In September 2007 the Government withdrew HEFCE funding for students studying for a second higher qualification at a level equal to or lower than their first--the so-called equivalent or lower qualification (or ELQ) rule. This policy hit students and universities in England, though not those in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. In a recent…

At approximately 9,500 years old, two sets of human remains from La Jolla, California (W-12), known as the University House Burials due to the physical location of their discovery on property owned by the University of California, San Diego, are some of the oldest in the United States. These burials are central to a repatriation controversy…

Ulrich Rauch, Marvin Cohodas, and Tim Wang describe the Arts Metaverse, a Croquet-based virtual learning environment under development at the University of British Columbia. The Arts Metaverse allows three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of important artifacts and sites of classical, ancient, and indigenous American art, thereby allowing…

This paper explores the potential of Semantic Web technologies to support teaching and learning in a variety of higher education settings in which some form of case-based learning is the pedagogy of choice. It draws on the empirical work of a major three year research and development project in the United Kingdom: "Ensemble: Semantic…

Since 2005, the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has been conducting research to understand the needs and practices of faculty for in-progress scholarly communication (i.e., forms of communication employed as research is being executed) as well as archival publication. This…

Contemporary curriculum theorists conceptualize curriculum, schooling, and the teacher as sites of discursive production and as dwelling places for theory. Drawing on memory work around childhood report cards, this article uses commonplace artifacts to reassemble autoethnographic memory. In sifting through memories and artifacts, the author…

Several artifacts found at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, or Daughters of Jacob Bridge, archaeological site in Israel provide a picture of ancient human ancestors that is different from the once accepted by most scholars. The discoveries by Israeli archaeologist Naama Goren-Inbar suggest that humans developed language and other key abilities far…

College students from Northern Arizona University are documenting both original pueblo architectural remains and later preservation efforts at Wupatki National Monument, Arizona. Concise descriptions of the original construction as well as of the intensity of destructive forces can contribute to preservation repairs that are structurally and…

Discusses public attitudes toward archaeology and the artifacts of the past. Calls for undergraduate and graduate archaeology curricula to emphasize conservation, ethics, and the value of the past; to combine rigorous academics with training in stewardship and public education; and to promote respect for Native American cultures and the early…

Neutrons can be produced in nuclear reactions and used as very versatile probes for condensed matter research. Since their introduction in the 1950s neutron scattering techniques have evolved to be very powerful tools for investigating the properties of condensed matter. Here we present the concept of neutron diffraction and how this technique can…

A continuous classroom assessment technique, "Five-minute" essays, was applied during a short course called "Scientific Methods in Archaeology--Applications and Problems", given at the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Sweden. There was a strong positive…

Mock excavations, or "dig boxes," offer students a hands-on opportunity to explore artifacts and their importance and to learn the principles of context and stratigraphic association. The dig box can be central to discussing differences that existed between classes, races, ethnic groups, and the sexes at different times in history. By…

Archaeological digs can be important learning experiences for gifted students. Determining the site, planning for the dig, and identifying the artifacts should be carefully planned. Ten related activities are described, such as researching the dig site and interpreting the artifacts. (CL)

This brief article describes an archaeological expedition to the Red Sea coast area of Egypt in 2004. Kathryn Bard, an associate professor of archaeology at Boston University, along with her team, discovered the well-preserved cedar timbers of an ancient Egyptian seafaring vessel near the entrance to a large man-made cave. Limestone tablets with…

A course linking chemistry and archaeology was designed to introduce scientific principles and applications to students with little or no science background. The course could provide students an opportunity to explore the role of the sciences in archaeology and to discover the relationship between materials and the culture that produce them.