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Decision‐based learning in religious education
Author(s) -
Plummer Kenneth,
Taeger Stephan,
Burton Melissa
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
teaching theology and religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.165
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1467-9647
pISSN - 1368-4868
DOI - 10.1111/teth.12538
Subject(s) - curriculum , realism , value (mathematics) , subject (documents) , usability , mathematics education , pedagogy , religious education , psychology , computer science , epistemology , human–computer interaction , philosophy , world wide web , machine learning
Abstract Student learning in religious educational settings is subject to the same pedagogical forces, both effective and ineffective, as found in secular settings. Lectures, readings, assignments, testing and other activities associated with typical instruction, while of some value, tend to leave students with knowledge that is mostly fragmented. In this paper, we explore the use of an innovative pedagogy called decision‐based learning that is designed to assist students in organizing their knowledge of historical and scriptural content more efficiently than they do with traditional instruction. This preliminary study represents an attempt to capture student impressions of this innovative pedagogy. Students' overall impressions were positive; they reported an enhanced sense of realism for the sacred text as well as an improved overall understanding of the historical content. A few recommendations are also made regarding usability and curriculum integration.