Society of Biblical Literature West Coast Meeting, Feb 27, 2022

 On Sunday, Feb 27, 2022, I went to my first subject conference in Brea, North Orange County! One of the subjects I am responsible for in my new job as Undergraduate Learning Librarian is Religious Studies, which includes the Jesuit School of Theology as well as the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministry. The conference program featured mostly panels of biblical scholars dealing with specific books, translation, theory, etc., but there was one panel on pedagogy in the field which was my main focus. 

3a) Teaching Biblical Studies

Presiding: Carl Toney, Hope International University

“Words in Context: A New Hebrew Dictionary for the Developing Student”
Robert Duke, Azusa Pacific University

Covid gave this guy more time to finish humanities projects like his Hebrew Dictionary. Sounds like he wants to publish it in print initially, but this dictionary really sounds like it needs to be digital and available to search in a responsive interface. 

I got some really good recommendations for Hebrew dictionaries from this presentation, so I plan to check them against the Library's current holdings. 

“Mentoring Students through Assessment for Transformation: Using Pre-post Assessments and Effect Size to Determine Learning and Intervention”
Gabriel Estrada, California Baptist University

This inspirational talk utilized the basics of assessment to boost student engagement and truly measure the learning each student accomplishes during the term. By doing a pre-post test and soliciting goals from students, the faculty member was able to go beyond tracking A-level students continuing to do A-level work and down to what specifically they were learning during the course. Achievements for respective students could be measured, and soliciting goals really motivated the students to feel invested. 

“Redesigning the Hours, Content, and Grading of the ‘College Course’”
James Yulie, Hope International University

This guy was really inspired by the story, "Seven-hour Existential Despair class gives students a 'break from the hustle and bustle of Penn'" so he basically did something similar and redesigned his course so that 80-90% of reading is done during class together. A true movement for inclusive education! Helped him realize how much time his assigned readings were really taking. If there is not enough time during the class period to do the readings, he cuts them. It raised a good question for him: why don't professors tell their students how much time is expected? The process becomes the focus and it measures all student growth. One great outcome, according to the students: Less stress. Redesigning the course led to improved mental health outcomes for the students. 

“Enhancing Community through Online Education”
Kristen Ferguson, Gateway Seminary

This woman is the Director of Online Education at Gateway Seminary so, of course, she is pro-online education. I was surprised that online education is so highly regarded by students according to her statistics (SCU students seem to be over it - maybe it's just not done right here?). Taken in the context of spiritual formation, online education poses risks for conservative evangelical learning communities, but Ferguson's whole thesis is that it is just as good as an option if it is done right - see the Venn diagram below.