The purpose of my NET grant was to incorporate the multimedia computer program Perseus into several Classical Studies courses in order to enhance their value for general education. Perseus, which has been released on CD-ROM to run on Macintosh computers with HyperCard software, seeks to break down traditional boundaries between disciplines by uniting in a single data base primary sources of various types that survive from classical Greece. It includes full Greek text and translation of 10 Greek authors with philological tools that permit indexing and keyword searches, an atlas that locates several hundred sites throughout the ancient Greek world, thousands of photographs and site plans of many important archaeological sites (including Athens, Delphi, and Olympia), photographs of over a thousand works of art in the media of sculpture, architecture, vases, and coins, an encyclopedia with articles on many topics, and a historical overview of fifth century BC history. The program is designed to allow users to move easily from one class of information to another and thereby develop a more comprehensive view of the ancient Greek world and how it can be understood today.
My aim was to learn the program and develop ways of incorporating it into a number of existing courses that touch on classical Greece, particularly CLAS C205 Classical Mythology, C351 The Golden Age of Athens, HIST C386 Greek History, and possibly H113 History of Western Civilization I. All of these courses are designed for and attract students from many schools at IUPUI and help them fulfill their general education requirements. Perseus seemed an ideal vehicle for improving teaching in this area by making use of the most sophisticated technology available and overcoming the considerable shortcomings of our library holdings.
During the summer, as described in my preliminary report and summarized below, I made major progress in achieving these goals as originally formulated. Subsequently, during the Fall semester of 1994, I moved from concern exclusively with Perseus to the wider issue of employing the multimedia technology it represents both in my teaching and also in my research and publication. The NET Grant therefore achieved its goal of providing opportunity to immerse myself in the new multimedia technology, getting me beyond the difficult initial steps of learning a new computer program on a new system, and allowing me to achieve an understanding of its potential as an aid to both teaching and learning. This report describes what I have accomplished to date in integrating Perseus into the IUPUI curriculum, summarizes the results of a student evaluation of these efforts, briefly mentions some problems I encountered in the hopes that many can be easily corrected, and closes with prospects for the future.
By the end of the summer I had become relatively familiar with the structure of Perseus and its contents, gained an understanding of how it could be included in a range of courses, and developed plans to incorporate its use into two courses I was teaching in Fall 1994: C205 Classical Mythology, an introductory class with a large enrollment (50), and a smaller, more advanced class, C351 The Golden Age of Athens. To implement these plans I was fortunately able to draw on the resources of my school to capitalize on the campus investment represented by the NET Grant. Especially important was the assistance I received in all phases from Mike Scott and his staff in the School of Liberal Arts Multimedia Language Resource Center (MLRC) in CA 319-21. They became real partners and regularly extended themselves to me and my students to ensure the success of this project. Early in the Fall semester I also received a SLA Technology Grant that allowed us to upgrade our single-user license to one that allows us to serve 25 simultaneous users anywhere on campus. The grant also provided hardware and student assistance that has allowed me to devote the effort necessary to introduce Perseus into my teaching (which proved very time-consuming) without serious disruption to my other professional obligations. Pat Ralston and Amir Mirpoorian of OIT were also invaluable in getting things arranged in BS 2005.
The attached syllabi for C205 and C351 show how Perseus was included in each. In both classes I chose to move cautiously, so that any problems encountered in introducing the new technology would not seriously jeopardize student learning. In the myth course (C205) Perseus served as an optional resource in and out of class to enhance traditional book texts on art and literature. Perseus was used for classroom presentations, served as an optional source for assigned out of class reading, and was the basis for one of the 6 possible paper topics (of which students were required to write two). Only one student chose to write a paper using Perseus and, despite the great amount of time invested, felt he had a valuable learning experience.
In C351 Perseus was used more intensively, serving as a required out-of-class resource to replace a traditional text. Perseus provided students a continuous historical narrative, access to essential archaeological and artistic materials, and a basic reference to supplement readings of primary sources (ancient drama, historians, and philosophy). It was
also used in several class presentations, and to prepare a "Path" used in and out of class to introduce students to the material of the course and the use of Perseus .
Once Perseus was on the network, I regularly accessed it for classroom
use in C205 which met in BS 2005, one of the wonderful electronic classroom
facilities. A class period was devoted exclusively to introduce students to
the features of the program. Thereafter I found it extremely convenient to
call up Perseus to display a few maps and illustrations to enhance
lectures that otherwise relied on more traditional media. It was a relief not
to have to bring along slides and transparencies, and to move around from type
of evidence to another. By demonstrating the search capabilities of
Perseus to find particular myths in both literature and art, I felt the
classroom use of this product
enhanced the students' understanding both of how research is done and of the factual basis of the conclusions presented in their textbook. Many of the students, especially those in humanities, benefited from seeing how such technology advances learning in their fields. All students enjoyed these class presentations.
It was, unfortunately, not possible to schedule C351 into a room connected to the network. Instead, the class was moved to a room in Cavanaugh from which it was convenient to move to the MLRC class sessions requiring use of Perseus. All students in the class relied on Perseus for major reading assignments, over half used it in preparing term papers, and one student produced a HyperCard stack as his term paper, combining materials in Perseus with other sources.
For the Spring semester 1995 I have included more Perseus assignments in the two sections of C205 I am teaching, and have listed it as resource for A301/Herron H310 Classical Archaeology taught on the Herron campus. Syllabi are attached. In all three sections I scheduled a class session devoted exclusively to introducing Perseus. Unfortunately one section of C205 is taught off campus, and the available rooms at Herron are not equipped with Macintosh computers, so for these sections regular classroom use of the program is impossible. For both classes I scheduled a special session in the MLRC in Cavanaugh to introduce the program. For C205 I prepared a special Path, for use in and out of class, to introduce the program and the god Zeus.
I assessed student reaction to Perseus informally during the course of the semester by regularly asking them about convenience, access, and academic value during class meetings, and through a formal written survey completed at the end of the course. Though the results of this survey have not been fully tabulated, it is clear that both classes had a similar reaction to the use of Perseus. In both opinion was polarized between those who really liked it and thought it represented a major enhancement of the class, and those that disliked it and wished it had not been included. While these responses showed some correlation with how familiar students were with Macintosh computers and multi-media programs before the class, many students who claimed to be computer literate thought the program itself was hard to learn and use (a feeling with which I somewhat concur). In C205, where out-of-class use of Perseus was optional, the class was evenly split on its value, while in C351, where it was required, a majority were negative, though the class was equally split about the value of class presentations and individual features. Especially in the latter class much frustration was expressed with the Macintosh medium and with the design of the program itself. This negative reaction was partly because this was an evening course that met only once a week, and several students did not like having to return to campus to do assignments. Students in the other class cited pressures of time as a reason they did not use Perseus , and several stated reluctance to spend any more time on campus, which greater reliance on the program would require. In the myth course a small vociferous minority objected to computers per se, apparently on moral or philosophical grounds, though in both courses a sizable number of students thought Perseus represents the wave of the future and its use should be fostered.
Though the materials in Perseus and its format represent a real advance, in this initial version the program is rather difficult to learn and can be inconvenient. Well motivated students attacked it with relish and really enjoyed using it, but the disinterested were unwilling to make the effort to master the program, and a few cybernetophobes were actively hostile. Difficulties of accessing the program from off-campus made it unattractive to some of the harried commuters of the IUPUI campus. Although the same problems arise with more traditional use of Reserve reading and library facilities, they must also be recognized as difficulties in introducing this technology into our classes. A partial solution, at least for students with Macintosh computers at home, will occur when it becomes possible to access the Macintosh network via modem, though such connections may be unacceptably slow. I found accessing the program from the Herron campus to be frustrating because the inadequate network link with the main campus causes very slow response and retrieval; I am told that this particular problem should be improved by our recent move to an improved server in MLRC and by an upgrade to the computer link between the campuses scheduled this spring or summer. In the meantime, a copy of the Perseus CD-ROM ordered for the Herron Library may help overcome these problems, though there is not currently a Macintosh available for teaching in either of the two rooms used to teach art history, due to theft. In short, hardware computability and access make it difficult to integrate Perseus as fully into my teaching as I would like, and I hope that these problems can be solved soon.
Perseus represents a significant advance in the way Classical Studies can be taught and approached, and I am grateful that with this NET Grant and other support from the campus and school I have been able to introduce it into general education courses on the IUPUI campus. Its value lies not simply in providing students with the diverse range of essential original sources available on the program but also in allowing them to learn how this kind of electronic data base can streamline and improve learning and research. These skills are useful to students in all fields, and represent an important and attractive new dimension to the Classics component of General Education on this campus. In addition to the courses in which it has already introduced, it will be invaluable for History C386 Greek History (which I teach) and for the courses in Introductory Western Civilization. This spring I will schedule a History Department Brown Bag Seminar in MLRC to introduce Perseus to the faculty who teach the course and offer some suggestions about how they might employ it. Finally, as I have come to know Perseus and understand its potential better, I have a more sophisticated view of how it can be employed to educate our students not simply in the Classics but in the pursuit of knowledge. I should aim to move them quickly from reliance on preset "Paths" (canned tours prepared by me or others), and lead them to develop the ability to maneuver through the various classes of data available on any subject through active "Treasure Hunts" and other assignments that force them to track down various pieces of information.
Perseus is an ongoing project, and is being joined by a range of similar products in the field. To keep abreast of these changes, in December I attended two sessions on Perseus and other multimedia products available both for Classics and Archaeology at the joint annual meeting of the American Philological Association and the Archaeological Institute of America in Atlanta . Perseus is being continuously revised both to increase its scope and to improve its flexibility. Perseus 2.0, scheduled for release this summer, will include all Greek literature to the end of the fourth century BC, that is to say the Greek authors most commonly read, as well as a substantial increase in the artistic and architectural evidence. This new material will surely make Perseus more useful for classroom teaching and as a primary research tool for students and faculty alike. The textbook I currently use for C205 plans to release "Paths" for the course making use of the upgraded version of Perseus. This new version of the program will, however, present practical problems of hardware and delivery, since it will be released on four CDs and will require a new server. I have been consulting with Mike Scott and staff of the University Library to determine the best means of making it available for our students, though no decisions have yet been reached. Moreover, Perseus 3.0, scheduled to be released within a year, will be even larger and available in both Windows and general Macintosh formats free from the restraints of HyperCard. Further effort and funds will be needed to keep up with these developments if we are to take advantage of these upgrades. New technologies, like interactive CD, are also being released that will give a greater range. A European consortium is about to release a product on Pompeii that employs motion graphics and interactive technology to provide an unparalleled tool for understanding that unique site. Careful purchases of these and related software, combined with creation of new courseware (in part by digitizing personal sides for class work) will allow me to make use of these new technologies to improve teaching and learning on the IUPUI campus. By combining in this way the knowledge and technologies of the present to teach the lessons and wisdom of the past we will achieve the goals of general education in the best possible way for our students.
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