the virtual past for future archaeologists hannah cobb and melanie giles university of manchester
TRANSCRIPT
The virtual past for future archaeologists
Hannah Cobb and Melanie Giles
University of Manchester
• Principle 2.1: To provide students with eLearning resources that are engaging and which encourage the pursuit of higher learning.
• Principle 2.3: The University will promote a blended learning model in which eLearning enhances the student experience by complementing face-to-face interactions between students and academic staff, and by supporting flexible learning and different learning styles.
• Principle 2.4: The University will promote the appropriate use of technologies for efficient and effective forms of both formative and summative assessments.
• Principle 2.7: The University will use technology to facilitate flexible approaches to learning and assessment that meet the educational needs of a diverse student population.
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/walkabout/intro1.html
RLO-CETL GLOMaker and the Altar of Pergamum tutorial
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/hca/themes/e-learning/emi_glo
Aims
• Review and significantly enhance the provision of archaeology specific eLearning resources in the department of Archaeology at the University of Manchester
• Develop a suite of eLearning resources which will be available for teaching archaeology, or adapting for teaching history and classics at other HE institutions nation-wide.
• Undertake a pilot study to examine the efficacy of such resources in supporting learning in the undergraduate degree.
ARGY30502 Vocational Skills 3
• Level 3 Vocational Skills Course – Legislative context of archaeology and heritage– Assessed, amongst other things, by a mock DBA
(50% of assessment)
• Issues– Students felt the DBA exercise lacked relevance– Students felt under-equipped/that they lacked the
experience to produce a DBA– Key DBA resources could not be lodged in the library
To GLO or not to GLO?
• GLO Benefits– Easy to use, freely downloadable software– Multiple interpretation facility– Can be easily imported into any VLE
• GLO Limitations*– Can’t include web links/PDFs – Limited to linear navigability– Limitations in appearance
*Specific to GLO V1
• Orient– Introduction [What topic] – Learning Outcomes [What topic]– Why are DBAs relevant to me [Grab attention and Why
learn] • Understand
– What is a DBA [Apprehend]– What is the purpose of a DBA [Apprehend]– Why undertake a DBA? [Apprehend]
• Use - DBA self test 1 [Quiz] • Understand
– How to create a DBA – Data collection [Comprehend]– How to create a DBA – Writing the report [Comprehend]– How to create a DBA – What should each section
include? [Comprehend]– How to create a DBA – Assessing the significance of the
archaeology [Comprehend]– How do DBAs fit into the archaeological planning
process [Comprehend]– Who will use a completed DBA? [Apprehend]– Vox pops and transcripts giving case studies of end
users of a DBA [Comprehend]• Use - DBA self test 2 [Quiz] • Understand - Conclusion [Apprehend]
• Easy (non linear) navigability• Control over layout• Links to both resources and pages in Blackboard and
websites/ web resources outside of Blackboard
Additional DBA Resources
I used the resources on Blackboard on a regular basis
0%
0%
8%
35%
58%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Neither Agree norDisagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
The resources on Blackboard met my expectations of web provision for this
course
0%
4%
4%
42%
50%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neither Agree norDisagree
Strongly Agree
Agree
The resources on Blackboard were useful for supporting what was covered
in lectures
0%
0%
4%
42%
54%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Neither Agree norDisagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Did you use the DBA (Desk Based Assessment) online tutorial?
73%
27%
Yes
No
Positive feedback from the DBA tutorial resource
• 58% strongly agreed and 42% agreed it was clear and easy to follow
• 56% strongly agreed and 33% agreed it had the right amount of links to supporting documents or websites
• 79% of students used it more than once
I found the vox pops/recordings of who might use a DBA useful
5% 5%
11%
37%
42%
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree
I used the associated quizzes to test my knowledge from the online tutorial
21%
11%
26%
21%
21%
Agree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
What were the least useful aspects of the DBA resources?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Emphasis on historic archaeology
Generic Blackboard resources
Lack of help on DBA tutorial
Only 1 tutorial
Repetition
Some resources didn't load
The lectures
Too many of the same articles
Too much to print
Too much information to absorb
Nothing - it was all useful
What were the most useful aspects of the DBA resources?
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Clarity of resources
Clarity of tone used
Ease of use/navigability 3
Generic Blackboard Facilities
Quizzes
Ease of access
Resources were all online/all in one place
The range of information/resources
The Online Tutorial
Links to other websites
Example DBA
Maps
The available literature
I will use the skills I learnt from the Online tutorial in my future career
32%
5%
26%
26%
11%
Agree Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Conclusions
• Pilot study demonstrates eLearning resources can significantly enhance student understanding of key subjects
• GLO software provides a useful tool for considering pedagogical patterns - although various advantages of making an RLO outside of the GLOmaker
• Some areas to smooth out in future delivery (e.g. streamlining of tutorial/information available)
• Future online availability of the tutorial resource planned for Autumn 2009
Contact:
With thanks to:
The HEA History, Classics and Archaeology Subject Centre, The University of Manchester