Teaching Medieval Towns: Group Exercises, Individual Presentations and Self-Assessment

Abstract

This paper examines the use of innovative collaborative small group activities within a Medieval History Honours course. Drawing on student evaluations and feedback from a focus group, it reflects upon the use of group exercises in history (as opposed to the more traditional individual ones) that involve the construction of three-dimensional models of medieval towns, the reconstruction of town history from visual as well as text based sources, and the use of self-assessment within a subject where tutor-assessment tends to be the norm. We conclude that such methods are clearly of benefit to the students, but recommend that to ensure the effectiveness of such a programme, methodological issues are addressed directly with them.