Introduction

The purpose of CSEO is to create a repository of global teaching ideas created though collegial knowledge.  Within this resource there will be information to aid in the education of specific scientific concepts or tasks that can be difficult for students to comprehend, or educators to effectively communicate.  The information can also be creative strategies used to teach science to conservation professionals. Modules can be a lesson, teaching method, laboratory, course, or project related to teaching cultural heritage science to conservators.

This resource is not meant to be a platform for an entire course or project.  Rather, the site is meant to focus on key lecture topics or general strategies that, through your career, you have found provide students with an ‘Aha’ moment of understanding.  Although it may feel like presenting a particular topic requires explanation of another topic, this resource is meant to focus on the specifics.  One can provide references for background reading, refer to alternative topics posted within this resource, or suggest and submit additional topics for posting.

Module submissions should be sent to CSEO@queensu.ca.  After peer review, modules will be included in new versions of CSEO, planned for approximately every six months.

Module Layout and Intent

Each topic will be broken down into key sections that should be populated with related content.  In some cases, there can be alterations to this model depending on the topic presented, but this framework should be used as a starting point to build out your topic.

1. Title Page

– Title (with the context in parentheses: a plan of a lesson, teaching method, laboratory, course or project)

– List of author(s)

– Institution(s)

– Email contact (optional)

– Intended audience (e.g. degree or level)

– An abstract on the topic and why students may need to learn the material for their educational growth

2. Introduction

– Present the concept to be discussed with a brief introduction and outline of the topic being presented. This can be broken down into a Hypothesis that will provide the key issue and reason for the unit, the main Threshold Concept being presented and a list of the Major Goals and Outcomes.

– This pdf guide on Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) may be of use (please especially see p.5-10)

3. References

– Provide key materials that support the module; may include academic papers, theses, images, videos, lab notes, exercises, data, websites or case studies

– Examples of potential materials include: Origin of technique; History of topic; Specific application to conservation; General application in science; Good case studies; Related or associated topics.

– References should be in Chicago Author-Date style

4. Key images

– Provide key images or videos of high quality that can be used to explain key concepts more clearly. Consider linking to web-based resources with no copyright infringement. Examples of decision-making figures can be found in modules by Ploeger and by Murray. Images need proper referencing. If created by the author, please indicate.

5. Plan of a lesson, teaching method, laboratory, course or project

– In all cases, details of plan are needed:  procedure, process or case study to address the hypothesis, concept or key issue

– For non-laboratory topics (e.g. the description of analytical equipment, phase diagram, etc.), this may be an elaboration of each step that is performed and how it is related to an example or case-study

– For a lesson plan or teaching method, this may include helpful strategies to aid in incorporating the key issue into a lesson or building a lesson around the topic or concept

– For a laboratory plan, this may include recommended laboratory steps and procedures

– For a course plan, this may include potential lecture topics (e.g. syllabus schedule), course structure and general SLOs

– For a project plan, this may include the project goals, steps, and outcomes

Examples of information that may appear in this section

Case Study – Provide a written case study that is specific to conservation or cultural heritage.  There can be more than one case study. The method of conveying the information can take several forms.  Flowcharts or point-form discussions are common. A combination of the two often works well.  You can refer to specific images on the Key images page as well. If appropriate, provide links to specific publications that that demonstrate your point.

Instrumentation – If specific instrumentation is part of the concept or used for the case study or testing, provide detailed descriptions of the technique and be clear how it is relevant to the topic. Remember, that a full discussion of the instrumentation is not necessary; focus on the use of that instrumentation rather than details of how it works. If there is a CSEO page dedicated to that instrument, link to that page.

Laboratory – Provide a detailed laboratory example.  Multiple labs can be included that address different education levels (i.e. undergraduate vs graduate).  Clear examples and expected results should be provided.

6. Methods for Student Engagement:  Discussions, Assessment (Formative and Summative), & Challenges

This is an area to pose questions and problematic sub-topics (if there is a CSEO page dedicated to that sub-topic, a link to that page should be made). Offer key points for educators to consider or for which students should be aware.  Potentially offer staggered learning options for more advanced students to investigate.

– Prompts for in-class and virtual discussion, possibly at different levels (for beginner and advanced student)

– Evaluation of outcomes for educator, student or project manager (e.g. classroom experience, self-reflection, alignment between assessment and SLOs)

– Identification of challenges (e.g. variability of resources, difficult points in a procedure, more difficult topics in a lesson plan, or outcomes in a project that were not as expected) and how they may be addressed

Accessibility of Modules

For accessibility purposes, modules should be created with the following guidelines in mind.  If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact CSEO@queensu.ca.

* PLEASE NOTE: we are currently in the process of making all the pdf files within CSEO accessible. If you require an accessible version of a pdf in the meantime, please contact CSEO@queensu.ca and we will prioritize the requested pdf.

1. All images must have captions AND alt text:

• This includes any images in any additional media (e.g. PowerPoints & pdfs)
• Alt text must describe the appearance or function of an image
• To learn more about how to write alt text please see Harvard’s guide on alt text
• To learn more about how to write alt text for more complex images (e.g. diagrams or graphs) please see this article on Medium and/or the Web Accessibility Initiative’s (WAI) tutorial on complex images
• If images/graphs are too complex for alt text, consider discussing them in the text or describing it in a document
  • E.g. Consider making a text version of a flowchart or lesson plan

2. PDF documents:

• Ensure that the text in any included pdf documents is not in image form and can be selected with a cursor
• Please ensure that cells in a table do not span multiple pages
  • If this is unavoidable, please also include an extra pdf with the table made into a list with subheadings

3. Links:

• Links should be embedded in the text rather than listed as a hyperlink
• E.g. “Please refer to the How to Cite Modules in this Resource for further instructions” rather than “please refer to the How to Cite Modules in this Resource (https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/cseo/chapter/how-to-cite-modules-in-this-resource/) for further instructions”.