Hands-On Archaeology Course at Phillips Academy Receives National Attention

Summer Session program “Dig This!” breaks new ground in teaching and technology.

January 19, 2009 – Phillips Academy’s Lower School Institutes (LSI) has received high honors from the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) for its archaeology course, “Dig This: Unearthing the American Past.”  The Summer Session course gives pre-eighth-grade students from around the globe an opportunity to study archaeology and Native American history through artifacts, working digs, and cutting-edge information technology. The NAIS will feature the course, now in its third year, in an upcoming booklet titled “Stories of Excellence: Case Studies of Exemplary Teaching and Learning with Technology,” which highlights 21 case studies from schools across the country.

“Our students come to us with confidence in their computer abilities, but they are not ‘information literate.’  And they don’t know what they don’t know,” said Elisabeth Tully, co-instructor of “Dig This!” and director of PA’s Oliver Wendell Holmes Library. “In ‘Dig This!’ we engaged the students using new and familiar technology tools while providing opportunities for them to use those tools in ways which led to the development of critical information skills.”
 
The brainchild of Tully and Charlie Newhall, a history instructor at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Mass., “Dig This!” provides young people in groups of 12 or 13 a comprehensive introduction to archaeology using three “classrooms”—Andover’s Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, the Rebecca Nurse Homestead dig site in Danvers, and the PA Computer Center. Students examine and analyze artifacts from the Peabody Museum’s renowned collection of more than 500,000 historical objects under the guidance of museum director Malinda Blustain. The group also regularly accompanies archaeology graduate students and scholars from the University of Southern Maine to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead dig site, where they help excavate and catalog historical artifacts. Back at the computer lab, students process and integrate their field studies using the latest in information-sharing technology including Flickr, YouTube, Wordpress, and Wikispaces.

“The course demonstrates how technology can be used to enhance learning. A collaborative, interdisciplinary fusion of hands-on archaeology, Native American history, research, and information and technology literacy, this course engages students on every level,” said Susan Booth, NAIS director of products and services development, who helped spearhead the selection process.  “We selected this program as a prime example for “Stories of Excellence: Case Studies of Exemplary Teaching and Learning with Technology.”

Created in 2007 by PA dean of students and residential life Paul Murphy, LSI offers two additional programs, “Charting the Natural World: Marine Biology Meets Math” and “Express Yourself: A Study of Literature, Performance, and Film.” In addition to their chosen courses of study, LSI students participate in a rich residential experience, including off-campus trips and athletics tailored to meet the needs of younger students.