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:

Hannah.Cobb@manchester.ac.uk

Melanie.Giles@manchester.ac.uk

With thanks to:

The HEA History, Classics and Archaeology Subject Centre, The University of Manchester