Higher Education Commons^™

Identifying Faculty Development Strategies: A Phenomenological Study On Affective And Behavioral Dimensions Of Worldview Development In Biblical Higher Education, Zane Thomas Darland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study is to identify effective faculty development strategies used by academic leaders in biblical higher education to enable their faculty members to foster affective and behavioral dimensions of worldview development in their students. The theories guiding this study are the channeling model of religious socialization and Nkana’s conversionism educational theory as they relate to worldview development in young adults. The hermeneutical phenomenological study focuses on the lived experiences of academic leaders in biblical higher education, exploring their perspectives and practices related to worldview development. The sample included 10 academic leaders from biblical higher education …

Inside Out Apologetics: Engaging Christian And Postmodern Approaches To Higher Education, Camila Alejandra Roldan Hernandez

Masters Theses

The current decline in performance and effectiveness of higher education makes it necessary to re-evaluate the teaching foundation on the theology of human nature that college professors hold. Since their foundation determines the approach that defines them as teachers, their pedagogy, and their curriculum, it is essential to consider two approaches. One of them is the transcendent approach of the Christian faith that defines human beings as lovers, believers, and thinkers. The other approach is the autonomist postmodern approach which defines human beings as social constructs. Since the college professor’s approach to human nature affects students' learning outcomes, this thesis …

A Phenomenological Study Of African-American Students' Spiritual And Identity Development At Predominantly White Institutions, Jeffery Clayton Smith Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to document the lived experiences of African American (AA) students attending predominantly White institutions (PWI’s). The importance of capturing these experiences is to better understand how PWIs are properly equipped to serve the needs of their AA students. This study describe how AA students are experiencing spiritual and identity development while they are enrolled at a PWI. The two guiding theories of this study are Fowler’s Faith Development Theory and Erikson’s Identity Development Theory. These guiding theories have been paired together to address students’ spiritual development during their emerging adulthood years. The …

Christian Higher Education And Participation In The Redemptive Work Of God, John R. Markley

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This history of distinctively Christian institutions of higher education in America signals the importance of missional vigilance for stakeholders. This article proposes a framework for Christian faculty to approach their work of educating students in a distinctively Christian way, by orienting each discipline and field of study to the main points of redemptive history as defined by Christian theology. When we train students at a Christian institution, we should be training them to become participants in the redemptive work of God. By taking an intentional approach to this (i.e., orienting our disciplines and the subject-matter to redemptive history), we help …

Analyzing Millennial Student Perceptions Of Spiritual Development While Attending Religious Colleges In The United States, Gregory Thomas Adams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to measure the perceived degree of spiritual development of graduating seniors at 26 denominational religious colleges and universities in the United States to analyze the possible effects of secularization on religious colleges. The study focused on the Millennial religious college student and suggests an approach towards improving the academic environment at religious colleges to promote a positive atmosphere for improving spiritual development. A question on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) was analyzed over an eight-year period to determine student and denominational college trends. The researcher determined the degree of perceived spiritual growth …

Turabian Citations From The Theological Journal Library, Randy L. Miller

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Theological Journal Library for Galaxie is a tremendous source for conservative scholarly theological and biblical journal articles. However, the database doesn’t provide suggested Turabian citations. This handout tells how to develop properly formatted bibliography and footnote entries, including determining the inclusive pages for the entire article.

The Ancient-Future Of Worship Education: The Evangelical-Sacramental Movement's Effect On Modern Worship Education, Jordan Miles Covarelli

Masters Theses

This thesis looks at developments in evangelical/Pentecostal contemporary Christian worship music (CWM) in response to its theological critiques and analyzes the effects they are having on what training worship leaders will need. CWM has grown into a global phenomenon that largely either disregards or is ignorant of its theological critics. The rapid rate of churches adopting CWM practices in their services has led to numerous universities creating post-secondary degrees in Worship Leadership focused specifically on modern expressions of worship. This thesis uses a convergent parallel mixed methods research model to analyze how worship practices are changing in key evangelical-turned-sacramental churches …

Students' Spiritual Integration Into Bible Colleges: A Grounded Theory Study, Brett Blount

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explain how undergraduate students integrate spiritually into Bible colleges in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States and discern the role spiritual integration plays in persistence. Spiritual integration of Bible college undergraduate students occurs when they perceive that their spirituality, whether possessed by them upon their enrollment and/or formed during their attendance, has aligned with the spiritual environment of their college and therefore have accepted their place in that environment. A total of 35 participants, 28 students and seven faculty members, were interviewed to obtain their perceptions of how students experience the …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring Factors That Contribute To Academic Persistence For Nontraditional Undergraduate African American Male Degree-Completers From Bible Colleges In The Southeast, Rodney Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand factors that contribute to college persistence for nontraditional undergraduate African American male four-year degree completers from select evangelical Bible colleges in the southeastern United States. An ecological and adult resiliency theoretical framework guided the research. Three research questions framed this study: (a) How do nontraditional undergraduate African American male four-year degree completers from select evangelical Bible colleges describe persistence? (b) What type of experiences do participants understand as having contributed to their persistence at Bible colleges? (c) What specific factors do participants identify as having contributed to their persistence at …

Leading Evangelical Seminaries In German-Speaking Europe: A Transcendental Phenomenology, Johannes Schroeder

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenology describes the essential experiences of lead administrators of evangelical seminaries in German-speaking Europe. Changes on a global scale in the educational sector are influencing the seminaries, and lead to processes of organizational academization and leadership professionalization. These developments have a profound influence on the role of the leadership of these seminaries. Each of the six lead administrators was interviewed three times to gather in-depth, thick, and rich descriptions of their lived experience with the phenomenon. For triangulation, observations, analyses of documents, and audio and visual data, as well as research memos and journals were included. The theoretical …

The Effect Of Gender On The Attitudes Of Undergraduates Toward Young-Earth Creationism After Enrollment In An Origins Course, Sean Vinaja

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Christian students graduate from secondary schools and enter Christian colleges with worldviews that are unbiblical or contain unbiblical components, many of which stem from their beliefs regarding origins. Little research has been done to study the effect of gender on the role of a young-earth creationist (YEC) origins course in shaping students’ worldview. Research has shown that males and females respond differently to science and religion instruction; because the origins discussion is an intersection of science and religion, the study of gender’s effect in developing a Bible-based worldview is important so that Christian colleges might more effectively guide their …

A Fruitful College Campus Ministry: A Mixed-Method Case Study Of Vassar Christian Fellowship At Vassar College, Jacob T. Dunlow

Christian Perspectives in Education

Given the increased scrutiny and difficulty Christian student organizations are encountering on secular college campuses, study is needed to aid in forming a way forward for fruitful campus ministry. This article presents a case study of a student campus ministry that is currently thriving in its secular liberal arts environment. It utilized a mixed-method approach to discover seven factors that led to vibrancy for Vassar Christian Fellowship, a student ministry at Vassar College. Application is focused on campus ministries and local churches.

A Program For Persistent Integration Of Faith And Learning In A Christian University Online Environment, John Norris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia has expanded since 1971 to become the largest Christian university in the world. Liberty will be used in this paper as a contemporary example of a Christian university that has maintained its Christian commitment. Liberty will be contrasted with numerous Christian colleges and universities that had similar missions but have eventually lost their religious affiliations and their Christian-oriented focus. This paper will explore how and why other universities have drifted from their original religious affiliations and doctrines. The reasons and processes will be examined and used to develop a program for online Christian education that …

The Effect Of Student Conduct Practices On Student Development In Christian Higher Education, Mark Hyde

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Student development professionals seek to address student behavior in a manner that facilitates whole student development and whole community development. Traditional student conduct models focus on addressing the behavior of the offending student through punitive sanctions. Restorative justice focuses on repairing the harm caused to the community and how the offender can restore trust. This study asks the question what student conduct practice produces greater student development outcomes at a Christian institute of higher education. This study used static group comparison to identify if there are statistically significant differences in student development outcomes generated by student conduct practices at a …

Biblical Hermeneutics For The Twenty-First Century African American Church: Introducing Seven Key Solutions Promoting Higher Education, Jacqueline Montague

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the fact that education builds knowledge, higher learning through Seminary is preached from many African American pulpits as having little merit. The author's hope is to channel broader understanding on how the seminary experience can make a difference in accomplishing the assignment commissioned by Jesus to a postmodern society. To achieve this goal, the author divulges the importance and necessity of seminary studies from a semiotic approach. Research includes a study of the hermeneutic circle and its three parts: text, messenger, and listeners; collected data from culture analyses and statistical reports to comprise three pastoral interviews. The objective is …

Best Practices For Online Theological Ministry Preparation: A Delphi Method Study, John Cartwright

Faculty Dissertations

This doctoral thesis intended to provide a clear vision of best practices in the area of online theological ministry training at the graduate level by consulting experts in the field. The research question that needed to be answered was, “What are the best practices for ministry preparation in online theological education?”

Despite tremendous growth in online learning even among theological institutions, casual observations suggest that the decision to offer online programs may not always have been rooted in deep pedagogical or theological reflection. In other words, in the quest to utilize online education as a viable option for degree preparation, …

Instructor Interaction As It Relates To Facilitation Of Spiritual Development Within An Evangelical Institution: A Case Study, Joseph Butler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the impact of instructor interaction on the facilitation of spiritual development in an online environment for undergraduate non-religion majors attending a distinctively evangelical university. The qualitative case study shadows and evaluates three sections of a required introductory religion course. Over the period of one academic term, the following online interactions were observed in order to gauge potential facilitation of spiritual development: announcements, emails, forums, assignment feedback, and course content. An interview was conducted with the instructor following the course to understand how they engaged the course and their perspective in …

An Instrument Validation For A Three-Dimensional Worldview Survey Among Undergraduate Christian University Students Using Principal Components Analysis, Kathy Morales

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the structure, validity, and reliability of the Three-Dimensional Worldview Survey-Form C (3DWS-Form C) for potential use in postsecondary Christian institutions. This instrument delineates from other worldview instruments in that it purports to measure three components of a person's worldview: propositions, behaviors, and heart-orientation. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to examine the underlying component structure and construct validity of the instrument. Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula were used to assess the internal consistency and reliability of the instrument. Participants were first-year university students attending a large Christian university in Virginia. Results of the study …

Exploring The Spiritually Formative Experiences Of Female Seminary Spouses: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Benjamin Forrest

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a qualitative research study exploring the spiritually formative experiences of nonstudent, female, seminary spouses whose student spouses are beyond the halfway point in their pursuit of an M.Div. at a large evangelical seminary in the eastern United States. Fifteen participants (twelve online nonstudent spouses and three residential nonstudent spouses) were purposefully sampled. The data, which was collected through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and discussion forums, was analyzed using transcendental phenomenological analysis. Through this analysis it became apparent that seminary spouses did in fact experience spiritual formation through their husband's education. …