Lost in the great divide: Motivation in religious studies classrooms

Abstract

One of the most illuminating finds in Barbara E. Walvoord's Teaching and Learning in College Introductory Religion Courses (2008) is what she calls "the great divide," a mismatch between instructors' goals for their courses, which are academic, and the students' reasons for taking them, which relate to their personal interests and development. Motivation -or, rather, the lack thereof -is not explicitly considered as a potential victim of this mismatch. This article will turn its attention squarely to this issue. First, I will review data about the "great divide" and link them to the common practice of asking our students to bracket the personal when they take our courses. The article will juxtapose this practice with what research tell us about motivation, which will allow us to further explore why the divide Walvoord and others have identified is so problematic. The article will conclude with pedagogical strategies that can help instructors intentionally influence motivation in religion courses. Ultimately, I suggest that we may be doing students -as well as ourselves, as the purveyors of our discipline -a disservice, if we do not attend to (or, worse, if we actively avoid) what we know motivates students to learn. KEYWORDSWalvoord study, student motivation, learning goals, bracketing, teaching strategies A friend recently told me that a student of hers wrote a verse from the book of Isaiah at the top of each quiz in her Biblical Hebrew class. She finally asked the student about it. He told her what personal significance it held in his own life and she offered to meet him outside of class to help him translate the original Hebrew.He told her that he had written that verse on every single assignment he turned in for four years in college and that no other professor had ever even mentioned it.At one point in my career, I was soliciting feedback on a syllabus for a new course I was developing. This syllabus, like many of my others, stressed to students that one of my course goals was for them to "make connections between the beliefs, experiences, and forms of the fiction and your own life to make the course experience as personally meaningful as possible." In response, a colleague wrote to me that the mention of "one's own life," twice on the first page of the syllabus, was out of character for the department because we were supposed to be emphasizing the "critical side" of religious studies.

Whose voice counts? Gender, power, and epistemologies in the seminary classroom

“…However, what I have observed across the board, is that students struggle with personal narratives, particularly with personal stories of suffering or abuse. In a recent Teaching Theology and Religion article, Emily Gravett () offers a helpful summary of the ways in which, particularly in religion courses, we often teach students to bracket their personal narratives and values in order to critically engage class materials. I argue that bracketing the personal is part of the larger epistemological ethos of universities and even of theological education.…”

The Baltimore Mural Project: An approach to threshold concepts in religious studies

“…The images proved to be extremely helpful for encouraging our students to develop and apply their understanding of the religious studies concept of “myth” to their local everyday experiences in the city of Baltimore. One student reported that “the artwork itself is beautiful and makes me want to explore religion and the city more.” Another wrote: “I think the discussion is inspiring because we're looking at the real world and seeing religious values in it.” Research by Barbara E. Walvoord, Emily O. Gravett, and others demonstrates that motivation is a pivotal factor in student learning and that a “great divide” between instructor and student goals can lead to a lack of motivation (Walvoord, ; Gravett, ; Sabri et al, 2008). Though Walvoord's and Gravett's work focuses on the mismatch between the academic goals of instructors and students goals related to personal development (of their beliefs and commitments), we have found that many of our students' motivation to learn is also increased through an application of theory to local arts and issues.…”

“…Research by Barbara E. Walvoord, Emily O. Gravett, and others demonstrates that motivation is a pivotal factor in student learning and that a "great divide" between instructor and student goals can lead to a lack of motivation (Walvoord, 2008;Gravett, 2018;Sabri et al, 2008). Though Walvoord's and Gravett's work focuses on the mismatch between the academic goals of instructors and students goals related to personal development (of their beliefs and commitments), we have found that many of our students' motivation to learn is also increased through an application of theory to local arts and issues.…”