Enquiry Based Learning in Classics A Manchester Case Study

1
Enquiry Based Learning in Classics A Manchester
Case Study

• Working it out Situated and Work Related
  Learning in the Humanities
• Friday 16th March 2007
• Bryan Sitch, Head of Humanities
• Louise Sutherland, Curator of Learningbb
  (Secondary)

2
The Manchester Project

• This CEEBL-funded project inspires Manchester
  school pupils to take an interest in archaeology
  and the Classics by taking them to a number of
  major museums displaying archaeological and
  Classical material, gathers their responses to
  the displays and those of the public and asks
  them to report back in order to enhance new
  archaeological displays at the Manchester Museum

3
Declining Interest in Classics?

• Charles Clarke said he was little concerned were
  the study of classics to go the way of all
  flesh (2003)
• Bill Rammell, Higher Education Minister stated
  decline in university applications to read
  classics was no bad thing (2006)
• 10,000 children a year take Latin GCSE (85 from
  private schools)
• Will Griffiths director of the Cambridge School
  Classics Project said Independent schools have
  long recognised the subjects importance. We want
  all children to have access to it. (Daily
  Telegraph 24th July 2004)
• Nationally GCSE Latin is stable though not
  encouraging (Peter Jones Friends of the
  Classics quoted in Daily Telegraph 4th March
  2006)
• The number of pupils taking Latin GCSE in the
  state sector plummeted from 8493 in 1988 to just
  3468 in 2004 (Sunday Telegraph 30th October 2005)

4
(No Transcript)
5
First Contact the power of objects

• Picard Its a boyhood fantasy Data. I must have
  seen this ship hundreds of times in the
  Smithsonian but I was never able to touch it
• Data Sir, does tactile contact alter your
  perception of the Phoenix?
• Picard Oh yes, for humans touch can connect you
  to an object in a very personal way and make it
  seem more real
• Data Im detecting imperfections in the titanium
  casing . It is no more real to me than it was a
  moment ago

6
Benefits of a Classical Education

• Indianapolis survey (1973) showed children
  advanced 8 months in word knowledge, one year in
  reading, 13 months in language, 7 months in
  maths, 9 months in problem solving
• The Manchester Museum and schools of Classics and
  Archaeology have an interest in encouraging young
  people to study classics
• Widening Participation (2015 Agenda point 5)
  open up the university to students from more
  varied and including deprived backgrounds

7
The Manchester Museum

• University Museum redefining the role of its
  curators
• Working with different audiences
• No longer narrowly collections research focused
• Education and public programmes increasingly
  important

8
Aims

• Promote interest in Classics in Manchester
• Facilitate interaction of students from
  Manchester
• Contribute to Universitys Widening Participation
  (WP) 2015 Agenda
• Contribute to making Manchester a national centre
  for excellence in enquiry based learning
• Contribute to refurbishment of Mediterranean
  Gallery at The Manchester Museum

9
The Manchester Museum

• Collections of Manchester Geological and Mining
  Society Natural History Societies (founded
  1821) offered to city in 1862.
• Accepted by Owens College 1867 for the benefit of
  students and the public
• Purpose built museum building designed by Alfred
  Waterhouse (1830-1905) constructed 1883-8 when
  Owens College moved to Oxford Road
• Took advice from Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95)

10
The Mediterranean Gallery

• The University of Manchester is a nationally
  recognised centre for archaeology.
• The Museums collections of Greek and Roman
  antiquities are designated and include items of
  national and international importance.
• The Museums Mediterranean Gallery presents the
  various cultures and civilisations around the
  Mediterranean.
• A number of Manchester institutions have an
  interest in the teaching and promotion of
  Classical archaeology such as University of
  Manchester Department of Classics.

11
The Mediterranean Gallery

• In places needs to be brought into line with
  current attitudes gender bias
• However, the displays are now some 15 years old
  and the changing social context of Britain in the
  early 21st century required a reappraisal with a
  view to refurbishing the displays.
• This will be done an inclusive way that involves
  and responds to the ideas and needs of local
  people.

12
Project Objectives

• Engage students from WP schools with Classics,
  The Museum and The University
• Organise working visits to museums with Classical
  collections in this country and abroad
• Conduct visitor survey and compile report that
  will inform a new Mediterranean Gallery
• Students will acquire skills to present results
  at public forum

13
Learning Aims Objectives

• Students will
• develop their enquiry skills
• gain confidence in directing and questioning
  their own learning
• develop team working skills
• improve upon their existing transferable skills
• develop their social skills
• (hopefully!) learn more about classics and
  archaeology

14
Project Enquiry Based Learning in Museums A
Mechanism for gallery evaluation

• Total 33 students plus 4 postgraduate students
• from the Faculty of Humanities
• KS3 Greater Manchester Area Students - 11
  students from Trinity High and Littlemoss High
  School, 8 students from Altrincham College of
  Arts
• KS5 Greater Manchester Area Students studying
  classics Xavarian College (3 students)
• Two museum staff members and two from
• the Faculty of Humanities
• Total 19 hours minimal contact.
• Seven sessions per student.
• Six 2 hour sessions
• One full visit day, approx 7 hours

15
Anticipated outcomes

• Interaction of students from different
  backgrounds on a project of mutual benefit
• Provide a model for a new Mediterranean Gallery
  based on good practice elsewhere
• Day school on Manchester Museums Mediterranean
  Gallery in July 2007 to present results of
  research
• Bring together stakeholder organisations to
  promote Classics

16
The Outline

• Project allows the students to direct their own
  enquiries. through field work and project
  planning, encouraging new, key transferable
  skills.
• Originally it was hoped to create cohorts of
  mixed ages and abilities
• Students would plan their projects in their
  groups, with support from staff, allowing them to
  direct the course of their own investigation and
  its dissemination.
• They would be expected to outline their
  investigation prior to offsite visits and this
  would inform the learning of the entire cohort.

17
The Project Programme

• Identify and recruit students either through
  EiC or individual school contacts
• Staff to develop initial sessions for students
  focussing upon key skills, with input from CEEBL
  where appropriate
• Meeting 1 Staff to develop skills development
  package to promote self directed learning
• Meeting 2 Staff to develop project brief to
  provide student cohort with gallery scenario
• Meeting 3 Staff to source offsite museums with
  comparable collections and begin planning visit
• Meeting 4 Planning visit
• Meeting 5 Visit
• Meeting 6 Students to compile their research and
  carry out any additional research in The
  Manchester Museum
• Meeting 7 Preparation for dissemination
• Meeting 8 Dissemination (Day school) July 2007

18
Control Group

• Students taking part in this project filled in a
  pre-project evaluation form, outlining their
  opinions, views and feelings on Classics.
• A non-participating cohort was also sampled as a
  control group.
• At the project end, students will again fill in a
  project evaluation form, providing rich data
  about any possible attitudinal changes and
  outcomes. A non-participating cohort will again
  be sampled.
• Throughout the project staff collected anecdotal
  evidence, alongside focus groups and discussion
  outcomes from the full cohort sessions

19
Involving Students

• This is a real opportunity to involve students
  from the citys schools and university to gather
  visitor survey data and report on visits to
  institutions in this country and abroad that will
  inform new Classical displays at the Manchester
  Museum.

20
Preparation

• Preparatory sessions on evaluation, how to ask
  questions, museum displays and designing visitor
  questionnaires
• Groups worked on their questionnaires and
  reported back in a plenary session

21
Designing Questionnaires
The students worked with post grads to whom they
could relate more easily than older adults.
22
Designing Questionnaires

• Questionnaires asked members of public what they
  liked and disliked about the displays
• This information will be fed back to the museum
  in a presentation after the visit

23
The Visits

• Visits to Newcastle Shefton Gallery, Liverpool
  Hull
• Pupil This is great, can we do it everyday?

24
Visit to the Hull East Riding Museum
25
(No Transcript)
26
The Next Stage

• Visits to the three museums have only just
  finished
• Students havent reported back yet will do so
  in a fortnights time. Too early to say what has
  been achieved.
• Clear nevertheless that students enjoyed their
  preparatory sessions and the field visits - they
  applied themselves to the questionnaires and that
  real learning took place.
• We are encouraged to consider a follow-up project
  (effectively a prequel project in schools
  designed to encourage participation in the kind
  of project we ran this year)

27
The Budget

• CEEBL - 3000
• University of Manchester Widening Participation
  1000
• The Manchester museum education 1000
• Spend - transport to and from university, time
  of post graduates, museum visits, incidentals
  (squash, biscuits)

28
Some Problems

• Maternity leave delayed the start of the project
  until January this is an important time of the
  year for older students take-up of places was
  less that anticipated
• We intended to create mixed groups from different
  schools and children of different abilities. Need
  for designated teacher supervision made this
  impossible.
• Funding meant we could not take the best group to
  a European museum of Classical antiquities
• Thinking about the Mediterranean Gallery changed
  during the project it became more
  archaeological than just Classical. The students
  conclusions are nonetheless valid

29
Conclusion

• Still too early to present detailed findings
  though observation suggests students have
  benefited from enquiry based learning
• Bringing students into the university environment
  important in preparing them for higher education,
  developed transferable skills (interpersonal,
  enquiry, evaluation) and gained in confidence,
• University post grads benefited responsibility,
  remuneration, experience of engaging with
  youngsters - important for potential teachers
• Anticipated that Manchester Museum gallery will
  benefit from young peoples input about what
  works in a museum gallery for them as evidenced
  by visitor survey work and evaluation.
• Starting to think about a possible follow-up
  project