Education, Faith and Society

BTh in Ministerial Theology

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

ASSIGNMENT
The module assessment will be to design, carry out and reflect on a teaching session/educational project in a church setting. This assignment provides the opportunity to look back at your performance and experience of designing and delivering a teaching session and to reflect on the learning experience that has taken place. In the assignment you should reflect not only good experiences, but also on failures, mistakes and difficult experiences and how theory related to actual practice. All of these episodes should cause you to review your actions, methods and attitudes seeking to understand why you reacted in a particular way and whether such reaction was appropriate, how you coped with difficulties and overcame problems. The assessment consists of two components: (i) teaching session plan, which should include a description of the teaching event and a lesson outline (approx. 1,000 words); and (ii) a reflective piece using the material from the module to reflect on the teaching session and your own learning (4,000 words – including the teaching session plan). Online feedback will be provided on Turnitin based on the assessment criteria (see below).

1. Teaching session plan/design
 Please use the proforma provided. Write in structured note form (see example on moodle).
 You are not preparing a presentation or lecture. Learning in church should normally be interactive. It is not a sermon either.
 Aim to make your materials a mix of input from yourself, discussion activities, possibly stimulus activities, and engagement with Scripture and Christian theology.
 Think about how the people in your church would most effectively learn about your chosen topic.
 Your teaching plan should include the following:
– Description of learning event and learning group (approx. 150 words).
– Title and length of session
– Aims/objectives and learning outcomes
– Prior action needed (e.g. equipment to book/prepare, pre-reading)
– Teaching plan (approx. 600 words): summary of teaching content; learning activities (e.g. Q & A sessions, small group work, plenary discussions etc); teaching activities (e.g. powerpoint, lecture, handout/activity sheets, role play, video excerpts).

2. Coursework
 The coursework should include a critical evaluation of the teaching session. You should also reflect on what you learnt from designing and delivering the session.
 Include your teaching session plan at the beginning of your reflective essay.
 Use the feedback you receive on the teaching session plan to guide your reflection.
 You should use material from the module and engage with academic sources in your reflection.
 You should refer to at least six academic sources from the module reading list. Provide references for the sources you use both in the essay and bibliography.
 Your evaluation of the session should address the following questions: To what extent were students engaged and involved during the session? Did they understand the content? Did you use the time appropriately? Did you present the lesson well? Did you allow time for questions from students? Did you answer their questions adequately? Which learning activities worked well, and which worked less well? How might you improve your teaching in future?
 Include feedback from participants and mentor.
 You should also write about what you learnt from the experience of designing and delivering the session.
 Remember to use your own words. If you include direct quotations use quotation marks.
 Organize your reflective essay clearly. Structure your essay using subsections with subheadings, including an introduction and conclusion.
 When you have written a draft, read it through carefully checking on grammar and spelling. If possible get someone else to read it through.

Suggested Structure:
1. Introduction (approx. 150 words)

2. Teaching session plan (approx. 1,000 words)

3. Influence of the theoretical material on your thinking and practice (approx. 1,150 words).
For example,
• How have you used different approaches to reading and studying the Bible with groups?
• How have you explored different approaches to education: learner/teacher-centred, passive/active learning, experiential learning, democratic education, child-centred, progressive/critical reflective approaches, social justice/radical approaches?
• How has faith development theory influenced your approach to teaching with the group you led?
• How have you taken account of the ways people learn? (e.g. VAK, learning styles or multiple intelligence).
• How have you attended to psychology and the way groups function?
• Here you should refer to some of the academic literature. Look again at the session powerpoint slides on moodle and refer to some of the sources from the reading and further reading on moodle

4. Evaluation of the learning event (approx. 1,150 words). This should include the following:
• To what extent did you achieve your aims and learning outcomes?
• To what extent were students engaged and involved during the session? How did you know this? What strategies did you use to encourage active learning? Provide evidence to support your claims.
• To what extent did participants understand the content of the session? How did you know this (e.g. use of learning activities such as Q & A to evaluate their knowledge)?
• Did you use the time appropriately? Did you keep to the time? Were you able to cover all the lesson content?
• Did you present the lesson well?
• Did you allow time for questions from students? Did you answer their questions adequately?
• Which learning activities worked well, and which worked less well?
• Describe any feedback you received from participants and/or mentor

5. What you learnt from your experience of designing/delivering the learning event, and the teaching material on the module (approx. 400 words)
• Identify and discuss 2-3 learning points
• How might you improve your teaching in future?

6. Conclusion (approx. 150 words)

Criteria for assessment of reflective essays:
1. Relevance of content.
2. Length, structure and organization of content.
3. Quality of analysis, critical thinking, interpretation of issues, creativity.
4. Level of knowledge of and engagement with a range of appropriate material (which
might include primary texts, visual culture and/or scholarly materials)
5. Level of understanding of subject specific terminology and concepts.
6. Literacy: includes attention to style, spelling, punctuation and grammar.