Resources
One page Teaching Tactic: a highly structured scaffolding of assignments to support students' ethnographic site visit to a local religious place of worship.
One page Teaching Tactic: students work in groups to identify and discuss differences between scholarly and non-academic sources.
One page Teaching Tactic: using worksheets to provide a structure for a group of students to increase their reading and analytic skills by walking together through a longer and more complex text.
This Forum emerges from a session initiated by the Professional Development Committee at the 2017 conference of the Society of Biblical Literature in Boston. A panel of five Bible scholars, from both theological education and undergraduate contexts, provide brief descriptions and analyses of a specific course they have taught online. They describe creative assignments such as role play, online field trips, evaluating web sites, and staged debates. They analyze the opportunities for developing undergraduates' critical thinking skills as well as seminarians' formation for ministry. A comparison of online and face‚Äêto‚Äêface teaching contexts reveals shifts in our understanding of how learning happens and our own identities as teachers. The Forum concludes with questions from the floor, which turn the conversation toward institutional support for pedagogical and technological hurdles.
Students increasingly appear anxious, risk‐averse, and worried about getting things “wrong.” They may appear to lack intellectual curiosity, and be unwilling to engage in independent study. This essay explores how teaching and assessment in theology and religious studies might help students learn to take intellectual risks, and increase their resilience. One approach is to encourage students to experiment and “fail safely,” to increase their confidence that they understand what is expected of them, and to help them begin to understand learning as more broadly formational, not always directed toward a grade. I suggest three strategies: more formative assessment; a stronger narrative about the purpose of formative assessment; and an appeal to values, virtue, and the cultivation of character. Via these approaches, students might be encouraged to understand assessment in less utilitarian terms and increase their resilience for a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, prepared both critically and dispositionally to thrive and contribute positively to society.
Many courses in higher education rely on the hierarchical organization of Bloom's taxonomy to categorize and sequence learning. Introductory courses on scripture often emphasize remembering content and background as a basis for applying the sacred text to one's life. However, a review of the literature demonstrates little support for the widely assumed hierarchical nature of Bloom's taxonomy. Furthermore, this study examined the performance of traditional and non‚Äêtraditional students in a New Testament survey course on a comprehensive exam (a Remember task) and an application assignment (an Apply task) and found no correlation between the two. Furthermore, students struggled most with the interpretation portion of the application assignment, prompting the realization that interpreting a sacred text is a complex hermeneutical enterprise incorporating multiple levels of the taxonomy. Thus, introductory scripture courses may be better organized around the central, integrating practice of interpretation supported by needed information and application skills.
Site visits provide an irreplaceable learning experience to students in both religious studies and the emerging field of interfaith studies. The conceptual core of this thesis is the claim, drawn from feminist epistemology, that an embodied pedagogy – a pedagogy which engages students not only intellectually, but as embodied beings who inhabit a space, engage in physical activities, and undergo various sensory experiences – is ultimately more enriching than a pedagogy centered exclusively in the classroom. Factors that make a site visit a successful instance of embodied pedagogy include the provision of sufficient context to students in advance for them to understand and appreciate the experience, an opportunity afterward to reflect on this experience in an intentional way, ensuring the site and the community whose space it is are treated with proper respect, and ensuring that the religious sensibilities of one's students are also similarly respected.
2016Graduate Program Directors and Deans Conference Dates October 30-November 1, 2016 Alexander Hotel, Indianapolis Purpose: To increase the ability of Ph.D./Th.d granting schools to include sustained conversation about teaching and learning as a part of the doctoral student experience. Agenda Participants: Jennifer Davidson, American Baptist Seminary of the West Miguel Astor-Aguilera, Arizona State University J. Eugene Clay, Arizona State University Lalsangkima Pachuau, Asbury Theological Seminary James D. Nogalski, Baylor University Mikeal C. Parsons, Baylor University Bryan P. Stone, Boston University School of Theology Joretta Marshall, Brite Divinity School at TCU Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, Claremont School of Theology Marvin A. Sweeney, Claremont School of Theology Gerhard Bode, Concordia Seminary (MO) Beth Hoeltke, Concordia Seminary (MO) Richard A. Taylor, Dallas Theological Seminary Susan Kendall, Drew Theological School J. Ross Wagner, Duke Divinity School Elizabeth Agnew Cochran, Duquesne University Marinus Iwuchukwu, Duquesne University Joyce Flueckiger, Emory University Kathryn Reklis, Fordham University Eugen Matei, Fuller Theological Seminary Charles Cosgrove, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Luis R. Rivera, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Theresa M. Sanders, Georgetown University Nili S. Fox, Hebrew Union College - J I R Richard Sarason, Hebrew Union College - J I R Pamela Eisenbaum, Iliff School of Theology Sarah Emily Imhoff, Indiana University Richard Kalmin, Jewish Theological Seminary of America Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Jewish Theological Seminary of America Robert L. Masson, Marquette University Joseph Mueller, Marquette University Garth W. Green, McGill Faculty of Religious Studies Charles A. Ray, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Rose Ellen Dunn, Princeton Theological Seminary Gordon S. Mikoski, Princeton Theological Seminary Brian K. Sholl, Saint Louis University Charles Quarles, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan T. Pennington, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Philip Arnold, Syracuse University William Alden Robert, Syracuse University Bradley H. McLean, Toronto School of Theology Craig Ott, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Andrew Gow, University of Alberta Aaron T. Hollander, University of Chicago Divinity School Teresa Owens, University of Chicago Divinity School Annette Stott, University of Denver Diana Cates, University of Iowa Lauren Leve, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Randall G. Styers, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Todd Walatka, University of Notre Dame Joseph Wawrykow, University of Notre Dame Anthea Butler, University of Pennsylvania Kathryn E. Lofton, Yale University Wabash Center Staff: Nadine Pence, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Paul Myhre, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Tim Lake, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Mary Stimming, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
Teaching the World is a welcome volume on online theological education that seeks to ground educational practice with a theological foundation. The work is a critically needed guide that directs leaders and administers in developing online education programs. Readers will find practical insight on program development on three levels: framework, faculty, and classroom. An introductory chapter entitled, “Past Patterns and Present Challenges in Online Theological Education,” describes the delivery of theological education from the early days of correspondence in the eighteenth century to the current practice of providing multimedia curricula fully online. After advocating the legitimacy of online theological education, the authors maintain that educational institutions have often not built their online programs on theological foundations. Instead, they have unwittingly overlooked this step in their rush to launch programs for primarily pragmatic reasons – increased enrollment and profitability. The balance of the book is divided into three sections. Section I, “Better Foundations for Online Learning,” examines the role of the Pauline Epistles in theological education, ministry preparation, and spiritual formation from a distance. The authors argue that Paul's Epistolary practice provides biblical support for theological education from a distance and an example of how to deliver it. Subsequent pages integrate “social presence theory” with Paul's epistolary practice, resulting in a conceptual framework for online program development. Section II, “Better Faculty for Online Learning,” provides theological guidance for faculty roles in online programs. Here the authors argue for faculty who: (1) emphasize the spiritual formation of students over the mere transfer of knowledge, (2) demonstrate the ability to leverage the medium of online education to accomplish the desired outcomes for students, and (3) model the theological and professional standards for ministry. In such an environment, online faculty members embody the values of the institution and effectively facilitate the desired outcomes of programs. Section III, “Better Practices in the Classroom,” maintains that the students’ ministry contexts make effective online learning possible. Students in online programs are typically older and engaged in some form of ministry. Consequently, online programs should incorporate adult learning theory and facilitate learning in the student’s ministry context – the local church serving as an active partner in ministry preparation. A concluding chapter, “To Teach, to Delight, and to Persuade,” argues that online programs are not a replacement for residential programs, but are a means for developing stronger partnerships for ministerial preparation. This book’s emphasis on using theology as a conceptual framework for online theological education is its conspicuous strength. Teaching the World: Foundations for Online Theological Education presents a grand vision for online theological education that is particularly valuable for leaders of theological schools who seek to develop online programs that are effective in fulfilling the educational outcomes of their institutions.
This brief handbook and reference work was designed for college and university students interested in doing research. Charity Hudley, Dickter, and Franz present scholarly research as an exciting way for undergraduates to make the transition from students who learn to scholars who join an ongoing conversation as “masters of knowledge and challengers of the status quo” (5). The authors purposely construct the guide to serve not only as a resource but also as a model of a research-based approach to scholarly writing; they frequently comment on their own working methods and the research process that went into the composition of this text. The resulting book effectively demystifies the world of academia and the work of scholars, making research approachable and appealing. Throughout the guide, the authors encourage students to pursue their academic and personal interests by becoming researchers, and they provide an impressively comprehensive roadmap for the research process. The book takes a special interest in guiding first-generation college students and students from historically underrepresented populations. The tone is collegial, and the text abounds with concrete advice about navigating the concomitants of scholarly research, from how to email a potential research mentor (80) to how to identify and access campus resources that can assist with time and energy management (49). Chapter 2, devoted to getting started, describes what research looks like across several academic disciplines and details ways different schools support and reward undergraduate research. Personal accounts from student scholars provide additional relatable voices and create the sense of a broad academic community into which readers are invited. The authors also emphasize the importance of sharing research results with a variety of audiences; Chapter 5, “Writing and Presenting Research” (91-116), describes different venues for written and oral communication that increase the impact of a student’s project, including conferences, articles, books, and social media. A particularly valuable contribution of this book is its focus on empowering students from underrepresented populations. In addition to devoting a chapter to describing challenges that students from minority populations face and some tools for overcoming those challenges (“Underrepresented Scholars in the Academy: Making a Way,” [117-142]), the authors consistently highlight the value of diverse voices and backgrounds, and especially of the new questions such diverse viewpoints can generate. They frame the importance of greater academic inclusiveness and equity in a larger conversation about the powerful impacts researchers can have on their communities, emphasizing the value of interdisciplinary scholarship and community-based research. Although the book is addressed directly to an audience of undergraduates who are or who seek to become researchers, the authors also model numerous ways to offer such students practical support. Therefore the text may also serve as a valuable resource for teachers, mentors, and advisors who assist student researchers and ensure their success.