Alex Hunnicutt

Tudor & Stuart England: Research Into Trials and Execution

Wendell A. (Alex) Hunnicutt, PhD

Adjunct Instructor, Department of History, UT Arlington

I have taught as an adjunct instructor in the History department at UTA since 2006. My project is on the Use of Technology in Understanding Trials and Execution in Tudor / Stuart England.

Catherine Ortiz

Hi Alex,

Regarding the pre-project assessment: How did you deal with these possible issues?

*Some students believed that some rules for the trials were in place, while others insisted that there were no rules.

*The seemingly contradictory conclusion that the trials lacked fairness, yet nobody seemed to consider that ‘wrongful acquittal’ was an issue! (This amazes me, because most students I deal with are hyper-aware of the law or ‘establishment’ making erroneous decisions!)

After seeing student response to the research questions, did you provide any further insight to students on how to improve research techniques if you realized they might have formed their opinion based on an incomplete picture or a lack of sufficient investigation? e.g., the fact that none of them mentioned fines as a punishment which turned out to be very common, or that hanging was the most common form of execution?

Overall, I found this to be a very engaging topic for research!
- Alex Hunnicutt
  
  Hi Catherine,
  Thanks for these questions.
  I did provide subtle correction to their overlooking the notion of wrongful acquittal. By that I mean, in other class contexts such as feedback on papers and especially in the discussions, I would steer them to expand their notions of what “fair” and “just” may actually mean. Also, we did some fairly extensive reading in various trials after the time of these assessments and the authors of those books created a much more sophisticated model of 16th and 17th century justice for them to absorb.
  As for other forms of punishment, I teased them with allusions to more depth and then reminded them that I am teaching a semester-long course in execution and punishment in Fall 2016. I made a shameless, self-promoting advertisement for my Fall course. And at least two of them are signed up already.
  Since making the recording above, I have read their group projects. They’ve truly come a long way from their initial assessments.
  - nakiaspope
    
    Glad to see their progress! Nicely done project.
Kiva Harper

I loved the topic Alex. I suspect the students enjoyed this research. These tools will help them for the duration of their academic careers.
- Alex Hunnicutt
  
  Thanks Kiva. I think they did benefit from it. I’m seeing their post project assessments coming in now. They do show improvement.
Regina Urban

Alex, very interesting! I appreciate you sharing their initial student perceptions of the subject and look forward to your assessment of their understanding after your intervention. How cool is that to read original trial transcripts from that time??? Thanks for your mention of Breevy for grading papers more efficiently and with more detail.
- Alex Hunnicutt
  
  Thanks Regina. Their post project assessments are trickling in now. So far, they do indicate a more sophisticated understanding of the processes than they had before. And you’re right, they thought it was interesting to have actual transcripts of trials that are 400 years old.
Kim Breuer

Alex, are you seeing more critical and analytical thinking in other areas of assessment? Did you see an increase in student engagement as the course progressed?
- Alex Hunnicutt
  
  Only slightly. I truly think that the course was over-demanding in general and they struggled just to get everything done. In other words, I don’t think I really gave them adequate time to think about what they were doing. When I repeat this, I will remove one assignment and allow this to become deeper and more meaningful.
Christopher Simpson

Really interesting project!
- Alex Hunnicutt
  
  Thanks Christopher. I appreciate that you took time to check it out.