Abstract
In this presentation I discuss teaching reproducible research methods in archaeology, particularly using R and Quarto. I describe my implementation of replication assignments in upper-division archaeology courses where students recreate and modify published visualizations. I found that students, often from a qualitative background, struggled with the computational aspects and felt overly reliant on instructor support. To address this, I developed a lower-division introductory course on archaeological data science, which provides a gentler introduction to R and Quarto. This preparatory class helps students develop the necessary skills and self-efficacy, making the upper-division assignments more manageable and satisfying for them, and the workload more sustainable for me as the instructor.
Speaker Bio
Ben Marwick is a Professor of Archaeology, and the Director of the interdisciplinary Minor in Data Science at the University of Washington. His main research activities combine models from evolutionary ecology with analyses of archaeological evidence to investigate past human behavior. Specific interests include hominin dispersals into mainland Southeast Asia, forager technologies and ecology in Australia, mainland Southeast Asia and elsewhere. He analyses how archaeology engages with local and online communities, and with popular culture. He am also interested in techniques and methods for reproducible research and open science. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Archaeological Science, Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences, Advances in Archaeological Practice, Journal of Open Archaeology Data, and Scientific Data
Video Presentation
Ben Marwick's video presentation is available here.
Each presentation in this symposium will have two parts: a recorded video of about 45 minutes, and a live webinar of about an hour. Each speaker will record a video of their talk, which will be posted a week or two before the live webinar. At the live event, the presenter will give a brief recap of the highlights of the video, but most of the time will be reserved for discussion and questions from the audience. We therefore encourage symposium participants to watch the videos before the live events.
Time Zones for Live Discussion
The live discussion of Ben Marwick's presentation will take place on September 11 at:
- 9:00-10:00 am US Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
- 2:00-3:00 pm UK British Summer Time (UTC+1)