{"title":"Ancient history education through project-based learning","authors":"María-Pilar Molina-Torres","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000783","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000783","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The effectiveness of teaching strategies and resources that promote meaningful content learning is most pronounced when active methods such as project-based learning (PBL) are used to teach Ancient History (Molina, 2020, 53). Therefore, this study focuses on a comprehensive assessment of the methodological and historical competences acquired by students enrolled in the secondary education teacher training programme at the University of Cordoba (Spain). The research, which is non-experimental and quantitative, uses a Likert-type scale and involves the participation of 201 Masters students who have completed the course ‘Learning and Teaching Social Sciences’. The results of the statistical analysis show a positive evaluation of PBL in terms of historical understanding and its effectiveness in improving historical awareness. It is crucial to emphasise the advantages of active and collaborative learning inherent in PBL. However, it is also imperative to acknowledge the challenges that students face in applying their methodological knowledge to the secondary school setting. The transition from theoretical understanding to practical implementation is a significant hurdle for many students aspiring to a career in education. These findings underline the importance of promoting the seamless integration of innovative pedagogical approaches into teacher training programmes in order to effectively address the specific challenges of teaching antiquity in an educational context. Finally, this research was made possible by the Ministry of Science and Innovation's ‘Prueba de Concepto’ project, funded by the European Union under grant number PDC2022-133123-I00, and also by the CLIOGEN project (GINDO-UB/187) on Ancient History.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using the CSCP Classic Tales resources to improve literacy in Year 9","authors":"Elizabeth Hayes","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000771","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past decade, the literacy rate of the pupils I teach has been declining. This has led to some problems with GCSE Classical Civilisation, where pupils are not strong enough readers to fully access the prescribed sources. To counter this, one of my former colleagues suggested that we use the <jats:italic>Classic Tales</jats:italic> resources as the basis for our Year 9 course (students aged 13). The aim is to teach the pupils as much mythology as possible, which is an excellent foundation for the myth and religion unit, and to get them to read as much as we can, using the interactive reader, pdf transcripts, and recordings of the stories to engage all pupils in the class. The aim of this paper is to discuss the successes and failures of this strategy.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Writing in Latin: an experiment in composition among early-stage Latin learners","authors":"Jennifer Hreben","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000370","url":null,"abstract":"In the United Kingdom, especially since its re-introduction into GCSE exams by the coalition government of 2010, Latin composition attracts strong opinions. Indeed, Latin teaching methodologies altogether are highly debated. Traditional methods of grammar-translation are avoided by reading courses because of their supposed elitist nature, yet they are still used by many practitioners, and this is typically where prose composition is seen. This study investigates the use of composition in the teaching of Latin to a group of Year 7 students who usually follow a reading course, to see if writing Latin can be of any benefit to students who otherwise would not write any Latin. There is a great deal of literature on the topic, both in favour and against the pedagogical uses of composition. The aim of this study was to implement techniques from the literature into the students’ lessons, and to see what the outcomes were of this new skill.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142191882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How can the reworking of Cicero's Pro Cluentio create an appreciation for his literature? Action research exploring methods to support first year A Level students encountering original Latin","authors":"Dayna Mistry","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000382","url":null,"abstract":"From my experience as a student of Latin, I have always perceived the transition from studying GCSE (sat at ages 14–16) to A Level Latin (sat at ages 17–18) as challenging. As a student, I used the inductive <jats:italic>Cambridge Latin Course</jats:italic> textbooks, which, as a reading comprehension course, fostered an intuitive sense of grammar. This was appropriate preparation for the GCSE exam. For the A Level exam however, which features greater quantities of difficult original literature and requires explicitly identifying grammatical forms, I had to undertake a lot of independent study, in addition to bridging work. Original Latin was a definite challenge for my peers and me: unusual vocabulary, creative generic form and lapses in grammatical convention were exciting but unfamiliar. With this in mind, I sought to investigate the experience of current Year 12 students.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rome: The Game. Creating an online course as an interactive adventure game","authors":"Claudia Moser, Christian Thomas","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000394","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this article, we focus on the development of <span>Rome: The Game</span> – a large, lower-division online course crossed-listed in the History of Art and Architecture Department and Writing Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara – that features a choose-your-own-adventure-style interactive narrative. We explore the design principles underpinning the development of this type of gamified course, the mechanics of the course itself, student experiences, and learning outcomes. Citing relevant research in several fields – such as game studies, educational psychology, and communication studies – we argue that creating an online course in the style of an interactive, narrative-driven digital game presents a model for engaging and effective active learning in an online environment – one that goes beyond conventional virtual learning to offer an innovative, active, and deeply immersive model for online teaching.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141259034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Report on ‘Better arguments in Scottish classrooms’","authors":"Mary O'Reilly","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000709","url":null,"abstract":"This report describes a new project, ‘Better Arguments’, which seeks to teach learners in Scottish secondary schools about what constitutes a good argument, how to identify a bad argument and how to build their own ‘better’ arguments. The unit of lessons uses extracts from Cicero's <jats:italic>Pro Caelio</jats:italic> as a means of modelling both good and bad arguments, with the aim of equipping learners with a framework by which they can analyse and evaluate not only Cicero's arguments but arguments generally. By way of background, the report explains the current provision of Classics teaching within Scotland and the challenges facing those who are working to reinstate Latin and Classical Studies, particularly at National Qualification level. In this context, the ‘Better Arguments’ project is one strategy to increase the Classics provision in state schools. The report explains the rationale behind the design and content of the unit and then goes on to highlight the benefits of teaching this unit, especially the educational, cultural and social gains to be made. It identifies some of the potential challenges to the implementation of these lessons and offers some solutions to them. Finally, it considers the ways in which this project might be viewed as a starting point, with suggestions as to how the skills developed here might be further built upon through the use of other classical texts in future units of work.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141190437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An investigation into the impact of vocabulary retrieval practice as a method of formative assessment in a Latin AS-level unseen translation context","authors":"Caitlin Casselman","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000692","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000692","url":null,"abstract":"Unseen translation forms a central part of assessment and teaching both in the Latin GCSE and A Level. Developing skills for the unseen translation presents several challenges for the classroom teacher; unseens can be introduced using a scaffolded approach, yet pupils must learn to develop independence for the examination. Unseens can often take an entire lesson, or more to translate, precluding the opportunity for meaningful, immediate feedback. Furthermore, classes of mixed- ability students often suffer from staggered completion rates and unequal attention being divided among students. Within the curriculum, unseen classes can additionally suffer from feeling severed from the specification as passages contain unfamiliar material, the content is discrete from the set texts, and lack of an overarching framework for approaching unseens can make them feel irrelevant to pupils. Therefore, striking a balance between productive support for in-class unseen translation practice and nurturing pupil confidence requires a clear strategy. This article investigates the effect of two methods of formative assessment used in preparation for an unseen translation lesson with a year 12 class. Reflecting on the results of the investigation, this article discusses the opportunities different tasks may afford the Latin teacher for developing a vocabulary curriculum that supports long-term retention of vocabulary, increases the efficiency of unseen classes, and allows the unseen passage to be received as part of a wider framework of learning.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141167555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexandra Vereeck, Evelien Bracke, Katja De Herdt, Mark Janse
{"title":"Revered and reviled. An outline of the public debate regarding classical language education","authors":"Alexandra Vereeck, Evelien Bracke, Katja De Herdt, Mark Janse","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000424","url":null,"abstract":"The value of classical language education is subject to a fierce dispute, waged continuously and internationally. While some dismiss Classics as useless or elitist, others herald its extraordinary formative value and the many benefits that await pupils. This article aims to give a novel overview of the public debate regarding classical language education, which is defined as follows: the controversy about the instruction of Latin and/or Ancient Greek at the secondary educational level, as it emerges from Western traditional media in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The reader is provided with historical insight into this debate that many classicists find themselves in the middle of, as well as with a logical and coherent framework of the various arguments pro and contra. The arguments are embedded in the history of classical language education, classified into categories, analysed and discussed at length. The classification of arguments hinges on the two main lines of criticism towards the study of classical languages, which are inspired by egalitarianism and utilitarianism respectively. As a backdrop to the analysis, we rely on the sociolinguistic theory of language ideology. The general conclusions of this paper are that the value of classical language education is indeed a highly ideologically charged matter, and that the surrounding public debate has known a remarkably high level of continuity.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141167465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Treading water: new data on the impact of AI ethics information sessions in classics and ancient language pedagogy","authors":"Edward A. S. Ross, Jackie Baines","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000412","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000412","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Over 2023, many universities and policy organisations in the higher education (HE) sector are working to create guiding principles and guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in HE Teaching and Learning (T&L). Despite these guidelines, students remain unsure if and how they should use AI. This article discusses the AI information sessions held over the Autumn 2023 term in the Department of Classics at the University of Reading, which aimed to provide students with the knowledge and tools to make informed judgements about using AI in their studies. These sessions discussed the benefits and drawbacks of generative AI, highlighting training data, content policy, environmental impact, and examples of potential uses. Staff and student participants were surveyed before and after these information sessions to gather their opinions surrounding AI use. Although at least 60% of participants had previously used generative AI, 80% of participants were apprehensive of or against using generative AI tools for learning purposes following the AI information sessions. By providing staff and students with the ethical considerations surrounding generative AI, they can make an informed judgement about using AI in their work without misplaced faith or excessive fear.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141099618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}