priority educational goal since the different learning styles of students were identified and articulated by Howard Gardner in the 1980s. During the I Dig Archaeology experience, students:
* research, read, discuss, peer lecture [verbal/linguistic];
* problem solve, think critically, hypothesise, calculate, quantify, use computer databases and statistics and use scientific principles and strategies [logical/mathematical];
* visualise, plan, draw, sketch, use maps, speculate about the spatial association of artefacts, photograph and video [visual/spatial];
* engage in learning by doing, have the freedom to move around, undertake hands-on, tactile activities such as excavation and artefact handling [kinaesthetic, haptic]
* work in teams, collaborate and tutor peers [interpersonal]
* individually speculate, draw individual conclusions, make connections to their own values and principles by thinking about the ethics, attitudes and assumptions inherent in all archaeological investigations [intrapersonal]
So you can see that archaeology covers almost all of Gardner's learning styles, the only one not covered is musical....so keep an eye out in the future for "I Dig Archaeology: the musical" !
References:
Gardner, H. & Hatch, T. (1989) 'Multiple Intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences', Educational Researcher, vol. 18 (8), pp 4-10
Archaeology is the very definition of inquiry based learning. We begin with questions or a hypothesis, seek evidence, and form conclusions based upon this evidence. These higher order thinking and reasoning skills can be difficult to incorporate in the classroom in an engaging way. So why not go out into the field? Bloom's revised taxonomy is a useful tool for tracing student engagement with higher order thinking skills in any given task or series of activities. Click HERE to download a table which outlines the ways in which the IDA simulation engages students at different cognitive levels.
The teaching of archaeology is by its nature cross-disciplinary. It is underpinned by scientific method, and both in the field and during the analysis of material culture, directly integrates several branches of science such as geology, botany, metallurgy, zoology, physical anthropology, chemistry, physics, biology, paleopathology, medicine, mathematics and computer science. Archaeology also draws on knowledge and skills from a range of humanities such as sociology, anthropology, geography, epigraphy and numismatics, to name but a few. The incorporation of cross-disciplinary outcomes will, of course, broaden and deepen student learning.
Archaeology is also fundamentally a collaborative endeavour. Even at the basic fieldwork level, there is invariably a "team" of archaeologists - we almost never work in isolation. In the post-fieldwork phase of the discipline, there is generally even greater collaboration, as the archaeological team works in conjunction with scientific and other experts. It is this spirit of collaboration which enables students participating in a program such as IDA to not only develop academically, but develop socially and emotionally as well. Students must work with peers, teachers and professionals throughout the day in all aspects of the archaeological process.
The creation of inclusive, differentiated learning activities has been a high priority educational goal since the different learning styles of students were identified and articulated by Howard Gardner in the 1980s. During the I Dig Archaeology experience, students:
* research, read, discuss, peer lecture [verbal/linguistic];
* problem solve, think critically, hypothesise, calculate, quantify, use computer databases and statistics and use scientific principles and strategies [logical/mathematical];
* visualise, plan, draw, sketch, use maps, speculate about the spatial association of artefacts, photograph and video [visual/spatial];
* engage in learning by doing, have the freedom to move around, undertake hands-on, tactile activities such as excavation and artefact handling [kinaesthetic, haptic]
* work in teams, collaborate and tutor peers [interpersonal]
* individually speculate, draw individual conclusions, make connections to their own values and principles by thinking about the ethics, attitudes and assumptions inherent in all archaeological investigations [intrapersonal]
So you can see that archaeology covers almost all of Gardner's learning styles, the only one not covered is musical....so keep an eye out in the future for "I Dig Archaeology: the musical" !
References:
Gardner, H. & Hatch, T. (1989) 'Multiple Intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences', Educational Researcher, vol. 18 (8), pp 4-10