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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Casts in the Classroom: An Innovative Approach to Archaeology Instruction
Casts in the Classroom: An Innovative Approach to Archaeology Instruction will extend to the undergraduate classroom a realistic archaeology experience, according to Anthony Boldurian, Anthropology, UPG. The project will blend archaeology and learning by creating An Artifact Activity Kit on Clovis Technology & Tools for each student. Each kit will contain 11 durable resin casts of Paleolithic stone artifacts, a 5,000-word reader, and an illustrated manual detailing seven activity modules. This ensemble will portray the industry and lifestyle of Clovis nomads who, during the Ice Age 13,000 years ago, pursued mammoths and other now-extinct creatures through the Americas. Molds will be created from artifacts that are available only to specialists. Resin as a casting medium creates an exact replica, and to be able to make unlimited duplicates enables all students to receive the same stimulus at the same time. Therefore, students gain better abilities to communicate and learn collaboratively. Students will “handle things they would never otherwise be able to see. They will be given the opportunity to examine artifacts, feel their shape, appreciate their mass—things archaeologists do every day in real life,” comments Boldurian. “For example, one activity employs artificial sinew and casts to teach students how to mount a weapon tip on a shaft. In others, students manually re-fit artifacts to reconstruct how stone blades were fabricated in a prehistoric workshop. The goal is to inspire students to seek, dig, and expose. As they pursue, they discover, and new discovery sparks further exploration. Engagement with the tools will allow students to connect with once-viable social systems from long ago, thus introducing them to a multi-cultural world.” Boldurian has written the reader and the instruction manual. The resin casts are made by a local artisan with considerable experience in casting in this manner. The kits will be introduced as instructional materials for UPG students in 2003-4 and evaluated by comparing exam scores of a course using the kits with those of a control class that covers the same unit of study without the kits. | |||||||||||||||||
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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