Epilogue

Summary

AT THE OUTSET of each chapter of this book, we attempted to background our discussion of project-based learning with trends in education, the historical profession, and medieval studies which we see as national trends and in some respects are seen more widely around the world. We used this information to first establish project-based learning as a pedagogical approach that may address many of the concerning trends surrounding medieval history and historical practices at colleges and universities across the US. Using PBL, we then developed a planning process and project management framework designed for undergraduate instructors of medieval history supported by templates, artifacts, rubrics, activities, and project guides we hope are useful for the courses taught by our readers.

It may be worth taking one last look at trend data to reinforce our argument that there is a need for reform in how we teach medieval history. To do this, we investigated what type of undergraduate medieval history courses are taught in our home state of Texas. Regional accreditation in Texas is provided by the Southern Association of Colleges and School Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), whose member list we used to assemble a discrete set of institutions that might offer a course that includes a significant medieval history component. SACSCOC distinguishes six levels of institution according to the highest degree offered at the institution:

Level I Associate

Level II Baccalaureate

Level III Master

Level IV Education Specialist

Level V Doctorate (three or fewer degree programs)

Level VI Doctorate (four or more degree programs)

In the Spring of 2020, we inventoried every institution of higher education in the state of Texas accredited by SACSCOC and, after eliminating standalone professional schools and graduate-only institutions, 142 institutions remained. We then inventoried each institution's course catalogues from school the 2015–2016 school year to the 2019–2020 school year, totalling 710 course catalogues, in order to track the addition and subtraction of medieval history courses at those institutions. In addition, we surveyed each institution's website to see where their medieval history courses were housed. In that time span, 348 different courses featuring a prominent medieval history component were offered to undergraduate students across the state. If courses with titles like “Western Civilizations” are excluded, that number drops to 249.