Studies have shown that bringing students to the archives has a positive effect on student engagement, performance, and, in some cases, student retention. Teaching with archives improves student engagement and performance through high-impact educational practices advocated by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).
You can also learn more about engaging students with special collections with the following resources:
Teach with Stuff: This site is intended to be a clearinghouse for info on opportunities like unconferences, workshops, Twitter chats, and meetings of library, archives, and museum professionals to learn more about teaching with collection materials.
TeachArchives.Org: Based on an award-winning project at Brooklyn Historical Society, TeachArchives.org shares our teaching philosophy and findings with a global audience of instructors, administrators, librarians, archivists, and museum educators. Use this site to teach students ranging from middle school to graduate school.
Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy (PDF – Links to an external source and may not be accessible): These guidelines articulate the range of knowledge, skills, and abilities required to effectively use primary sources. While the primary audience for this document is librarians, archivists, teaching faculty, and others working with college and university students, the guidelines have been written to be sufficiently flexible for use in K-12 and in general public settings as well.
Teacher's Guide: Analyzing Sheet Music and Song Sheets: (PDF – Links to an external source and may not be accessible) This is a guided instruction session created by the Library of Congress that gives teachers a framework to conduct their own analysis projects using sheet music.
We welcome opportunities to teach and co-teach sessions on archival literacy using primary-sources. We are also happy to work with you on designing class projects, identifying collections, and making archival research approachable and engaging for students!
Request Instruction Collaboration: https://www.odu.edu/library/services/instruction
Email us to arrange a consultation or brainstorming session: libspecialcollections@odu.edu
(can be applied to any of our digital collections)
Cloud Collar, 1997 by Allan Anderson
15 Minutes: Introduction to what an music special collections is, how it operates, and how researchers interact with the materials.
30 Minutes: Digital document stations exercise- split the class into groups and give each group their selected documents. Students analyze the documents and discuss them in their group. Worksheets are provided to facilitate discussion. Each group prepares a brief summary of their findings to share with the rest of the class during the wrap up.
30 Minutes: Wrap up- gather students back together and give each group time to report back on their findings. Instructor highlights the takeaways and segue to the next group. After the reports, spend 10 minutes in class discussion.