By Erin-Lee Halstad McGuire, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Canada.
Archaeology is a hands-on discipline, but it is very difficult to get 200 students doing anything archaeological in a large lecture hall. When I had small-group tutorials for my courses, students took part in what has become a relatively widely used garbology exercise (Google will turn up several variations of this). We also ran an experiential archaeology activity relating to ancient board games. But these things don’t translate well to the lecture hall as they are resource intensive. I still wanted to include active learning through a flipped(ish) classroom model, so it was time to go virtual.
The textbook I use has a fairly traditional coverage of archaeology. There is material on methods, theory, ethics, and a chronological approach from the Palaeolithic through to the modern world. We work through these chapters and some online module materials across a three-week period, where students read the chapters and complete reading quizzes, I present a few lectures, and we have some guest speakers who talk about case studies. The flipped(ish) classroom component comes at the end of this sequence and takes up a full 50-minute block. The goal is to connect various threads from across the three weeks, reminding students that the pieces interconnect and build on each other.
Virtual archaeology
The archaeological site, GF11, is fictional. I created it using Prezi, which allows users to zoom in to see further infomation, and various other pieces such as images, charts, and videos. Click to see my GF11 Prezi in action. I don’t want students to just google interpretations – I want them to create their own. I have loosely used some Viking Age elements to help build it up because that’s my area of expertise, but it really could be anything.
I start the session with a micro-lecture, where I very briefly review some of the relevant concepts we have covered. For example, I do not cover dating technologies again, but rather remind the class that there are absolute and relative dating techniques, which are described in course module 5, and decisions about which ones to use depend on factors like available evidence and resources.
On our LMS, students have a page dedicated to the flipped classroom activity, containing simple instructions and links to the worksheet and archaeological site. An example of what this resource page looks like can be viewed on my website. The class is invited to work in teams so they can share screens and collaborate on responses. For this exercise, any device with internet access works, but mobile devices are restricted to linear navigation of the Prezi, while laptop users have a lot more freedom in how they explore the site. For this reason, I encourage students to use their mobiles for reviewing the worksheet questions and googling things, while using laptops for the site.
The worksheet contains a series of short answer questions, meant to be answered in groups. Some of the questions are designed to be answered based on a holistic look at the site, while others require locating specific parts of the site to consider the evidence there. Some questions have factual responses, while others are a matter of opinion. My goal is to foster discussion, rather than simply hunting for facts.
One question asks: “What kind of diet do you think people had at GF11? What evidence informed your conclusions?”
Example of detailed group answer from March 2024:
“They were omnivorous – they consumed large animals like pigs and cows as evidenced by the bones found in the fire hearth. Additionally, remains of birds such as ducks, geese, and pigeons have been found with indications of consumption. There are also remains of plant matter; seeds, grains and phytoliths of mostly wheat and barley. Fish bones appear later alongside a decrease in amount of other animal remains – indicating they only started eating fish in the latter days of settlement.”
Extending the activity
From start to finish, the activity in intended to take approximately 40 minutes. That said, I have students who whip through it in 20 and others who wish there was more time. I circulate the room as they work on it and those who finish quickly I prompt to expand on their answers or point to other resources. I provide a brief wrap-up discussion at the end to review answers, but enough students request more time on the activity that I am considering moving the discussion to another class session or to an online format.
Our final exam includes several questions derived from the flipped classroom activity. I have not correlated participation and exam question grades directly, but at the end of each final exam, I have students who comment on noticing the link between the activity and the exam and that doing it helped them feel more confident with those questions. A confidence boost in the midst of exam stress feels like an excellent outcome to me.
Resource: Archaelogical Adventure Activity Plan
Practicing Primatology is number 3 of 4 resources Erin-Lee Halstad McGuire is sharing as part of their Flipped Classroom practice. This resource series includes an Introduction to the Flipped Classroom Method, an ice breaker activity, a primatology activity, and a globalization/sustainability activity.
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