Abstract

MESTRE, Joan Santacana; MOLINA, Nayra Llonch  and  PINOL, Carolina Martín. Learning science through prehistoric archaeology: a teaching and learning experience with educative kits at the museum. ETD [online]. 2018, vol.20, n.3, pp.604-622. ISSN 1676-2592.  https://doi.org/10.20396/etd.v20i3.8651711.

This article deals with the teaching of prehistoric archeology both at school and in a museum setting. It considers how history, physics or chemistry follow different reasoning systems; the one called “informal reasoning” applies to history, whereas formal reasoning relates to the latter two disciplines. Because of its origin, archaeology uses both reasoning systems; and for this reason it is a rich discipline in terms of methodological procedures, which turns it into a powerful educational tool. Based on this evidence, the article explores how teenagers can be introduced to the study of different sciences- from mathematics, natural science or physics to chemistry- by implementing those methods used in archaeology. Finally, the article presents and discusses a teaching and learning experience carried out in a museum, where a project based on the above explained assumptions has been assessed. The teaching-learning materials used in the Project, which were designed as portable kits (specifically 11 kits called LabCase), are presented, and LabCase kit experimentation with over 469 secondary education students is explained. More concretely, this research analyses the results of the four kits which were subjected to experimentation by a larger group of students.

Keywords : Archaeology; Prehistory; Science Education; Scientific Methodology; Teaching and Learning.

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