Date of Award:

8-2014

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Sociology and Anthropology

Department name when degree awarded

Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Committee Chair(s)

Judson B. Finley

Committee

Judson B. Finley

Committee

Patricia M. Lambert

Committee

Bonnie Glass-Coffin

Committee

Pamela W. Miller

Abstract

A pilot study conducted at the Utah State University Museum of Anthropology explores the most engaging strategies for teaching archaeology to children in a museum setting. During a week-long summer workshop event in June 2013, two styles or modes of teaching archaeology were contrasted and evaluated: object-based teaching and scientific-skills based teaching. The teaching styles are evaluated based on third and fourth grade students' level of excitement and engagement with various archaeology activities - which activities are the most interesting and engaging to children while they are in the museum? The first mode of teaching archaeology focuses on object-based learning. This mode of teaching, traditionally used in the museum environment, emphasizes the use of primary resources (for example, artifacts, unpublished photographs, or maps) in learning about past people, events, and everyday life. The second mode of teaching focuses on scientific-skills development, particularly skills related to math and measurement and the application of the scientific method in answering research questions.

Four, fourth-grade-level appropriate lesson plans were developed and administered to 58 third and fourth grade students between the ages of eight and ten. Two lesson plans utilize object-based teaching strategies, and two lesson plans focus on scientific skills development. The lesson plans engage students with hands-on learning activities, such as creating their own Fremont pottery, participating in a mock archaeological excavation, creating their own split twig figurines, and learning about tree-ring dating. Prior to participation in any activities, students were given a pre-teaching questionnaire to assess their previous knowledge of and experience with archaeology. To assess which activities students found most exciting, students were asked to complete a post-teaching questionnaire.

When in the museum, children generally prefer object-based archaeology activities. The information gleaned from this pilot study may assist archaeologists, museum professionals, and education specialists in creating more relevant and exciting archaeology education programs. Through identification of the most engaging archaeology activities, museums and other informal learning institutions (for example, those that are part of the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other cultural and scientific learning centers) can focus on implementing those types of activities into their programs to better communicate with their audiences.

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