© University of Reading 2008 Department of Archaeology University of Reading April 25, 2014 ATLAS:...

© University of Reading 2008 www.reading.ac.uk

Department of Archaeology

University of Reading

April 21, 2023

ATLAS: Assessing, Teaching, Learning, Archaeological SkillsAmanda Clarke

Department of Archaeology, University of Reading 2

Silchester Roman town:The Insula IX ‘Town Life’ project: 1997 - ?

ResearchTraining

•Research

UNIVERSITY TRAINING EXCAVATIONS


Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks(and some new ones…)

Quality Assurance Agency Archaeological Benchmarking Statement ‘Fieldwork constitutes an essential aspect of the engagement with professional practice’

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2001 The Silchester Field School module

Teaching Core archaeological skills:•Collecting & recording archaeological data

Teaching more generic skills:•Skills awareness•Reflection

Employability: skills, knowledge

and personal attributes


• Aim: To provide the student with a basic knowledge of archaeological field techniques

Employability

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• …and site recording methods.


Student diversity: something for everyone

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Teaching & learning - outside the classroom

Department of Archaeology, University of Reading

The Silchester Field School module5 years on…. Reflection…

• 2006 – Oxford Archaeology 2nd biggest employer of all University of Reading graduates

Education versus Training; HE versus Employers

•embed employability into curriculum – skills, knowledge & personal attributes

•teach skills awareness – self-assessment/reflection/PDP

•transform work experience into learning – ongoing reflection and assessment

•work experience must be credit-bearing


The IfA - Skills & Knowledge

Skills that are learning•technical skills•initiative•team-working•working under pressure•communication skills•adaptability•attention to detail•taking responsibility and decisions

Knowledge not necessarily learning•commercial context of archaeological practice•roles and responsibilities of differing sectors of archaeological practice in the UKWessex Archaeology


10 years on…..Archaeology Now and in the Future

sectoral recession

Wessex Archaeology

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The Silchester Field School module10 years on…. Reflection…

• Exactly what skills are we teaching?

• How effective are we?

• Do our students recognise the skills they are learning – and their value?

• Can skills recognition/awareness/self-reflection lead to better employability?

What if we did not haveArchaeological Field Schools?


Subject Centre for History,

Classics and Archaeology

Progression Beyond the Classroom: Actively Teaching and Learning

• This project will evaluate methods used to teach fieldwork skills, with a view to increasing student self-reflection, improving assessment, and developing student understanding of the importance of personal development plans (PDP). This will help students maximise opportunities on other departmental research projects, and enhance their employability within the archaeological profession.

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Assessing, Teaching, Learning Archaeological Skills

ATLAS Transferable

Technical

Academic

http://sites.google.com/site/atlasreading/

ATLAS: 3 University Field

Schools Heslington East, University of York Silchester, University of Reading

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Dorchester-on-Thames, University of Oxford


ATLAS Methodology• Questionnaires

• Focus Groups - students

• Interviews - Site Directors and Supervisors


Students: What will Fieldwork do for you?Staff:What has Fieldwork done for you?

• What are the best methods for teaching archaeological fieldwork?

• What aspects of fieldwork training should be assessed?

• What are the best methods for assessing performance?

• How can assessment be linked to your future employability?

ATLAS – THEMESCareers, expectations, teaching methods, the experience, assessment, PDP, employability


ATLAS Results

• Site Director interviews x 5

• Supervisor interviews x 26

• Student Focus Groups x 22

• Supervisor questionnaires x 19

• Student questionnaires x 78


ATLAS: some results

READING YORK OXFORD

Length of Field School

2 or 4 weeks 3 weeks 2 weeks

Residential? Yes No Yes

Assessed? Yes Yes No

1st year preparation?

Yes Yes No

2nd year follow-up? Yes Yes No

Careers lectures Yes No No

Type of Archaeology

Complicated, urban, lots of finds, difficult

Less complicated, rural settlement and fewer finds, but intercutting features make interpretation difficult

Fairly complicated, urban, many finds, can be difficult

Type of Supervisor % Commercial – 67%PG – 25%UG – 0%Other – 8%

Commercial – 83%PG – 17%UG – 0%Other – 0%

Commercial – 0%PG – 60%UG – 20%Other – 20%

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ATLAS: some results

READING YORK OXFORD

Students: Has fieldwork training lived up to your

expectations? % Yes

90.5% 86% 33%

Students: Effective Field Skills teaching? % Yes

90.5% 83% 60%

Students: Importance of assessment. % Yes

100% 59.5% 21%

Students: Career in archaeology? % Yes

62% 45% 28%

Staff: how well you think that the ways in which you teach field skills has been effective? % Yes

82% 80% 66%

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ATLAS - The Student Experience: expect the unexpected..

• Physical work

• Few finds

• Methodical process

• Detail & complexity versus using a mattock


ATLAS The Student Experience: the expected….

• Team working

• Experience of ‘real-life’ work

• Problem solving

• etc, etc

..but what does it mean?

ATLAS Teaching methods

• Importance of the Supervisor/sectoral knowledge

• Importance of explanation ‘We spent over two hours trowelling down an area and then they just come along and tell us to mattock it. I don’t see the point, what a total waste of time and effort.’

• Importance of small group teaching/peer group teaching etc

• Importance of real-world scenarios & putting transferable skills in context


ATLAS Assessment

• Incentive: ‘If we weren’t assessed on this the trench wouldn’t be half so deep.’

• Proof of achievement• Difficult to judge

individuals on something as dynamic and flexible as archaeological fieldwork

• How to assess individuals for group effort?

ATLAS Personal Development Plans

‘People know what their skills are and there is no need to write them down.’ Oxford student

•Problems of student engagement


Lessons of ATLAS

• Skills awareness is high amongst students…..but real life applicability of these skills is still elusive

• Generally employability skills awareness is good amongst universities & this is reflected in the on-site teaching methods

• Assessment of employability skills is crucial

• We still have a long way to go with PDP

• Employability skills need to be embedded throughout the university years


To Sum Up….. EMPLOYABILITY – who cares?

The ‘right fit’ for employment

•Students

•Universities

•Employers

•IfA


What Students Wantto be employable


What Universities Want

GGAT

to demonstrate that they are delivering employability


What Employers Want

they don’t necessarilywant the ‘finished item’

they want someone who shows they can learn

who can fit into a teamYork Archaeological Trust


What IfA Wants

sectoral commitment to standards

individuals demonstrating their technical and ethical competence

archaeologists better at working in archaeology, archaeology better for archaeologists to work in

MoLA


Training Deliverers: issues?

•who delivers the training

•how to demonstrate competence

•learning standards?

•learning about the sector

•life-long learning

Wessex Archaeology


IfA Accreditation of Field Schools?

•common model for accrediting learning experiences

•industrial endorsement

•IfA doesn’t want to QA teaching quality

•IfA might want to QA learning content

Wessex Archaeology


Lessons for Silchester :the most valuable skills

• Communication: within team and outside team

• Learning to work together towards a common objective

• ‘Jigsaw’ skills: seeing the whole picture.

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Lessons for Silchester: ASSESSMENT• Interactive database quiz – 5%

• Daily practical assessment - 40%

• Self evaluation report – 30%

• An on-site ‘test’– 25%

•Tension between the acquisition of specific archaeological skills and the acquisition of generic skills•How to assess generic skills


Lessons for Silchester Access to learning resources:Undergraduate Research Opportunities & Traineeships

Student support


Silchester Placements

PART 2 STUDENTS

SILCHESTER 2011 Assessed Employability PLACEMENTS

• Building on excavation and post excavation skills

• Team work and organisational skills

• Skills and Knowledge about running a large, long-running excavation project

• Professional Development and Employability Skills

• Progression towards a Traineeship

PART 3 STUDENTS

SILCHESTER 2011 Assessed ARCHAEOLOGICAL

TRAINEESHIPS

• Excavation and post excavation skills

• Management Skills

• Professional Development and Employability Skills


What next?

• Group assessments

• Training Supervisors

• Atlas offspring…following the ATLAS students into their 2nd year and beyond


What Employers Want

• Attention to Detail

• High boredom threshold

• Common sense

• Forward planning

• Ability to ask questions

• Work within a team

• Understanding of the post excavation process and how it relates to the site

• Writing field reports

• Ability to produce good site plans & sections

• Good knowledge of and flair for studio photography and lighting for artefacts

• Driving licence

• H&S, Manual Handling

• Variety of experience

• Ability to pick up the phone and COMMUNICATE

• CSCS card

• EXPERIENCE COUNTS……

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the consummate archaeologist:an impossible dream?

© University of Reading 2008 Department of Archaeology University of Reading April 25, 2014 ATLAS:...

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