Examining remote Australian First Nations boarding through capital theory lenses

In Australia, boarding schools and residential facilities for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) students have long been part of the educational landscape. Policy settings are paying considerable attention to boarding schools and residential colleges as secondary schooling options for First Nations students, particularly for those from remote areas. Further, First Nations education is seeing increased investment in scholarship programmes, transition support services and establishment of national boarding standards. There is an emerging body of qualitative evidence about the experiences and outcomes of boarding for remote First Nations students. However, in Australia there are no publicly available evaluations showing quantitative impacts of boarding. In this paper, the authors critically examine boarding using three capital theory lenses: social/cultural capital (based on Bourdieu), human capital (based on Becker), and identity capital (based on Erikson). Using these lenses we intend to go beyond an understanding of impact on individuals towards a more nuanced consideration of the social, cultural, health and well-being consequences of pursuing boarding as strategic policy for First Nations students in Australia

Using 3-D GIS in Archaeology Classrooms: An Example from Hells Canyon, Oregon

Excavation data from an ancestral Nez Perce dwelling in Hells Canyon, Oregon (1600–500 B.P.) are used to integrate 3-D GIS and spatio-temporal problem-solving for university-level archaeology instruction. By working through three sequential projects, students learn visualization skills as well as archaeological methods, spatial thinking, and problem-solving. These projects include digital excavation of a house site with evaluation of the spatio-temporal relationships and patterns of artifacts, group analysis of different occupation layers, and 3-D visualization. Beyond this, students were encouraged to continue to explore areas of interest, develop new research questions, and complete more detailed studies as independent research efforts. Applications like 3-D GIS have the potential to reach many more students and dramatically increase student interest in and understanding of archaeology, using computer methods as a supplement to field work