Understanding Student Experiences of Archaeological Class Engagements

Michael Rivera1,2,3* and Andrew Kai Sheng Kung4

In the University of Hong Kong’s first course centred around archaeological science and human evolutionary studies, a cohort of over 200 students were engaged in a research study about how undergraduate students experience different teaching activities in a lecture. The aim was to understand what kinds of learning experiences—such as group activities, creative tasks, and digital tools—help students feel engaged, curious, and satisfied in the classroom. A lecture delivered every year involves traditional lecturing, creative activities, small group discussions, artifact handling, YouTube videos, data interpretation, class wide sharing, and an ask-me-anything teacher Q&A. A questionnaire was distributed that measured students’ perceptions of these activities across multiple variables: fun/enjoyability, connection to teacher, cooperative learning, confidence in domain knowledge, curiosity level, imagination of prehistoric contexts/lifestyles, and understanding of archaeological methods. Our findings show that working with real artifacts led to higher fun levels, senses of belonging and shared learning, boosts in confidence in archaeological knowledge, and an encouragement of imagination. Some digital tools that involve students contributing to collective brainstorming led to connectedness to teacher. Traditional lecturing, the oldest form of higher education intervention, has been found to best spark curiosity, encourage imagination, and increase understanding of archaeological methodologies among students. Further research should aim to tease apart the social, cultural, psychological and communicative factors that mark some activities as more effective for achieving various learning outcomes.