Transcript AAP377: Athens, empire and the Classical Greek world

AAP377: Athens, empire and the
Classical Greek world
IBL exercises in a lecture-based module
Jane Rempel, Department of Archaeology
AAP377 Learning Objectives
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Information
– Methodological and theoretical approaches
– The archaeology of Athenian democracy and empire
– Impacts of the Greek past on modern world
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Skills
– Source criticism
 Primary sources
 Synthetic interpretations
– Group work and presentations
– Information Literacy
Incorporation of IBL
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Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
IBL session
Presentation session
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
Lecture
IBL session
-----Feedback session
Assessment:
40% Presentation
60% Essay
Lecture sessions
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Primary learning outcomes
– Information
 Methodological and theoretical approaches
 The archaeology of Athenian democracy and
empire
– Skills
 Group work and discussion
Small IBL and group tasks
Small IBL task - example
As you go to the portico which they call
painted, because of its pictures, there is
a bronze statue of Hermes of the
Market-place, and near it a gate. On it
is a trophy erected by the Athenians,
who in a cavalry action overcame
Pleistarchus, to whose command his
brother Cassander had entrusted his
cavalry and mercenaries. This portico
contains, first, the Athenians arrayed
against the Lacedaemonians at Odeon
in the Argive territory. What is depicted
is not the crisis of the battle nor when
the action had advanced as far as the
display of deeds of valor, but the
beginning of the fight when the
combatants were about to close.
Pausanias 1.15
IBL sessions
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Primary learning outcomes
– Information
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The impact of the Greek past on the modern
world
– Skills
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Source criticism
Group work and presentation
Information literacy
1. Mapping Athenian democracy
2. Classical Athens and European
nation building
IBL Session - example
‘Mapping Athenian democracy’
 The problem:
The government has decreed that all universities must be
restructured in order to function as ‘radical democracies,’ with
full member participation in decision-making processes. The
University of Sheffield has decided to use Classical Athenian
democracy as a model for this restructuring, and you – as the
resident experts – have been asked to create a proposal for
how this new democratic University might work.
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Support
– CILASS collaboratory
– University information
– Key questions/issues to consider
IBL Session - example
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Goals
– Students actively engage with the
structures and functioning of Athenian
democracy
– Prompt consideration of the questions of
inclusion, exclusion and participation in
Athenian democracy
– Encourage comparison of Athenian ‘radical’
democracy and modern representative
democracies
 Group discussion based on core readings and
considerations from IBL exercise
Things to think about
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Student engagement in IBL sessions
– use of WebCT discussion boards to encourage participation?
– Create more group discussion/activity time in lecture sessions?
– Incorporate IBL sessions into assessment?
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Assessment
– Presentations were successful, but the traditional long essay
assessment not the best reflection of the module
– Opportunities for continuous assessment
 Portfolio of assignments, including IBL activities and shorter essay
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Time
– pressure to cover material in lecture sessions at odds with need
to make time for meaningful discussion (of group activity, core
readings)
– IBL sessions moved more slowly than I’d expected
 Make tasks more explicit?
 Have students do a preparation exercise beforehand?