Proposal
Developing and Testing Educational Materials
for the Geoarchaeology Course at Bryn Mawr College
Stephanie Olen
I will be working in association with
Professors Don Barber and Peter Magee in developing
and testing educational materials for their Geoarchaeology
course (ANTH/CNEA/GEOL 270). The learning goals for
this course, as laid out in the syllabus, are to understand
the processes by which humans interacted with their
physical environment; how archaeological sites are formed
in the environment; and the methods by which archaeologists
and geologists analyze these sites.? My hope for this
work is to make these learning goals more accessible
and interactive by constructing a series of lab modules,
homework exercises and course projects which can be
integrated into the current course framework.
I will begin this project by accompanying Professors
Barber and Jim Wright
(Archaeology dept) during a ten day geoarchaeological
field campaign, primarily
involving field geophysical surveys. During this time
I will gain insight into the
range of scientific skills needed to conduct geoarchaeological
research. While
aiding in the research, I will try to maintain my science-education
student?s
perspective by discerning which approaches are most
important and viable to bring
back to the classroom, as well as how these skills can
most effectively be taught.
Returning to Bryn Mawr, I will work in consultation
with Professors Barber and Magee to develop exercises
which incorporate both the experience and skills used
in the field and the methods and ideas already taught
in the course. These modules would be both hands-on
(e.g., operating a total station) and quantitative (e.g.,
analysis of geochemical datasets). Exercises would include
small projects or assignments to ensure that the student
interacts with the concepts on their own as well as
in class and to better tie the exercises into the course
framework. While the main focus in developing these
modules is method-based, I hope to find other ways to
make the coursework more alive and both the reading
and lectures more accessible. To help ensure the successs
of my project, I intend to use and participate in the
various resources and activities surrounding science
education at Bryn Mawr this summer (e.g., the MSPGP
workshops and other on-campus teaching workshops).
Meeting/Poster
Presentation
Geological Society of America Philadelphia
Annual Meeting. 22–- 25 October 2006.
Poster Title: Developing Lab Activities
to Teach Geophysical and Geocmical Analysis Techniques
in an Interdisciplinary Geoarchaeology Course. Olen
Stephanie, Barber Don, Magee Peter. October 23, 2006.
Abstract: Olen Stephanie,
Barber Don, Magee Peter, 2006. Developing Lab Activities
to Teach Geophysical and Geocmical Analysis Techniques
in an Interdisciplinary Geoarchaeology Course. Geological
Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 38,
No. 7, p. 284.
Click to read Abstract from GSA.
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