Keep your eye on the bone! Using human skeletal remains to engage and inspire

1. Keep your eye on the bone! Using human skeletal remains to engage and inspire Lizzy Craig-Atkins University of Sheffield

2. What is engaged learning? Develops skills beyond the academic TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Promotes development of skill set for next career stage DEVELOPMENT Builds rapport between learners and tutors. Makes learning fun SOCIAL/ COMMUNICATION Draws connections between different aspects of knowledge, skills MULTI- DISCIPLINARY Embeds learning in its wider social context and reveals value IMPACT Weaver and Wilding 2013

3. How can we inspire with our teaching? • Links between inspirational teaching and inspirational learners (Ryan 2011) • Creative teaching can be inspirational • Inquiry-based learning (IBL) can have a powerful impact on students’ intellectual, professional and personal development. Students experience benefits including greater enjoyment, confidence and engagement in learning and knowledge-building (The Sheffield Companion to IBL 2008) Ryan, W., (2011) Inspirational Teachers, Inspirational Learners, Crown House Publishing Ltd., Carmarthen “‘IBL’ describes a cluster of strongly student-centred learning and teaching approaches in which students’ inquiry or research drives the learning experience. Students conduct small- or large-scale inquiries that enable them to engage actively with disciplinary or interdisciplinary questions and problems. Learning takes place through an emergent process of exploration and discovery.”

4. The value of human remains in teaching • Our responsibilities • To protect and curate material for future generations • To share our knowledge and enthusiasm in support of our profession • Our challenges • Consideration of learner’s experience of handling remains of dead people (negative responses) • Damaging effects of teaching on collections The immediacy of handling real human remains from the past – one of the most compelling experiences in archaeology

5. What do the guidelines say? BABAO strongly urges curating institutions to participate in public outreach activities with suitably trained experts in order to disseminate the information learned from the study of their collections and to contribute to the public’s scientific knowledge (BABAO COP) Biological remains should only be studied or viewed for legitimate purposes, e.g. the production of human bone reports by commercial units, analysis and research in institutions (BABAO COE) • We don’t just inform, we also engage and inspire through dissemination and outreach (Wright, Law and Russ 2011 TAG) • Teaching should surely be a ‘legitimate purpose’ – certainly an unintentional omission, but a notable one • Perhaps engaging students in outreach activities has the potential to provide the kind of IBL activity we are looking for?

6. Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project

7. The open day event

9. Key pedagogic strengths? • Involved local community in research from beginning • Provided students with opportunity to explore public engagement and the impact of their research • Permitted students to deliver public lectures on their ongoing research • Tied research, teaching, public engagement and community-embedded research together • Provided an impact case study for future grant capture – materially increased chance of project succeeding to allow more students to engage in future

10. Pedagogic observations -pros • Public appeared to appreciate interaction with staff, researchers and students – accessible • All students involved excelled – regardless of academic level • Who was inspired and engaged? • Public (growing community on facebook, 2+ recruits to courses) • Students (one of the students now works in outreach) • Church (agreed to long-term research collaboration) • Me

11. Pedagogic observations - cons • Selective activity – couldn’t take entire MSc cohort, only engaged those doing research • Very time consuming event • Project may not have openly engaged whole public in way intended – have we done any damage to the public reputation of osteology?

12. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2391375/Holy-Trinity-Church-Rothwell-Chapel-contains-hundreds-skeletons.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2391375/Holy-Trinity-Church-Rothwell-Chapel-contains-hundreds-skeletons.html

13. Summary • Teaching with human remains can instantly engage and inspire • Events where we aims to engage the public can also provide ideal educational contexts in which IBL activities can work • We can promote the importance of our research, and engage our students to do the same, through integrated activities that combine research, public engagement and teaching

14. Withthanks to: • Jennifer Crangle • Rev. John Westwood • Brian Doughty and the churchwardens • all of the studentsinvolved • the people of Rothwell • the visitors to the event Project links http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/osteology-lab/ news https://www.facebook.com/groups/481223375303566/ This project was funded by a University of Sheffield Arts and Humanities Rapid Response Grant