A great many teaching tools exist for supplementing the textbook.
Student's presentations
- Students may be requested to present
their final essays in-class. Guidelines for doing so will be made available soon.
Teacher’s presentations
- Explanations
of elementary aspects of big history
In the second edition, a number of text boxes provide such information. But teachers may
want to supplement them with images and videos. These are very easy to find on the Internet, but change very quickly. A few suggestions:
The
Particle Adventure: good web site on elementary particles.
Cosmic Evolution: excellent web site with a great many clear explanations.
- History of discoveries
The ‘further reading’ section in the textbook at the end of each chapter provides suggestions
for such information. On the
How to use the book page on this web site, a selection of such links is available.
- Videos
There
are a great many such videos on the Internet. A few suggestions are mentioned on the
How to use the book page.
In-class
assignments
Because big history is based on empirical observations and scholarly interpretations, it proves very useful to request
students to participate in such activities.
It may be a good idea to use the college and its environment as a unit of observation
for all aspects of big history, all the way from astronomical to cultural anthropological and sociological observations. This will
allow students to understand their own environment from a big history perspective, while becoming acquainted with the possibilities
and limitations of making empirical observations and interpreting them.
A great variety of such activities is possible, far more
than what can be realized within one single course. A list of such assignments is currently in preparation and will be made available
as soon as possible.