Call for Papers - Defining Classical Scholarship: The Research/Teaching Interface (CA2014)

How does your research influence how and what you teach? Does being an active researcher make you a better teacher? How important is it for lecturers and teachers to keep abreast of current scholarship?

Following on from the success of the 2013 Classical Association Conference, a call for papers for the 2014 Conference has been released by Nottingham University. I am interested in coordinating a panel entitled 'Defining Classical Scholarship: The Research/Teaching Interface'. The purpose of this panel will be to discuss the impact which research has on teaching and learning through case studies and suggestions for best practice. I hope that this panel will attract papers from across the educational sector including, but not limited to, Higher Education.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words will need to be submitted for consideration by the end of August. Please message/tweet/DM me if you would like to be involved.

Developing a Collaborative Classics e-learning Network

Last week witnessed the Classical Association 2013 conference at Reading University. I organised a panel on 'New Approaches to e-learning in Classics', which was split into two sessions. Both sessions were well attended and the source of useful debate and discussion. On a personal note, I would like to thank the speakers, student volunteers and conference organisers. I've blogged the abstracts of the presented papers in my last post. A useful summary of the panel has been posted over at Stoa.org. The Classical Association has storified a range of tweets from the conference here. There is no need to produce another summary of the papers, so I will therefore concentrate on reporting the main themes arising from the ensuing discussions. 

Aside from my initial introductory paper, it was interesting to note that all of the papers dealt with Latin teaching and learning. Although the strategies discussed could also apply to Greek, the absence of papers specifically relating to innovative e-learning approaches to Ancient History and Classical Civilisation was noteworthy. This was not due to any bias in the selection of papers for the panel, as all of the responses to the call for papers were language based. I have no doubt that innovative work is taking place in these disciplines, which I hope will be showcased at later events.

 

It was clear from the points raised by a number of audience members that there is a common sense of frustration with the pace of change in the technology available for e-learning. In one memorable phrase relating to VLEs, our current approach to e-learning in Classics is 'broken' as it lags behind the technology available to students in their daily lives. Several speakers emphasised the need to ensure that the e-learning strategies we adopt are appropriate for our students. One size clearly does not fit all. Student engagement is becoming increasingly important for HE and is likely to become more pronounced across the educational sector. As part of this, I feel strongly that we must engage students in our approach to e-learning, through allowing them to contribute meaningfully to the design, operation and evaluation of new approaches to e-learning.

Audience members expressed a lack of confidence in understanding and utilising emerging technologies in an educational setting. In many cases, students will be more familiar with such technologies than their teachers. This lack of confidence is understandable. It was clear that many of those present had attended the panel to increase their confidence with the demonstrated approaches. Taking a risk in adopting new teaching and learning strategies often requires a leap of faith and the confidence to fail. Not all e-learning strategies are appropriate for every environment. The quantitative evidence presented  at the conference indicated that the benefits of utilising e-learning approaches for Classical subjects are still not clear.

The success of the panel can be attributed to the enthusiasm of the speakers and attendees for the potential benefits presented by e-learning. Several individuals expressed the need to form a community of Classicists (composed of teachers, lecturers, researchers and students) interested in e-learning. This would allow members to share best practice, coach each other in the use of new technologies and discuss new approaches. The focus will be on enhancing teaching and learning - not Digital Classics in a wider sense, which is well catered for by a number of other projects. In my closing remarks I asked for anyone interested in being a part of any such community to email or message me via Twitter. The response to this has been very encouraging. It is worth stating that this community is not limited to those who attended the Classical Association conference.

The next step  will be to identify how this e-learning community will operate. It seems to me that there are a number of possible approaches, including the use of social media, websites, conference panels, workshop events or an e-journal. Do let me know what you think!
 

 

 

Abstracts: New Approaches to e-learning in Classics (CA 2013)

Using VLEs to enhance Teaching and Learning in Classics

Jonathan Eaton

Virtual Learning Environments have the potential to radically enhance teaching and learning in Classical subjects by offering resources and opportunities for students beyond the traditional classroom. Platforms such as Moodle and Blackboard are being used widely at a range of educational levels to support the learning experience. This paper will explore the use of VLEs to teach Classical Civilisation and Ancient History by reflecting on my use of e-learning over the past few years and highlighting the successes and obstacles which I have encountered.

My students invariably have no previous experience of studying Classical subjects. The vast majority show a clear preference for accessing materials online rather than using library resources. I developed my VLE to providing support for four stages of the learning process. The first stage consists of preparing students for lectures and seminars. This invariably consists of providing reading and other study materials online. The second stage consists of consolidating learning. This is accomplished through the use of podcasts and YouTube videos. The third stage focuses on assessing learning through online tests. These provide a rapid method of assessing student performance and providing useful feedback. The final stage consists of extending learning, particularly for gifted and talented students. There are a range of online resources which can be successfully integrated into VLEs to challenge more advanced learners.

VLEs offer great potential for educating the next generation of Classicists. However, there are obstacles which need to be overcome for them to work successfully. My paper will conclude by assessing some of these problems and outlining potential solutions which can be applied to create effective Classical VLEs.

‘Using Web-Design to teach Latin Literature’

Alex Smith

This thesis is concerned with discovering the impact of using web design technology to improve the achievement of gifted students in a collaborative environment. The program ‘eXeLearning’ was used with a group of nineteen high ability Year 10 students. The students (in groups of three or four) had to design a website based on sections from the set lines of their Latin Prose Literature GCSE prescription. Before producing the website, the first half of the prescription was taught in a ‘traditional’ way in the classroom based around the teacher taking the students through the text by whole class instruction. Tests were administered after the ‘traditional’ teaching and ICT teaching stages along with questionnaires to see what impact the ICT intervention had and whether their perception of their own skills had altered after the two teaching sequences. The results then formed the basis of an interview with a group of six students in order to elicit further information. The questionnaires revealed that, although the students felt using computers made tasks easier and quicker, they did not feel they ought to be used in all contexts. The student test results showed a higher level of exam performance in Latin literature by 12 of the 18 students studied after the ICT intervention than after the ‘traditional’ teaching but the results of 6 students decreased, leaving the overall conclusion concerning achievement inconclusive. It was observed that involving web design in the teaching sequence made the students more aware of their skills in areas such as evaluation and collaboration. This research implies that further use of web design technology could enhance students’ learning of Latin literature (and potentially other topics) while also developing their wider skills.

Role-playing Latin: Operation LAPIS

Francesca Sapsford

 

When people talk about e-learning they are usually referring to ways of replicating the classroom experience online, or supporting classroom learning through VLEs, using vodcasts, podcasts and uploaded material. While some teachers are starting to use web tools in different ways to enhance learning and teaching, they still tend to follow traditional methods. However, we believe that Operation LAPIS uses online tools and e-learning to produce a completely different experience for students.

Practomime is a new word for what stories, games, and many other kinds of works of art have in common: they all involve creative activity in a cultural zone regulated for play. In plain language, that means that the Iliad and the Odyssey are really the same kind of thing as some of the most popular video games today. We believe that we should probably be fighting to turn the classroom into a game – or, to be more precise, a practomime. Operation LAPIS is a two-year game-based (practomimetic) introductory course in the Latin language and in Roman culture. In Operation LAPIS, students are given the mission of discovering and subsequently translating the Lapis Saeculōrum (The Stone of the Ages) by a shadowy figure known only as the Demiurge. In accomplishing their “top secret” mission, the students will save western civilization as we know it.

Operation LAPIS is also an interactive adventure in which students perform their learning as an extraordinarily effective and engaging way to develop and assess their growing skills. This is not only a game, but also a story, and an ongoing collaborative performance. Whereas traditional textbooks allow students to follow a story over the course of their Latin learning, Operation LAPIS allows them to play a story about ancient Rome, and, even more importantly, to integrate into their play-performances their growing skills in all the relevant domains. This is Latin-learning as experiential learning, project-based learning, and problem-based learning: students in Operation LAPIS learn Latin by playing Romans.

In this paper we will briefly explain the theoretical basis behind the course, and explain how it all started. We will then explore Operation LAPIS through the experiences of the students and the tutor for a cohort of US home school students who started Operation LAPIS in July 2012. Finally, we will look at the future plans for the expansion of Operation LAPIS.

‘Some IT Strategies for Active Latin Learning’

Ann Martin

I have been trialling an on-line Latin learning community as the introduction to Latin for my Year 7's and 8's.  This course, which is being developed by another Latinist, Justin Schwamm, with my assistance, is entirely on line.  Every reading is accompanied by a full recording and an illustration. The underlying idea is to make learning a co-operative activity in which all learners and teachers can contribute and feel that what they contribute is valued.  They can suggest changes to the storyline, add their own stories, provide illustrations and videos, and join in discussions about cultural and historical issues.  On-line exercises can check understanding. 

In conjunction with this, I have established Wikispaces for all my Yr 7 and Yr 8 pupils.  These are free for secondary education and can be set up so that no one can get access to them except those approved by the moderator (me).  All homework and links can be posted there and I can see and comment on all pupil pages.  They can respond to me or send me email through the Wiki which I check regularly.  This means that I can work with students one-on-one outside the very limited time allotted in class and they can ask questions without fear of being thought “stupid”. 

As something to link both to their home Wikispace and to Tres Columnae, I have helped the girls to create Latin stories with illustrations on Tarheel Readers (tarheelreader.net).  I am the account holder, so I can make sure that they don't actually publish something until it is in acceptable form.  When I do, people all over the world can read them, and they can see where our books are being read. 

iVocab? Language learning on a laptop

Laila Tims

This paper aims to explore some of the ways in which the benefits of e-learning could be applied to language teaching in Classics at secondary schools, specifically looking at vocabulary acquisition. The research is focused on how the literature on educational IT use can be translated into concrete use in the classroom, connecting the strengths of IT (in areas such as differentiation, direct feedback, etc) with specific challenges encountered in the classroom. The problem of pupils being ineffective and poorly motivated when learning vocabulary was tackled by developing a website with a rich variety of exercises to acquire and practice vocabulary, where students were free to choose their own preferred exercises and encouraged to make independent decisions about their learning process. The exercises had to: vary in form, stimulate multiple intelligences, build up a context for learnt words, vary on a taxonomical level, repeat a large part of the vocabulary learnt and give students range of choices. Before and after the series of lessons students’ motivational levels were tested through a questionnaire, and to assess any improvement they were given vocabulary tests before and after the experiment. The results of these assessments showed a slight increase in motivation, and a significant improvement in test results for all students, leading to some recommendations to further improve the efficiency of this project. Pupils’ enthusiasm while working on the exercises was great and served to encourage further work on similar projects.

Roman Army School 2013

Details of the programme for the Hadrianic Society Roman Army School 2013 are available here. It will be held at St Chad's College, Durham from 23 - 27 March. I will be speaking on the political role of legionary centurions.

Odysseus in America Documentary

The most popular series of articles on this blog have concerned the debate around the occurence of PTSD among veterans in the ancient world, which can be viewed here and here. Two of the most groundbreaking scholarly works on this theme are Jonathan Shay's 'Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character' and 'Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming'. Both books use the Homeric texts to understand the ordeal which soldiers face both during and after combat.

 

A documentary based on 'Odysseus in America' is currently under production. The website for the documentary film can be viewed here. The trailers are particularly moving, including one which directly uses quotes from Homer. These can be viewed here.

 

Consultation on Museum Funding Cuts

A consultation is currently being held on proposed funding cuts to museums in Tyne and Wear. These proposals include slashing funding for the Great North Museum in Newcastle by 100%. Readers of this blog will be aware that the Great North Museum houses one of the premier collections of Roman artefacts and inscriptions from Hadrian's Wall and the surrounding area. It also plays a crucial role in educating visitors about the Roman heritage of the region.

Details of the consultation here:

'There is a proposed reduction of 50% in Newcastle funding over the next three years to Discovery Museum, the Laing Art Gallery and Tyne & Wear Archives. There is a proposed reduction of 100% in Newcastle funding to the Great North Museum: Hancock and Hatton Gallery over the next two years. If implemented these reductions in funding will mean changes to the service that we can offer including reductions in opening hours at Discovery Museum and the Laing Art Gallery, reductions in learning and community programmes and charging for some services, although we are not planning to introduce charges for entry to the museums and galleries to see core collections and displays.

You can have your say on the proposals by emailing letstalk(at)newcastle.gov.uk by 1 February 2013.'

Call for Papers: Ancient Warfare Workshop

Via the Classicist email list, news of a workshop on ancient warfare to be held in September 2013 which may be of interest for readers of this blog:

Call For Papers: Ancient Warfare Workshop

This workshop is jointly supported by Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, and the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David. It will be held from the 18th of September to the 20th of September 2013, at Aberystwyth University.

Workshop Organsier: Geoff Lee (University of Wales : Trinity Saint David).

The workshop is aimed equally at postgraduate students, early career researchers and established academics.The intent is to facilitate a multi-disciplinary workshop and therefore researchers from any relevant discipline are encouraged to participate.

Papers on any aspect of Ancient Warfare are sought. These will be of thirty minutes duration with fifteen minutes for comments/questions.

The proceedings from the workshop will be published.

The deadline for submission of abstracts, which should be of c. 300 words, is February 28th 2013.

All participants will be required to pay the workshop fee which is £10:00 for current students and £15:00 for other participants.

Aberystwyth is easily accessible by rail.

Postgraduate students needing help with their travel costs are encouraged to apply to the Thomas Wiedemann Memorial Fund (http://www.thomaswiedemann.org.uk/).

Accomodation and meals will not be arranged for the workshop. However, as Aberystwyth is a popular seaside holiday resort there is an abundance of accomodation available. There are also several good places to eat within easy walking distance of the campus.

To submit an abstract or for more information please contact the workshop organiser at: geofflee101(at) yahoo.co.uk