Methodist Theological School in Ohio : 2003 Seminar
Project Report
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
{excerpt}
ISSUE AND CONTEXT
Our project began with a narrative titled, “Constrained by the Ethic of Nice: The Challenge of Cultivating Critical Assessment in a Seminary Environment.” In that narrative, the “presenting issue” was grading, but we quickly learned through writing and exploring the narrative that assessment happens in many ways, ranging from how we teach critical thinking to the letters of recommendation we write to judicatories. We also learned that our ability to assess students, as well as cultivating in them a desire and ability to engage in critical assessment for themselves, is complicated by the peculiar place that seminaries occupy, that is, partly responsible to the church and partly responsible to the academy. On the one hand, we exist in large part to prepare people for ministry in the church. On the other hand, we are accredited by organizations that hold us to standards that are held generally among educational institutions. Students often arrive at seminary believing it will be something like the ideal church, and then they are unsettled by the realization that theological education is challenging and hard. Faculty members also feel the tension. They want to be accepting, supportive, and encouraging to students, but calling them to excellence involves a truth-telling that can be hard to speak and hard to hear. At times, the central ethic of compassion that students and faculty alike hold gets translated into a “niceness” that avoids the discomfort and conflict that can arise from honest evaluation. When that happens, adequate assessment of students is compromised, and neither the academy nor the church is served well.
In this project, Methodist Theological School in Ohio set out to explore more deeply how we understand our identity as an institution so that we could in turn define our assessment practices appropriately. We believed that understanding who we are would help us to identify our teaching and learning goals so that we would be better equipped to develop assessment criteria. Gaining a consistent understanding among faculty members regarding our purpose would enable greater consistency regarding assessment, and in particular grading, so that students would understand more quickly what to expect at this institution. Clear expectations on the part of the students should enhance their ability to function in the classroom...
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Document Download and Supplemental Information
Methodist Theological School in Ohio Project Report (Word doc)
Teaching Through Identity (rich-text format)
Criteria for Student Evaluation (Word doc)
Five Metaphors for Curriculum (Word doc)
Comparison (Word doc)
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
{excerpt}
ISSUE AND CONTEXT
Our project began with a narrative titled, “Constrained by the Ethic of Nice: The Challenge of Cultivating Critical Assessment in a Seminary Environment.” In that narrative, the “presenting issue” was grading, but we quickly learned through writing and exploring the narrative that assessment happens in many ways, ranging from how we teach critical thinking to the letters of recommendation we write to judicatories. We also learned that our ability to assess students, as well as cultivating in them a desire and ability to engage in critical assessment for themselves, is complicated by the peculiar place that seminaries occupy, that is, partly responsible to the church and partly responsible to the academy. On the one hand, we exist in large part to prepare people for ministry in the church. On the other hand, we are accredited by organizations that hold us to standards that are held generally among educational institutions. Students often arrive at seminary believing it will be something like the ideal church, and then they are unsettled by the realization that theological education is challenging and hard. Faculty members also feel the tension. They want to be accepting, supportive, and encouraging to students, but calling them to excellence involves a truth-telling that can be hard to speak and hard to hear. At times, the central ethic of compassion that students and faculty alike hold gets translated into a “niceness” that avoids the discomfort and conflict that can arise from honest evaluation. When that happens, adequate assessment of students is compromised, and neither the academy nor the church is served well.
In this project, Methodist Theological School in Ohio set out to explore more deeply how we understand our identity as an institution so that we could in turn define our assessment practices appropriately. We believed that understanding who we are would help us to identify our teaching and learning goals so that we would be better equipped to develop assessment criteria. Gaining a consistent understanding among faculty members regarding our purpose would enable greater consistency regarding assessment, and in particular grading, so that students would understand more quickly what to expect at this institution. Clear expectations on the part of the students should enhance their ability to function in the classroom...
{ Read The Full Report by Downloading the Word Doc Below }