 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
 |
|
Shoffstall, Adrienne Merola, May, 1987 - MUSEUM EDUCATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY: HANDS-ON THE "HANDS-OFF!" RESOURCES
Abstract: The premise is held that to preserve the archaeological data base and insure the future of a profession, the practioners must make every effort to communicate with their varied audiences in order to educate and enlighten them. Museums, being the ultimate repository of cultural resources are an obvious starting point for this education to occur. The most effective form of teaching the abstract concept of cultural resource preservation has been determined to be the multi-sensory experience, especially the tactile manipulation of concrete objects. Reaching out into the schools and the community is a means of insuring that the museum's tremendous capabilities to educate be available to all. Thus, the development of a self-contained, hands-on, traveling program utilizing archaeological artifacts from a museum's collection, has been the ultimate goal of this project. Its objective is to supplement the County school's social studies curriculum in Florida prehistory and introduce, at an early age, the significant work undertaken by archaeologists in preserving our cultural heritage. It has also been the goal to incorporate an element of fun into this hands-on learning experience. Recognition and acceptance of all these factors is half the battle. It is a highly responsible undertaking to plan, develop and physically compile an educational tool which will effectively and accurately convey the concepts and beliefs so easily understood by the practioners of a profession, yet so abstract or superfluous to the majority of the public. Specimens from a large, unprovenienced, non-curated collection were sorted, inventoried and identified. Surveys of teachers and students as potential users were undertaken. Classroom observation and experimentation were also components in the steps necessary to culminate in program design and physical compilation. The success of this program as a valuable means for imbuing future generations, inheritors of a culture, with an understanding of and appreciation for archaeological resources, can only be inferred at this point. Budget limitations have curtailed indefinitely the development of the program. The fact remains, however, that this approach, whenever it can be applied in reality, will assist the archaeological profession with a necessary, but so often neglected responsibility - public education.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|