Archaeology in Public Schools

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper, focused in Bloomington, Indiana public schools, discusses how students understand and how students experience classroom interactions with objects. This research was conducted in an attempt to increase STEM skills and involvement with archaeology museums. Using collections and archaeology kits, I brought interactive experiences to classrooms to understand how children learn, and how museums (specifically the Indiana Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) can support or facilitate cultural understanding in classrooms. Field trips to museums are increasingly complex given relevancy issues, budget restrictions, the ongoing pandemic, and travel logistics. This project sought to reduce barriers to the museum and support teachers through increasing their understanding of museum education; at the same time understanding how traveling collections could make an impact on how students understand archaeology, anthropology, and museums. Additionally, it sought to bridge gaps in literature about how younger students understand objects, and provides another practical avenue for museum to engage elementary school-aged children and their teachers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37392.0