Voices From The Field: Developing Employability Skills for Archaeological Students Through the Experimentation and the Pedagogy of Problem Based Learning

Graduate employment statistics are receiving considerable attention in UK universities. This paper looks at how a wide range of employability attributes can be developed with students, through the innovative use of the Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach. The case study discussed here involves a group of archaeology students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and their task of reconstructing and firing a small, early medieval clamp kiln. The employability skills and attributes that the students felt they had developed from this experience are discussed, with reference to Yorke’s USEM model of employability. Thanks are due to Get Your Wellies Outdoor Learning Centre, Preston, Lancashire for the use of their site, and to James Claydon, Bernard and Pat Fleming, Brian Joynes, Josh Pugh, Dan Scully, Mike Woods for their involvement in the experiment