The Best Courses Always Include...(Part One)

By Steve Huerd

It’s the most wonderful feeling as a speaker or teacher when someone comes up to you after you’ve finished speaking and says, “I felt like God was directly speaking to me through what you said.  It’s like you were just talking to me.”  These affirmations provide the speaker with assurance that God is using them in people’s lives through their teaching.

If our purpose as Christian educators is to teach to change lives so that we might present everyone mature in Christ (Col. 1:28), then this dynamic interaction must occur somewhere in the teaching process.  When it occurs and the light bulb comes on, a glorious thing transpires in the student’s mind and life as the Holy Spirit uses our words and life to create change in the learner.

Having sat under many Godly men and women educators during my twelve years of graduate school, I’ve noticed that the best courses always included professors making the material especially applicable to my life.

For example, while I was taking a course called Human Growth and Development at Talbot School of Theology, party of Biola University’s graduate school, I had no idea there was a scholarly area entitled “Faith Development.”  At that time, I had spent roughly twenty years investing in people to help them in their faith development as a practitioner and I was shocked to learn that scholars had been researching my life’s work!  I was so thrilled at this discovery, and grateful to my professor, Dr. Jonathan Kim, of Talbot School of Theology, for his teaching, that I devoted my dissertation to the subject of spiritual development in youth.

It was Dr. David Clark, now provost of Bethel University, whose unique and simple way of presenting his arguments in the apologetics course I took from him years ago enabled me to share these arguments with hundreds of students over the years.  Or Dr. Walter Kaiser, Old Testament Scholar and former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, whose love and passion for the Old Testament inspired me to read and love the Old Testament every year in my devotions.  It can even be as simple as sharing from your own life as Dr. Klaus Issler, professor of Christian Education and Theology at Talbot School of Theology, often did in our Philosophical Issues class causing me to rethink my own presuppositions and see Jesus in new ways.

While there is certainly not just one way to make material applicable to student’s lives, it seems all the best courses include professors who somehow have figured out how to make that happen.  Whether through their teaching methods, their insights, personal examples, relationships, etc., they always find a way to connect their subject matter to their students’ lives.

Teaching Small Classes, Part II

In my previous post, Teaching Small Classes, I addressed some advantages and disadvantages alsongside some potential roles teachers of small classes can/should fill. With that post in mind, there are a number of teaching methods that may prove helpful in facilitating small classes. Here are a few:

1. Seminar Method--utilizes discussion and response to others perspectives and opinions. Prior preparation is key for this method to work effectively. Do not be afraid to rearrange your classroom in a circle or oval (or other shape conducive for conversation, rows are not recommended). As the instructor, you will facilitate the discussion, offer questions or perspectives to discuss, and allow students to respond to one another. You, as facilitator, decide when it is appropriate to move on. Laying ground rules may be necessary in some classes about what is acceptable and unacceptable.

2. Socratic Method--utilizes the power of questioning. Here the facilitator/teacher asks a series of questions designed to cause students to probe and delve deeper into the subject area or issue at hand. This method is most often used to address mysteries, puzzles, challenges, or other issues that require a great deal of thought and reflection to reach a conclusion or deeper understanding. Often students cross-examine one another and play devils advocate. Some students thrive on this method while others find it irritating and a struggle (keep that in mind as the facilitator). Nonetheless, it is a viable and useful method with small classes.

3. Case Study Method--allows class members to consider either a hypothetical or real situation and explore the issues present in relation to what they are learning. As the instructor you will either give an overview of the case or ask a student to do so and then have students critique the case. You may also suggest additional hypothetical’s: What if _______ happened in the case instead of _______. This method can allow students the opportunity to interact with “real” situations and discuss what they would or would not do.

4. Simulation Method--utilizes either role playing or engagement in a real situation, void of danger, and allows students to gain valuable real-life skills. This method is beneficial for both the participant and classroom observers. Classmate critique and help can be very valuable. Furthermore, classmates can learn from each other’s simulation decisions. As the teacher, your role is to provide the simulation and valuable feedback for those participating. Debriefing the simulation is essential for this method to be effective.

5. Co-teaching Method--this method utilizes shared instruction responsibilities with the students in the course. Students may be given a topic or method to utilize and then assigned a day to teach. After each teaching experience the class evaluates what worked well and what did not. Sometimes the most effective way to learn the material is to teach it---so students gain two valuable things-----learning the material and gaining teaching experience in a controlled safe setting.

(Some ideas and concepts in this post were gleaned and adapted from “The Essential College Professor” by Jeffery Buller, 2010)