Religion

Learning Outcomes/Goals:

Due to frequent changes in department leadership over the past 4.5 years, a consistent approach was not followed for defining learning goals and assessment methods. For the past 1.5 years the department has re-engaged in the self-study process, a major component of which is to refocus and restructure the Department’s curriculum.

That refocusing will be accomplished by developing learning goals for each course that are appropriate to the level (i.e. 100-level, 200-level, 300/400-level). Learning goals and assessment measures are also being devised for the Major in Religious Studies and for the Minor in Religious Studies for secondary and elementary education majors.

To date, learning objectives have been drafted for the following courses: REL 101 (Exploring Religions), REL 150 (Introduction to the Bible), REL 210 (Religion and Media), REL 220 (Religion in America), REL 315 (Religion and Gender), REL 320 (Christianity), REL 360 (African Religions), REL 370 (End of the World in America), REL 420 (History of Christianity). Work is continuing on drafting objectives for the remaining courses and formulating the overall objectives for the major and the minor. A graph will be constructed to show the learning goals of the cognitive-domain (and, as appropriate, the affective and psycho-motor domains) for courses at each level. This, in turn, will guide the process of curricular refocusing.

Activities in Support of Goals:

  1. Matching of learning outcomes to classes

Assessment Methods:

  1. Thesis: senior thesis written under the direction of a faculty member. Currently, this is accomplished under REL 491 (Independent Study).

Assessment Results:

-n/a

Action Taken:

-n/a

Results from Action Taken:

-n/a

Future Plans:

  1. Plans for revising thesis requirement call for a two-semester sequence, with the first course taken in the junior year and the second in the senior year. Within this sequence there would be multiple opportunities to assess student learning, particularly at the cognitive levels of comprehension, application, synthesis, and evaluation. Additionally, through their regular discussions with students writing the senior thesis, faculty members will assess these cognitive learning goals as well such higher level goals in the affective domain as valuing knowledge for its own sake and internalizing the habits of good scholarship in the academic study of religion.
  2. The Department recognizes that more work in this area of defining learning goals and devising appropriate methods of assessment is required. Assistance may be sought from the MSU Office of Assessment.