From sept@indiana.edu Thu Sep 11 13:15:08 1997 Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 17:18:05 -0500 (EST) From: Jeanne Sept To: conference@h-net.msu.edu Cc: melanie@h-net.msu.edu Subject: poster session abstract I am responding to an invitation from Melanie Shell to contribute a presentation to the Electronic Poster Session at your conference in September. I append a presentation title and abstract below, and look forward to learning more about the conference. best regards, Jeanne Sept ********************** The Stone Age Meets the Information Age: engaging students in prehistoric problem solving Jeanne M. Sept Associate Professor Anthropology Department Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405 Abstract: How can we get students actively engaged in our disciplines? How can we get them doing research and thinking, rather than passively watching their instructors demonstrate expertise? It is traditional in many archaeology classes to give students practical exercises to let them experience the process of archaeological discovery and interpretation. The scope and complexity of such exercises used to be limited by the constraints of paper media; now the use of multimedia software allows us to guide students through a more realistic experience in archaeological discovery, analysis and interpretation without overwhelming them with complexity. I developed the CD-ROM "Investigating Olduvai: Archaeology of Human Origins" (Indiana University Press, 1997) as a case study to give students an authentic experience interpreting real archaeological data from a famous early site in Africa. The program uses multiple media to lure students into problem-solving. By exploring a real archaeological database step by step, students learn about the fascinating ambiguities of prehistoric evidence and get involved in archaeological analysis and interpretation for themselves. There are no multiple choice or quiz questions in this program. Instead, students learn new terms and concepts as they need them to investigate and write answers to a selection of research questions. Students learn which data are relevant to each question, and are guided to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate these data as evidence with which they can build their own interpretations. ****************** Jeanne Sept Anthropology Department Indiana University Bloomington IN 47405 sept@indiana.edu http://www.indiana.edu/~origins/