Fall semester of my freshman year I took Jesus and the Gospel taught by Dr. Waldmeir. I was very excited to take the class, and the course deserved my excitement. By taking a closer look at each of the gospels on their own, as well as comparing them all to each other really gave me a chance to sit down and fully appreciate the gospels in a new light. Also since the gospels play such a large part in the mass, this class also gave me a better respect for the mass and helped me understand many of the inconsistencies that are within the church. For those of you that do not know me very well, I do NOT deal with change very well, and inconsistencies are one of my true weaknesses, I can get pretty upset when things are not consistent. To make matters worse, I have a very interesting memory and remember a lot of things that most people would not remember. So when they change something, I remember but look like an idiot because they do not remember saying something different at an earlier time.
But that is not what this blog is about. This blog is about a class that I have taken in the past and what it did to help me, and what I would suggest to change to make it better. To make the class better is difficult. I think one of the most difficult things for me was that the class was an hour and a half long. It was just difficult for me to focus on one thing for that long and not fall asleep. But I can also see how it was beneficial to stay on the topic and only that topic for a full hour and a half. I mean it's like in high school. Some schools around me had block scheduling, but I didn't so I thought that it was weird and that I wouldn't have gotten as much done in that style. But To students who came from a high school that did use block scheduling might find it better to have classes for an our and a half long so that you stay focused on that subject the whole and time and don't have to waste time trying to recap on what you covered last time in class.
The book that we were supposed to read along with the gospel chapters that were assigned was not helpful to me at all. I actually sometimes felt myself understanding the material less after reading the commentary, rather than understanding it more. But other than those few adjustments I don't really have any suggestions of what could make the class better. I really enjoyed working in groups, but only because I had a good group of people in my class. It I was in a class of people do not participate it would be a completely different story.
Leah:
ReplyDeleteWe met as a program faculty recently and reviewed student blogs. We then decided to respond to certain ones so that we could address 1) specific content in the blog and 2) share information from our more general discussion.
I chose your posting because in it you talked about Jesus and Gospels and because I agree with what you wrote. Although I can't change the total number of hours we need to meet during a semester, I can adjust the meeting times from twice to three times per week. There are some classes that really lend themselves to that format. Another idea would be to develop assignments that break up the monotony of sitting in class either listening or discussing. This was the first time I had taught the course in many years, and I can see the value of making such structural changes. Finally, I agree with your assessment of Invitation to the Gospels: it simply did not add much to the class and I won't be using it again.
In addition to talking about the content of individual blogs, faculty also discussed topics related to the Religious Studies/Theology major. We are going to try to coordinate the academic content of the major with more practical issues so that our majors are better prepared when they enter the world of parish ministry. To that end, we are delighted to have Dr. Osheim here to help us think through such changes; she already has proposed a new course on the Foundations of Ministry. We also want to encourage (perhaps require) an internship experience of students before they reach their senior year and begin their practicum. We'll be looking at that more closely this spring semester.
Leah, we're delighted to have you as one of our majors. I'm looking forwward to seeing you in class again. Have a great break. jw