Thinking & Writing Theologically

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25

Lessons

25

Videos

25

QUIZZES

6 Weeks

Duration

English

Language

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The objective this module is to equip students the learn the basics of how to read, think and write theologically.  The module will take the students through effective learning processes like improving reading skills and developing vocabulary. The student undertake a short introduction to Biblical and Theological resources. This course will help students to develop a confidence in listening to theological lectures and reading portions of selected books for reflective reading.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to gain:

  1. Knowledge:
    This course will help the students with basic knowledge on effective learn strategies; awareness to biblical and theological resources; discerning academic multimedia resources to reflection on contextual challenges.
  2. Skills:
    This course will help the students to learn the skills of effective reading, writing and thinking academically. Students will be able to learn and practice the skill of writing, listening and reflecting diverse theological resources.
  3. Attitude:
    This course will acquaint the students with diverse theological resource and will develop an appreciation to academic content. The students will be able to engage with different authors and resources which will bring greater opportunity to  develop broader attitude .

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

REQUIRED READING

  1. Alister E. McGrath, The Christian Theology Reader, (Hoboken : Wiley Blackwell), 2017
  2. Charles C. Manz,  The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus: Practical Lessons for Today, (San Fransico: Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 2011.
  3. Eric D. Barreto (ed), Thinking Theologically Foundations for Learning, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.
  4. Eric D. Barreto (ed), Writing Theologically Foundations for Learning, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.

SUPPLEMENTARY / RECOMMENDED READING AND TOOLS (Bibliography)

  1. Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide To Intelligent Reading. Simon and Schuster, 2014. 
  2. Burke, Jim. “Academic vocabulary list.”avaliable online at  www.englishcompanion.com. Retrieved on January (2020).
  3. McMillan, Kathleen, and Jonathan DB Weyers. The Study Skills Book. 2012.
  4. Zemach, Dorothy E., and Lisa Rumisek. Academic Writing. Macmillan, 2016. 

GUIDELINES FOR INTERACTIONS

We anticipate our students to have varied viewpoints which will enrich the discussions in our learning community. Therefore, we ask our students to be charitable and respectful in their interactions with each other, and to remain focused on the topic of discussion, out of respect to others who have committed to being a part of this learning community.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

  1. Quiz (daily quiz) 30 %weightage:

    A self-assessment quiz that consists of multiple-choice, true/false questions, short answer, text with feedback. Note that quizzes are used for self-assessment and not formal exams – so formative. These quizzes are based on video lectures, reading assignments, multimedia content etc., that you learn from on weekly basis.

  2. Discussion Forum

A. Weekly Discussions and Written Responses: 200 Words each (Total 30%).

Late responses are not accepted. Each week’s initial response is due on Wednesday (11:59pm) and interactions with other responses are due on Saturday (11:59pm).

Attendance in this course is demonstrated by regular log-ins and up-to-date participation in forums.

Every Monday a weekly discussion question will become visible. Each student will read through the question and take time to formulate a response.

Aim for responses that display a thorough understanding of the textbooks and primary sources relevant to each question and a clear engagement with the class discussions and lectures, especially identifying areas of your understanding of each week’s themes that have challenged, changed, and/or enriched you. This is not a summary of the readings and the lectures, but a response to particular themes/arguments. Be specific and brief, but not superficial.

The initial response should be 200 words but there is no set limit on words for the subsequent interactions between students. In order to maximize the benefit of this element of the course, the student should post his/her initial response by 11:59 pm on Wednesday of the week and then spend the remainder of that week interacting with their colleagues in the class until Saturday at 11:59pm.

Each weekly questions and themes will be discussed on following week during optional class meetings

Discussion Forum and Grading Rubric (see the General Grading from FBC Grading standards)

Areas of Evaluation
Grade A
Grade B
Grade C
Grade D
Completeness of post
Addresses all parts of question; meets and did not exceed word limit; comprehensive response
Addresses all parts of question; respectable length & did not exceed limit; somewhat comprehensive
Addresses some parts of question; shorter length; incomplete post
Rarely addresses question; far too short or far too long; incomplete post
Clarity of post
Clear and concise posts; grammatically correct with rare
Clear, but can be more concise; a few grammatical or spelling errors
Somewhat clear, but with significant number of errors in spelling and grammar
Unclear, poor spelling and grammar in most posts
Critical engagement with class material (lectures, readings)
Thoughtful; opinions and ideas are substantiated with class material and additional resources (quotations and/or references); active reflection & questioning; obvious integration with one’s context
Thoughtful; opinions and ideas are occasionally substantiated with class material; some reflection & questioning; some integration
Less thoughtful; opinions and ideas are sometimes substantiated with class material; insufficient reflection & questioning; less integration with one’s context
Opinions and ideas are not substantiated with class material; no reflection & questioning; no integration with one’s context
Promptness & quality of responses
Posting on time; responds to all group members’ comments on your post, interacting with other students’ postings in timely manner; thoughtful responses
Posting on time; responds to some of group members’ comments on your post, limited interaction with other students’ postings in timely manner; somewhat thoughtful responses
Posting mostly on time; interaction with only 1-2 students’ postings; less thoughtful responses
Late posting; rarely responds to group members’ comments on your post and/or students’ postings; responses not thoughtful

B. Reflective Papers (3 nos): 500 Words each, 30%. Due on the last week of the course.

Since there are no lecture videos and readings, the last week days are dedicate for you to reflect and write three reflective papers. You need to demonstrate familiarity with the five previous weeks of learning and  free to choose any of the topics and write 500 words of reflections on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each day..

C. SUMMARY OF ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Evaluation is based upon the completion of the following assignments:

1.

Daily Quiz/Assessments

30 %

2.

Discusion Forum

30 %

3

Engagement in Weekly Live Session 10%

4.

Reflective Papers

30 %

5.

Total Grade

100 %

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN WORK

Submission Method and Late Submission
Submission: Papers to be submitted electronically in .doc or .docx format via Global Classroom

Late Submission Penalties:

  1. All late assignments will be penalized 1% (1 point) per

Citing References
In all assigned work, proper style guidelines must be used and followed exactly; failure to do so will render the submitted assignment unacceptable.

For proper citation style, consult the FBC Style Guide or the full edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Seventh Edition especially chapters 5 and 6 for arrangement of entries through in-text citations and Works Cited.

Academic Integrity
Integrity in academic work is required of all our students. Academic dishonesty is any breach of this integrity, and includes such practices as cheating (the use of unauthorized material on tests and examinations), submitting the same work for different classes without permission of the instructors; using false information (including false references to secondary sources) in an assignment; improper or unacknowledged collaboration with other students, and plagiarism.

Global Classroom takes seriously its responsibility to uphold academic integrity, and to penalize academic dishonesty.

ONLINE PRIMARY SOURCE READINGS

The readings can be found as PDF files on the course web page at under “Materials”.

Learning Path

Course Content

Expand All
WEEK 01 - EFFECTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES
WEEK 02 - STARTING WITH THE BIBLE
WEEK 03 - ENGAGING WITH THEOLOGY
WEEK 04 - LECTURES ON CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY - ALISTER E McGrath
WEEK 05 - READING AND REFLECTION
WEEK 06 - EVALUATION

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