Archaeology to Delight and Instruct : Active Learning in the University Classroom

This book presents novel and interesting ways of teaching archaeological concepts and processes at a tertiary level.

The formal lecturing format is not always the most appropriate way of sharing knowledge or communicating the complexities of either past or present human behaviour - and is even less effective in terms of generating excitement for the discipline of archaeology.

Recognising this, teachers are increasingly using a range of instructional strategies and tools to facilitate different styles of learning and to give some sense of the panorama that is archaeology.

Current manuals on teaching archaeology, however, focus on teaching laboratory and field techniques, rather than active, engaging exercises for teaching the more theoretical concepts of archaeology.

In part, this arises from a persistent artificial dichotomy between 'thinking' and 'doing' that reinforces a perception of 'active learning' as something more appropriate to conveying method than theory.

This book will fill this gap, by presenting a collection of imaginative exercises designed to teach theoretical archaeological concepts to large or small classes in interesting and engaging ways.