The Great Research Disaster: William Badke quote

The following is a quote from William Badke’s article “The Great Research Disaster”

But we have not accomplished information literacy until our students have at least some sense that research is fun. Research is about discovery and problem- solving, not merely about meeting obligations. Ultimately, it’s about giving students the conviction that their research projects are indeed their own, not a gift to their professors. I’ve seen quite a few of my own students “get it” and actually discover the fascination of research. But this happened only when I went beyond teaching them how to use the tools and started helping them make sense of why they were doing all this. Grappling deeply with issues and open questions instead of fudging a professor’s assignment is indeed fun.

citation: William Badke, “The Great Research Disaster,” Online, November/December 2009, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5044784188.

Quick though: There are many positive lessons in the quotparticularly for revising teaching methodologies for adult learners.  This makes sense to me within the context of how I am revising my own teaching strategies and methods.

Christian Theologies From An Indian Perspective, by Sunand Sumithra (ebook)

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Bibliography: Sunand Sumithra, Christian Theologies From An Indian Perspective (Bangalore: Theological Book Trust, 1990, 2nd Edition, 2002). ISBN : 81-7475-038-X

ebook combined from source: http://www.ichenetwork.net/

Theological Method: Sources And Criteria chart

The following is a chart I made to help explain “Sources and Criteria” for my MTh class in Theological Method.

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Thesis Writing Guides – Help for choosing a topic

Recently someone asked me whether they could do a thesis (MTh level) on postliberalism, particularly looking at the work of George Sumner. Since the person was from India, and a Christian, (both categories I use for myself as well), I felt certain questions needed to be kept in mind before deciding on a thesis writing topic.

1. What is the rationale/context of your study? Ie. why postliberalism?

2. There are two ways of doing postliberalism;
– as a historical study (looking at its birth/development and key figures).
– as a current issue, that either potentially helps evangelical(?) Christianity, or potentially harms it (or of course a bit of both).

3. If there is a current issue, then the thesis-writer needs to find a current theologian who has dealt either with postliberalism or writes within its framework. George Sumner is one, but is there any “Indian”/Asian
voice that either similarly expresses postliberal thinking, or at least necessitates a person like Sumner? By this I mean, like the thesis-writer has to answer why postliberalism, he/she similarly sneed to answer, why George Sumner (or any other theologian of their choice).

4. Are you (the thesis-writer) trying to address the “liberals” in India today? If so, who? What exactly are they saying? Once you identify those “problem” voices (and I’m assuming the writer finds liberal voices problematic), then it is easier to look for (and justify) the voice of ‘solution’.

5. In view of pt. 4, it is dangerous to begin research with the solution (ie. postliberalism or even George Sumner is a good example of how theology should be done etc etc).
- It is better to identify the problem and see whether postliberalism can help.
- Unless, of course, postliberalism IS the problem, in which case you should be able to show that it is a problem in India.

On that note, the following Calvin and Hobbes comic is appropriate!

Article Watch: Google Books, a disaster for scholars?

Just read an interesting article/study on Google books. And while Google has reportedly fixed the errors, the article still draws attention to important issues in internet education.

article: Google Book Search: A disaster for scholars
In the Chronicle for Higher Education.

http://chronicle.com/article/Googles-Book-Search-A/48245/

Whether the Google books settlement passes muster with the U.S. District Court and the Justice Department, Google’s book search is clearly on track to becoming the world’s largest digital library. No less important, it is also almost certain to be the last one. Google’s five-year head start and its relationships with libraries and publishers give it an effective monopoly: No competitor will be able to come after it on the same scale. Nor is technology going to lower the cost of entry. Scanning will always be an expensive, labor-intensive project. Of course, 50 or 100 years from now control of the collection may pass from Google to somebody else—Elsevier, Unesco, Wal-Mart. But it’s safe to assume that the digitized books that scholars will be working with then will be the very same ones that are sitting on Google’s servers today, augmented by the millions of titles published in the interim.

To read more click here.

Thinking about method

I just found this link and want it to be accessible as an example of discussion on theological method.

http://joemanriv.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-is-theological-method.html

Understanding Curriculum: a diagram for educational institutions

UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM
(a diagram of processes and relationships of LEARNING OUTCOMES within educational institutions)

A curriculum is usually more than just a listing of courses taught by an institution, but includes the intended learning outcomes/objectives of the overall program. This involves both classroom and outside-classroom activities; thus the overall experience of the learning within the institution.  However, this diagram shows that there is more at play in learning outcomes than just the intended outcomes of an institutional program.  Apart from a, b, c, d, there are also Hidden Curriculum (e) and Negative Outcomes (f) to consider. However, these spaces are not fixed and each institution can strive to get as much of its experience within the a, b, c (specified and controlled) spheres as possible.

A. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES DIRECTLY FROM COURSE CONTENT (CLASSROOM GOALS)
Content, Activities and Instruction specifically intended to achieve overall curriculum goals.  This would include all academic skills and knowledge-acquisitions intended by the college as well as modelling and mentoring by classroom teacher.

B. EXPECTED OUTCOMES THROUGH INDIRECT ELEMENTS
The institutional “hopes” for campus relationships, Chapel attendance, general library browsing, inspiration from wall-hanging, campus etc anything out of the direct
control of the institution

C. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES DIRECTLY FROM COLLEGE ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE CLASSROOM (CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES)
This includes activities like Cell Groups, Sports, Prayer Days, Mission Conferences etc. which are college activities pre-designed to achieve overall curriculum goals. This could include certain knowledge/skills acquisition, but is usually non-academic in nature, and yet part of the transformative experience intended by the institution

D. UNEXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY GAINED FROM COURSE CONTENT, OR CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES THAT AID IN FULFILFILLING CURRICULAR GOALS
This includes anything positive is known or unknown, that unintentionally helps fulfil institutional goals. For instance, a selfless (and un-conscious) act of kindness by a faculty that helps a student become more positive in life and mission etc

E. HIDDEN CURRICULUM
Goals and purposes that are “evidently” important for the institution but not specified anywhere. This is sometimes seen through unwritten rules and dispositions passed on through the institutional traditions. Simplistically, any institutional goal that is not overtly specified to learners and educators and is still a “hidden” curriculum

F. NEGATIVE OUTCOMES
When usually unintentional messages are given to students that are entirely contradictory to the overall curriculum goals of the institution.  For instance the curricular goal of equality/egalitarianism but a teacher tends to put down women students, or some one discriminates against maintenance staff.

Theory and Practice of Online Learning: Free online book

I just found a very cool book for those interested in learning about and promoting online learning. It’s called “Theory and Practice of Online Learning” by multiple authors, though edited by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi. Best of all, it’s free (supporting open source education, wow!)

Anyway, here’s the link to where you can get it: http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/

Symposium Critique Guidelines

The following is the critique guidelines I gave my students when arranging for a peer-level symposium. The aim was for the students to get together and in a “safe” environment critique. In the Indian context, we need to encourage our students to critique others (usually it’s polite not to say anything). These particular guidelines were given for the first of the symposiums, particularly looking at the outline of student dissertations. I think these guidelines were helpful as a starter.

The goal of this Symposium is to give the presenters opportunities to clarify their thesis-related thinking. Our job, as participants is to aid in this process by asking important questions that may expose weaknesses in thought or reveal new directions to pursue. Primarily, as participants, we hope to encourage the presenter by being positive and constructive in our evaluation.

Symposium Format:

1. Read the paper thoroughly in advance. Please do read it!
2. Author will present his/her paper.
3. The participants can ask for clarification of the paper.
4. After clarification, the participants will then proceed to critique along the suggested lines (“Things to look out for in the paper” below).
5. After the critique, the author can then express any difficulties in the thesis-writing process he/she is currently facing.
6. The participants will then attempt to address the difficulties by providing any positive perspective or guidance.
7. Finally, we close with prayer for the presenter.

Things to look out for in the paper

After reading this draft, do you get a clear sense of what the author is trying to say?

- Is the problem statement clear? Is there a clear academic problem?
- Is the thesis statement clear? Does the thesis statement address the problem?
- Does the author look like they understand the methodological issues of their topic?
- Are you convinced by the methodology adopted by the author?
- Looking at the outline, do you think the chapter structures help support the thesis statement adequately?
- Does the outline have too many chapters? Should the author simplify?
- Is the outline missing any chapter? Should the author restructure?
- Finally, in terms of format, does the researcher display any explicit language errors?
- Are the errors in the paper carelessness or language flaws?

Some Suggestions

Always look to encourage the presenter. Be constructive in your comments. However don’t hold back on your critique. By not saying anything, you are not helping the author.

Regarding Spelling and Grammatical errors, perhaps it is more helpful to identify error patterns (like “you usually misspell this word” etc) that the presenter can then look to correct.

Mentor Guidelines (for MTh/MPhil dissertations)

I was looking on the web for helpful mentor guidelines for my own institution, but couldn’t find something I was looking for. So I devised my own. These mentor guidelines is what I gave external mentors for my students’  MTh dissertation. It may be relevant to you. May be.

***

MTh Mentor Guidelines
Theology Department, April, 2007

 Thank you for agreeing to mentor an MTh student. The following is a guideline for mentors for the MTh thesis supervision. This document is not binding, and mainly functions as a tool to give you an idea of what is expected from mentors. Feel free to interact with the Head of Department, for further clarification and/or procedural modifications.

Purpose of MTh thesis

According to our Prospectus, the purpose and procedure of an MTh Thesis is as follows:

The thesis is designed to demonstrate the student’s competence in his or her area of specialisation. It should deal with the topic in a way comparable with a paper published in an academic journal. It should fulfil all the requirements and procedures outlined in College thesis manual, such as format, style, footnotes, bibliography and length of the thesis. The thesis is to be of 100-120 pages, including footnotes, of double spaced computer print-out. The thesis must be submitted by the end of November during the second year. The student’s mentor as well as an external reader competent in the field will examine the thesis. The final grade of a thesis will be the average of the mentor’s and the external reader’s grades.

Role of a mentor

The relationship between the mentor and student is central in the procedure for development and completion of an MTh Thesis. The Head of Department usually assigns a mentor and from then on, the entire thesis supervision is taken over by the mentor. Only in special cases, when the mentor requires it, the Head of Department or another faculty, is approached by the mentor for further help on the subject. Thus, the student is primarily accountable to the mentor, and will be assigned a grade by the mentor at the end of the process as well.
 

Meeting Procedure

Typically, a mentor meets a student at least twice a month; once, in an informal-pastoral way where the Mentor sees how the student is faring. This time is also typically when the student submits his/her chapter. The other time is when the student receives and reviews mentor comments. This time is also typically when the mentor sets new chapter submission deadlines. The college encourages more meetings depending on the availability of the mentor and the needs of the student (especially in the early stages of the thesis). The mentor is free to manage their own students’ visits.  Our students have also been informed that meetings with the mentor must be by appointment only.

Additional assignment/s

Typically, there is no need to give any extra assignment to the student apart from the actual research work. However, in special circumstances, the mentor can assign additional reading or writing that will aid the student in development and completion of their MTh thesis. Such extra work could be assigned in the first month or if needing in the beginning of a difficult chapter in a later month.  Thus, if a student is struggling with her chapter three, the mentor can assign a short thought paper to help collect all her thoughts on the subject. Such assignments are neither compulsory, nor graded, and are assigned only at the discretion of the mentor in view of the students need for their thesis. The Mentor can take special care not to overload the student in this regard.
 

Help

As a main goal for thesis writing is to engage critically and thoroughly with a subject to propose something meaningful and relevant for the student’s context, the mentor’s role is to help the student be focussed and clear in their work, and maintain consistency and quality. Usually, the mentor is free in the manner in which they help the student achieve these goals. Obviously the mentor encourages independent thinking, while acting as a guide who helps channel the student’s own ideas and creativity.
 

With regards to English, some mentors correct the grammar and spelling of the students, while others insist that the student get an external ‘editor’ for correcting basic grammar and spelling. Both are acceptable, keeping in mind that a student is expected to submit a fully corrected copy at the end.

 

Time Limitation

The typical time period for doing an MTh Thesis is from June to November, six months. The students’ thesis proposal has already been approved by March. The deadline for thesis submission this year is November 30, 2007.

A student can be given an extension only upon the recommendation of the mentor, and approval of the Head of Department. Such an extension may still result in grade reduction. It is up to the mentor to decide whether the grade reduction applies for the student or not. Typically, an extension should not extend beyond December 15, 2007.

 

Evaluation and Feedback

After thesis submission, the Mentor will submit a final letter grade to the Head of Department along with a written rationale for the grade, in report form. The assessment of the thesis will only be on the finished product and not on early drafts, student submissions or potential.
 

The thesis will also be given for evaluation to an external examiner. Mentors are encouraged to propose an external examiner to the Head of Department. However, the final decision for external examiner will be taken by the Head of Department, in discussion with the Faculty Council.  The final grade of the student thesis will be the average of mentor and external examiner’s grade. At present there is no viva for student defence of thesis.

 

To further strengthen the process of mutual learning, we will be encouraging the students to give a written feedback of the mentoring process (after the grade is submitted, but before the student finds out what grade s/he received). The student will be asked certain questions on how to better enrich the Mentor-student relationship. The Head of Department will communicate the results of the feedback of students to the mentors.

 
Payment

Details of the payment for your services will be given to you separately.

 
Finally…

As mentioned earlier, these are guidelines that will hopefully give you an idea of what supervision expectations are.  If you feel you need to adapt these to suit your purpose, please feel free to do so in consultation with the Head of Department. 

 
Thank you once again for taking time to participation with us in this way. May your involvement be a blessing to you and your student.