Breaking Down Boundaries through Collaborative Learning Communities: Integrating Outdoor Teaching into a Year One Introductory Archaeology Course

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology to Transform and Disrupt: Teaching, Learning, and the Pedagogies of the Future" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Studying a non-school subject such as archaeology at university can be challenging. This knowledge gap can compound barriers for new students, including living away from home, arranging a new job, and making friends. Creating a collaborative learning community is therefore important for encouraging student engagement with unfamiliar teaching methods and a new subject matter. We present our reflections and observations from teaching a first-year undergraduate course: Artefacts and Materials. This course aims to introduce students to artifacts from diverse periods and places and how archaeologists analyze and interpret them, using lectures, seminars, and outdoor practical workshops. To address the combined pedagogic challenges of creating inclusive and collaborative learning communities, and enable deep learning of unfamiliar objects, materials, working techniques, and cultural settings, an integrated program of outdoor experimental archaeology was used to augment traditional classroom-based teaching methods. Student feedback suggests this combination can support the creation of a positive learning community. Shared practical tasks can encourage diverse contributions and support peer-group formation by discussing objects together. The experience of working with materials firsthand can encourage deeper learning. Finally, students noted that working in this outdoor space can promote well-being by reducing stress and anxiety and promote sociality.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology to Transform and Disrupt: Teaching, Learning, and the Pedagogies of the Future   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39169.0