Learning Materials
Scran Learning Materials
Case Study
1. Author details
| Name: | Dr Paula Martin |
| Job title: | Honorary Research Fellow, Department of History |
| Institution: | University of Dundee |
About the authors:
I have in a varied career taught as a volunteer in a primary school, in a private secondary school, and have taught on a postgraduate diploma course at St Andrews University. My academic interests include 18th century Scottish towns, later 17th century maritime trade, and maritime archaeology. I have fairly good IT skills, regularly using word processing, databases and spreadsheets, and working with digitised images. I have already helped produce 200 still images and full captions for Scran, and a multimedia essay. This was my first serious web-based project.
2. The materials
A set of web pages introducing the student to eighteenth century Scottish towns, and demonstrating the number of aspects which need to be taken into consideration, and the extra interest which can be added by incorporating visual evidence.
To stimulate students of history or architectural history to think about urban history in all its aspects, and to investigate in more detail one town or group of towns.
Why did you want to create these materials?
To demonstrate the value of visual evidence to historians.
How will your materials benefit learners?
I hope they will be stimulated to think about what a town is, why it exists and how it functions.
How will they improve on previous methods of teaching this topic?
It is an area where little is published, and more studies of individual towns are needed to enhance the breadth and depth of the subject.
3. Creating the materials
What tools did you use?
Dreamweaver.
What additional support did you need in creating the materials?
A couple of tutorials from an IT student.
What are the main skills required in creating materials like this?
Background knowledge, IT skills and patience.
Describe any difficulties you experienced and how you went about addressing them.
It took a while to learn how to narrow down my Scran searches, as it is difficult to search by time period, and I had no interest in 19th or 20th century photographs.
What would you do differently next time?
Start sooner.
What hints and tips would you offer to a colleague planning to create a similar resource?
Do it slowly and gradually, and let it evolve.
