Education Commons^™

Supporting Christian Gen Z Undergraduates Through Life Setbacks By Equipping Spiritual Directors, Brandon Taylor

Doctor of Ministry

The project within this portfolio seeks to help Christian Gen Z undergraduates at Biola University navigate setbacks in a way that fortifies their faith. Both anecdotal evidence at Biola and survey data demonstrate that Gen Z required increased support and intervention when they reached college campuses in the mid 2010’s. The American College Health Association has surveyed hundreds of thousands of Gen Z college students over the past seven years and found as far back as 2016 that 87.1 percent of the 27,787 undergraduate respondents to their Fall 2016 survey said they felt “overwhelmed by all they had to do'' …

Economic Peacemaking A New Master's Degree In Community Economic Development, Brian Humphreys

Doctor of Ministry

This two-part project is in response to the NPO that Christian leaders struggle to understand how to address complex, ever changing-socioeconomic needs and, if solved, the church would thrive and better address needs in the community. The research for this project confirmed that Christians and church communities increasingly encounter socioeconomic challenges in their efforts to serve their neighbors. Undergraduate students at a Christian university were found to be passionate about addressing these challenges which they also witness in their respective communities. These students also reported low levels of awareness of best practices in economic development and advocacy and policy. The …

Project-Based Internationalization: Providing Accessible And Equitable High-Impact Education, Kayli Hillebrand

Doctor of Leadership

Inequitable access to global education has long excluded populations of students that are unable to participate in models that require travel away from their home institution. This is especially felt at institutions with a Hispanic Serving Institute (HSI) designation. Factors that contribute towards this end are varying familial and economic systems, financial models, lack of accessible educational accommodations when not at the home institution, mobility restrictions at the host institution, student ability to travel or obtain proper documentation to travel at the state, federal, or international government levels. Considering inequitable access to global education for university students, embedding Project-Based Internationalization …

The Wise Professor: The Skillful Art Of Living In God's Mission, Aaron Badenhop

Doctor of Ministry

Today’s Christian professor in the secular university setting is likely an expert in their academic field. Likewise, many Christian faculty are sincere in their faith and devout in their practice. The Christian professor’s expert knowledge is impressive and their heart for God is admirable. Yet, today’s Christian professor is simultaneously likely to be ill-equipped and disconnected from having a missional impact in their secular university context. In my work with Cru at The Ohio State University, this challenge is complex; there are no easy answers. Christian faculty are typically educated and trained in environments that assume the irrelevance of God …

Service Matters: Integrating Faith And Vocation In Evangelical Christian Higher Education, Karen Rouggly

Doctor of Ministry

Evangelical colleges and universities in North America are at a tipping point. Schools are struggling to demonstrate their relevance to a culture that separates faith from work. This research demonstrates that using the pedagogical approach of service learning, colleges and universities can empower students to integrate their faith and vocation, ultimately producing locally and globally engaged citizens. The sections begin with a description of the ministry problem, noting the educational problems as well as the theological problems which produce systems of disintegration in faith and vocation for traditional undergraduate students. Next, the biblical foundation of symbiotic relationships between Godself, humanity, …

Student Perceptions On The Community Of Spiritual Formation At A Faith-Based University, Jonathan R. Colburn

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Spiritual formation has always been of utmost importance in Christian education as faithbased institutions strive to educate the whole person; body, mind, and spirit. Because of this, Christian universities work to create programs and provide activities that challenge the minds and hearts of the students in order to promote spiritual growth. This study seeks to answer the following question: What does a phenomenological analysis of the lived experiences of students at a Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) institution reveal about their perceptions of the spiritual formation priorities of the institution? Stated another way, what do students report about …

The Future Of Undergraduate Biblical Higher Education: Abhe And The Bible College Movement, T. Scott Womble

Doctor of Ministry

The Bible college movement can trace its roots to the late nineteenth century and was given greater credibility when the accreditation era began in 1947. Today, the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) is still the leader of the Bible college movement. But a quick glance at the sixty-three ABHE institutions (64%) with undergraduate enrollment under 250 raises concern. Furthermore, 31 percent have enrollment under 100.

Rising costs and escalating student debt are creating enrollment challenges. The smallness of most Bible colleges makes them particularly vulnerable, especially since many lack endowments. Adding to the problem is the changing landscape of …

Creating An International Learning Community, Marc D. Andresen

Doctor of Ministry

Thousands of university students travel to the United States every year to engage in higher education, both as undergraduates and as graduate students. This provides a strategically rich opportunity for Christian ministry that has potential for global impact. Part of this potential is to provide ministry leadership training, particularly if students are from countries that allow little freedom for such education. The challenge is to offer culturally appropriate leadership training that is applicable in various cultural contexts and that does not inadvertently cause offense by violating cultural norms of the various students. The desire is to create an educational environment …

Exceptionally Employable: A Study Of The Value Of Contrasting Educational Modalities Within Christian Liberal Arts Universities In Preparing Students For Employment Suitability, Sam Heinrich

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in suitability of employment of unique student groups (academic clusters) at four geographically dispersed Christian higher education universities (CHEU) as represented broadly by membership in and association with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The four academic clusters identified for this study were Residential Traditional Students (RTS), Deferred Professional Students (DPS), Accelerated Traditional Students (ATS) and Other Students. This research used a quantitative quasi-experimental method with an emailed, survey instruments designed to measure the impact of a student’s educational experience on employability through self-efficacy and employment experience. Yorke and …

In The Way They Should Go: Nurturing The Relational And Spiritual Nature Of Children, Jamee Free

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation explores the innate relational and spiritual nature of children. This dissertation assumes that children are deeply relational and spiritual as part of the image of God within them. Chapter one takes a comprehensive look at how children are struggling within this country on every measure of health, as well as how relational nurture and soul care are significantly lacking. Chapter two explores Biblical materials, especially the incarnation, Jesus’ interactions with children, passages from Deuteronomy, verses from Proverbs, and examples of children in Biblical narratives. The third chapter focuses on historical and theological materials, as well as theories from …

Toward An Integrative Theory Of Vocation And Volition: Locating The Historical Concept Of Christian Calling In The Contemporary Psychological Treatment Of Motivation, Timothy S. Walker

Doctor of Education (EdD)

The purpose of this research is to identify similarities between the Christian concept of calling and educational psychology's theories on motivation. This study includes a review of historical and contemporary literature concerning calling alongside a review of literature pertaining to Self-Determination Theory. I use these reviews first to understand how Christians have historically understood and applied the concept of calling as motivation. Secondly, they are used to determine if Self Determination Theory relates to the Christian concept of calling. And, thirdly, they are used to discover areas in which Self-Determination Theory offers insight into the Christian concept of calling's potential …

Re-Envisioning Theological Education And Formation For Mission, In-Context, Using Distance Education, David Wollenburg

Doctor of Ministry

Distance Education Leading To Ordination (DELTO) is a program of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) designed to prepare individuals for pastoral ministry. It is non-residential, and it is contextual, as those in the program are already engaged in ministry.

Three concerns about DELTO are addressed in this work: the first is that it is a "dumbing-down" of pastoral formation; the second is that it is not possible to form a spiritual commWlity of support on-line; and the third is the need for the seminary faculty to have enough information to be able to confidently certify DELTO graduates for ordination.

This …

A Multicultural Learning Community: Facilitating Faculty Relationships With East Asian Students On An American Christian College Campus, Larry K. Asplund

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cross-cultural challenges faced by teachers and East Asian students on an American Christian college campus, and to seek effective ways of facilitating relationships between them. How could I effectively facilitate meaningful cross-cultural relationships between members of the faculty and East Asian students? How is it possible for a Christian college campus to become a multicultural learning community?

My claim is that it is possible to facilitate faculty relationships with East Asian students if a high priority is placed on the Christian value of relationships in community and cultural learning, i.e. learning …

The Nebraska Neuropsychological Evaluation As A Predictor Of Learning Disabilities, Georgia A. Carpenter

Western Evangelical Seminary Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine if children aged 7 to 10 with previously identified learning disabilities can be differentiated from comparably aged non-learning disabled children by means of the Nebraska Neuropsychological Evaluation (NENE). Sixty children in greater Portland, Oregon, were administered the NENE. Thirty of these children were previously identified as learning disabled, and 30 were not. Discriminant analysis was run on the subtests five separate times with varying stratified random samples from the total sample. The NENE was found to discriminate with between 60% and 80% accuracy. It also discriminated using the traditional method of interpreting …

A Basic Course For Sunday School Teacher Training, Rebecca Wang

Western Evangelical Seminary Theses

Teaching has never been easy. There is no formula for instant teaching success. It takes time, energy, patience, work and prayer. But, teaching can be a exciting and satisfying experience, if the teacher knows what to teach and how to do it effectively.

There are many specific steps and techniques which teachers can employ that will lead to more effective teaching. This project is a attempt to identify and systematize some of the basic elements of teaching and learning in the church. We can not cover everything, but we can uncover some of the essential inqurdients to effective teaching.

Teacher …

Use Of Illustrative Materials In The Young People's Department Of The Church, Arthur W. Binford

Western Evangelical Seminary Theses

Visual aids have played an important part in teaching methods of both the public schools and the church schools of today. Teachers would be under a great handicap if they could not use some kind of a visual aid to guide their teaching, especially in the beginners, primary, and junior departments of both the church and public schools. Visual aids are used in the public schools in the intermediate and high school age groups, but they have not been used in these departments in the church to a very large extent. The church has not provided adequate materials for this …