Resources
One page Teaching Tactic: scaffolds progressively more nuanced student understanding of difficult religious studies theory.
This article reports on a practitioner action research project focused on developing, trialing, and reflecting upon a continuous and formative-assessment plan for a foundational New Testament survey course. Three pedagogical convictions are discussed and drive the design of the assessment. Seven to nine assessment items (depending on level of study) based on course learning outcomes and informed by Bloom's taxonomy of learning, were developed and implemented. Students provided feedback on the assessment through an anonymous online survey. The results demonstrate that students preferred continuous assessment to an exam and major essay, and that they better achieved the course learning outcomes. In conclusion, this style of assessment is effective in driving and assessing student learning and so provides a basis for further action reflection.
What are grades doing in a homiletics classroom? This article traces the function of grades through the broader history of the educational system in the United States and then makes suggestions for how grades can be used more effectively in teaching preaching. Beginning in the nineteenth century, teachers used grades to rank and motivate students, as well as communicate across institutions. With the more recent assessment movement, educators have conceptualized grading as the larger process of evaluating the success of learning objectives. The commission on accreditation for the Association of Theological Schools does not view grades as part of its assessment, but it evaluates theological schools on whether they achieve intended learning outcomes. Theological educators need to be able to evaluate whether their teaching fulfills their schools' mission and learning objectives. For homiletics, the author measures learning through pre- and post-preaching feedback and incorporates professor- and student-crafted rubrics.
Click Here for Book Review At this time of a renewed call for colleges and universities to create campus cultures that support and develop students’ understanding and commitment to civic participation, what is known about the design of service learning courses and their effectiveness to achieve this goal? This volume presents research on--and deepens understanding of--teaching strategies that foster the knowledge, skills and dispositions of college graduates to be actively engaged in their communities as citizens and civic-minded professionals. The first section offers an overview of civic learning and the importance of intentional service learning course design to reach civic outcomes. The next section employs various disciplinary perspectives to identify theories and conceptual frameworks for conducting research on student civic outcomes. The third section focuses on research methods and designs to improve research using quantitative and qualitative approaches, cross-institutional research strategies, longitudinal designs, authentic data, and local and national data sets. Chapters also address implications for practice and future research agendas for scholars. (From the Publisher)
This article provides two short responses to Kathleen M. Fisher's essay “Look Before You Leap: Reconsidering Contemplative Pedagogy,” published in this issue of the journal.
This paper presents a critique of a set of teaching strategies known as “contemplative pedagogy.” Using practices such as meditation, attentive listening, and reflective reading, contemplative inquiry focuses on direct first-person experience as an essential means of knowing that has historically been overshadowed and dismissed by an emphasis on analytical reasoning. In this essay, I examine four problematic claims that appear frequently in descriptions of contemplative pedagogy: (1) undergraduate students have a kind of spiritual hunger; (2) pedagogies focused on cognitive skills teach students only what, not how, to think; (3) self-knowledge fosters empathy; and (4) education needs a new epistemology centered on spiritual and emotional, rather than intellectual, experience. I argue that these claims underestimate the diversity of undergraduate students, the complexity of what it means to think and know, the capacity for self-knowledge to become self-absorption, and the dangers of transgressing the boundaries between intellectual, psychological, and religious experiences. [See as well “Response to Kathleen Fisher's ‘Look Before You Leap,’” by Andrew O. Fort and Louis Komjathy, published in this issue of the journal.]
More professors and institutions want to move from a detect-and-punish to an educate-and-prevent model for dealing with plagiarism. Understanding the causes of plagiarism, especially among international students, can aid in efforts to educate students and prevent plagiarism. Research points to a confluence of causal factors, such as time pressure, language differences, and unclear rules. Though not the primary factor, ethical differences between cultures are also germane. Overall, the plight of international students summons institutions to examine their ethical norms of attribution. Plagiarism has a cultural history tied to concepts of individual creativity, but its future may look quite different in an era with increased communal sharing of ideas and images.
Click Here for Book Review Abstract: In Tell Me So I Can Hear You, Eleanor Drago-Severson and Jessica Blum-DeStefano show how education leaders can learn to deliver feedback in a way that strengthens relationships as well as performance and builds the capacity for growth. Drawing on constructive-developmental theory, the authors describe four stages of adult growth and development and explain how to differentiate feedback for colleagues with different “ways of knowing,” which include: - Instrumental knowers, who tend to see things in black and white (“Did I do it right or wrong?”) and may need to develop the capacity for reflection. - Socializing knowers, who are concerned with maintaining relationships (“What do you want me to do?”) and may need support developing their own ideas. - Self-authoring knowers, who have strong ideologies and values (“How does this fit with my goals and vision?”) and may need help with perspective taking. - Self-transformative knowers, who are able to examine issues from multiple points of view (“How can I understand this more deeply?”) and may need guidance in resolving tensions and contradictions. The authors show how leaders can provide feedback in ways that “meet people where they are” while expanding the developmental capacities educators bring to their work. Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano provide real-life examples with practical strategies for creating a safe space for feedback, finding the right words, and bridging feedback and action. Tell Me So I Can Hear You offers invaluable guidance to help educators support a culture of learning in classrooms, schools, and districts. (From the Publisher)
Argues for a new system of credentials in place of university degree programs, focused on education for job skill acquisition and professional development.
In this essay, I explore an exam format that pairs multiple-choice questions with required rationales. In a space adjacent to each multiple-choice question, students explain why or how they arrived at the answer they selected. This exercise builds the critical thinking skill known as metacognition, thinking about thinking, into an exam that also engages students in the methods of the academic study of religion by asking them to compare familiar excerpts and images. As a form of assessment, the exam provides a record of students' knowledge and their thought processes, and as a learning strategy, it encourages students to examine the thought processes they use to understand religion(s) and its many manifestations.