Describing Spiritual Growth in an Online Religious Education Course

Q2 Arts and Humanities

Journal of Research on Christian Education Pub Date : 2018-01-02 DOI:10.1080/10656219.2018.1446851

Ben Fryar, B. Wilcox, J. Hilton, P. Rich

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research examined the phenomenon of spiritual growth in students taking an online religious education course at Brigham Young University–Idaho. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 students who reported positive gains in spirituality as a result of the course. Students described their experience in the online course and the factors that contributed to their success. Results suggest participants took a great deal of ownership in their own spiritual growth. Although it seems likely participants were already highly self-directed, aspects of the online experience appeared to encourage self-direction. The course design was flexible enough for research participants to explore ideas on their own while also being structured enough to provide a guided experience. Online instructors acted as guides and facilitators, playing a less prominent role than face-to-face instructors. Frequent engagement in and reflection through writing appeared to be important for students’ spiritual growth, whereas online interactions with other students seemed to have minimal impact. However, some responses suggested online interaction with peers was an area with potential for greater influence.

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描述在线宗教教育课程中的属灵成长

本研究考察了参加杨百翰大学爱达荷分校在线宗教教育课程的学生的属灵成长现象。研究人员对10名学生进行了半结构化访谈，这些学生报告说，这门课程使他们在精神上有了积极的收获。学生们描述了他们在在线课程中的经历以及促成他们成功的因素。结果表明，参与者在自己的精神成长中有很大的自主权。尽管参与者似乎已经是高度自我导向的，但在线体验的某些方面似乎鼓励了自我导向。课程设计足够灵活，可以让研究参与者自己探索想法，同时也足够结构化，可以提供指导体验。在线教师扮演了引导者和促进者的角色，其作用不如面对面的教师突出。通过写作进行频繁的参与和反思似乎对学生的精神成长很重要，而与其他学生的在线互动似乎影响很小。然而，一些回应表明，与同龄人的在线互动是一个可能产生更大影响的领域。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Research on Christian Education Arts and Humanities-Religious Studies

CiteScore

0.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Research on Christian Education (JRCE) provides a vehicle for the scholarly interchange of research findings relative to every level of Christian education. Particular emphasis is given to Christian schooling within the Protestant tradition as well as to research findings from other traditions which have implications for such schools.