World Religions
REL 250: World Religions, Section 01D, 3 credits
South Dakota State University
Summer, 2012
Entirely online course, May 29-June 29, 2012
Ann Marie B. Bahr, Ph.D.
West Hall 111
605-693-3108; use D2L email--expect a response within 24 hours
Office Hours: by appointment
See the "SDSU Resources" widget on the home page of this course for technical, academic, and student support services
Course Description
Catalog Description: Introduces the major religions of humankind, examining the function and diversity of religious expression in human experience, and the role of these religions in international relations.
Additional Description: This class will focus on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will discuss the beliefs and founding period of each of these traditions. We will also study the geographic distribution and social expression of each of these five religions.
Course Prerequisites
No previous course requirements
Technology skills: D2L, VoiceThread, email, web browser, PowerPoint. Students should have the ability to comment using text, microphone, videocam, or telephone (You do not need all four comment modes, just one of them).
Description of Instructional Methods
VoiceThread:
Basic information about Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam will be delivered through narrated PowerPoint lectures on VoiceThread (www.voicethread.com). VoiceThread allows for an interactive approach to learning. Students can comment on the lectures by texting, or by using a microphone or videocam, or even by phone! (Phone is least preferred since you can receive a charge on your phone bill if you talk too long--check www.voicethread.com for more information.) In the second half of the semester, students will work in groups to post their own narrated PowerPoint on VoiceThread. Each student group will be responsible for one of the five religions we are covering this semester.
Content and Evaluation:
The first half of this course will acquaint you with the geography, social stucture, basic beliefs and founding period of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this part of the course, you are being exposed to each tradition individually and in depth. Assignments are online, under "Content." You will be evaluated by means of comments posted on VoiceThread and by five online quizzes, one for each religious tradition. Each quiz is worth 15 points, and each comment is worth 10 points.
The midterm "exam" will be a 25-point, objective test (multiple choice, true/false questions) over the VoiceThread lectures. The midterm will cover the same material covered in the individual quizzes, and will include some of the same questions.
In the second half of the course, you will be reading eight of the twelve chapters of World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction by Paul Gwynne. Each chapter describes how all five of the religions approach a particular topic, e.g., how each of the five religions celebrates marriage, or deals with death, or builds its place of assembly, or sets up its calendar. Whereas the first half of this course exposes you to each religion separately and in depth, the second half of the course introduces you to the comparative study of religion. Gwynne gives a very nice overview of how the religions function in practice. You will be evaluated by means of eight online quizzes, one for each chapter. Each quiz is worth 15 points.
You will work in groups for your final project, which is the construction of a VoiceThread lecture on one religion (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, or Islam), covering your choice of the topics covered in the textbook. For example, one group will describe how Hinduism treats the following topics: images, death, marriage, food, clothing, calendar, buildings, and journeys (each individual in the group will select one of these topics). Another group will do the same for Buddhism, etc. Each student will be responsible for one topic, e.g., one student will describe how Hinduism treats images, another student will describe how Hinduism treats death, etc. Students will be divided evenly among the different groups. If there are not enough students in a group to cover all the topics, the remaining topics will not be covered in the presentation. Students should use many illustrations and links to short videos, because religion is often conveyed by visual clues, and our textbook (like most textbooks) is short on pictures. Each student will create several PowerPoint slides (as many as you need to cover your topic). Put your name on each of your slides, so I can give credit to the person who designed that slide. Please use the space reserved for your group to discuss plans for your final project (use Discussion tab). You should upload your individual slides in the dropbox. You can view all of the slides from your group by using the Groups tab and clicking on the "Group Files" link. Please critique each other's work. After your slides are finalized, one student from your group will upload the entire PowerPoint presentation for the group into the Dropbox. I will post each group's presentation on VoiceThread. After they are posted, you will narrate the slides you created, using either voice, texting, or videocam. Your final project is worth 30 points.
Discussion:
You will be able to read/listen to each other's comments on VoiceThread, but I ask you not to respond to other students on VoiceThread because these comments will be graded. However, you can discuss with other students using the D2L discussion tool. Discussion on D2L will not be graded. Students will also need to discuss the final project within their groups. These discussions will also take place on D2L, and the discussions themselves will not be graded although the result of the discussions (the final project) will be graded.
Optional audiovisual materials:
I have placed some long and short videos, and some audiotapes, on the SDSU server. These are materials I have collected during my many years of teaching this course. There is a link to the audiovisual page under the "Contents" tab on D2L. You will not be tested on the materials on the audiovisual page; they are there for your enjoyment and to enhance your learning.
Course Requirements
Textbook:
Paul Gwynne, World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction. Walden, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4051-6703-1
Supplementary Requirements:
Access to internet and use of D2L and VoiceThread
Hi-speed internet connection necessary for taking timed quizzes and for viewing video links
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to login to online courses on the first day of the semester. Students should login to this course or VoiceThread 1x/day or 7x/week thereafter. Expect to do between one hour and an hour and a half of work for this course every day on average. Students must participate fully in group discussions regarding the final project to meet the attendance policy. Failure to meet these expectations may result in a deduction of 10 to 30 points, depending upon the severity of the neglect of the attendance policy.
Cheating and Plagiarism Policy
Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated. Plagiarism, copying, cheating, or fabrication, or facilitating any of these behaviors, will result in no credit for that assignment (or part of the assignment if limited to one section). Repeated offenses will result in further disciplinary action such as the reduction of the final grade and formal reporting of the incident to the student conduct committee.
Plagiarism is offering another's words, ideas, or argument as one's own without appropriate attribution by quotation, reference or footnote/endnote.
Copying is use of another's answers to quiz or test questions.
Cheating is an act of decption by which a student misrepresents that he or she has mastered information on an academic enterprise that she or he has not mastered.
Fabrication is the intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty means intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty as enumerated above.
Make-up Policy
Students are expected to complete online quizzes and tests on time, and to complete assignments by the due date. Due account will be taken of university-excused absences and genuine emergencies. If you have a valid reason for missing a deadline, or if you have an unexpected emergency, please consult with the professor immediately to decide upon a new due date. Make-up privileges will only be given if the student consults with the professor within a reasonable amount of time.
Important dates to keep in mind:
Monday May 28 Memorial Day Holiday
Tuesday May 29 First day of class
Tuesday May 29 Last day to drop course with full refund
Friday June 29 Last day of class
Course Learning Goals
(1) Students will become familiar with the neutral, objective study of religion known as "comparative religion," and understand how it differs from confessional approaches to the study of religion.
Teaching and Learning Activity: VoiceThread lectures, reading of textbook
Evaluation and Assessment: Quizzes, VoiceThread comments, final project
(2) Students will be able to identify important beliefs, terms, and cultural and social expressions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Teaching and Learning Activity: VoiceThread PowerPoints, reading assignments
Evaluation and Assessment: Online quizzes
(3) Students will be able to describe how each of the five religions impacts ethics, society, art and architecture, and family and individual life.
Teaching and Learning Activity: VoiceThread lectures, reading of textbook
Evaluation and Assessment: Quizzes, VoiceThread comments, final project
(4) Students will contribute to each other's learning
Teaching and Learning Activity: posting of comments on VoiceThread, reading of other students' comments
Evaluation and Assessment: quiz questions based on student comments
(5) Students will display empathy toward diverse viewpoints
Teaching and Learning Activity: work in groups on final project, comments on VoiceThread
Evaluation and Assessment: VoiceThread comments, final project
(6) Students will create a group VoiceThread presentation, demonstrating an ability to cooperate with others of different faiths or none, in creating an accurate and unbiased presentation
dealing with a religion not their own
Teaching and Learning Activity: Work in groups of eight to create a VoiceThread presentation which covers the eight textbook topics for a single religion
Evaluation and Assessment: Final project rubric
This course fulfills SGE goal 4: Students will understand the diversity and complexity of the human experience through study of the arts and humanities (see details at end of syllabus)
This course fulfills IGR goal 3: Social and Cultural Stewardship. Students will demonstrate both social and cultural stewardship to foster individual creativity and to promote preservation and growth of culture and community (see details at end of syllabus)
This course fulfills the Globalization Requirement (see details at end of syllabus)
Evaluation Procedures
1. Quizzes on narrated PowerPoint presentations on VoiceThread
In the first half of this course, you will be listening to VoiceThread presentations on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. You will find links to these assignments on the Contents page of the D2L site for this course, or you can go directly to www.voicethread.com once you have a VoiceThread account. There are between one and four presentations for each of the five religions (one on Hinduism, four on Buddhism, etc.). The presentations are of varying length. When you have finished all the assignments for a religion, you will then take a 15-point quiz on that religion. The quizzes are timed (20 minutes for each 15-point quiz). Each quiz will contain 15 questions, and each question is worth one point. Quizzes contain only multiple choice questions (including true/false questions). Your grade will be available immediately after you submit your quiz.
5 quizzes x 15 points/quiz = 75 points
2. Comments on narrated PowerPoint presentations on VoiceThread
For each of the five religions, you will post one comment on VoiceThread. Post your comment in an appropriate place on one of the slides for that religion. Your comment should enhance the learning of your fellow students. Some examples of ways to do that: (1) describe a personal experience related to the information on the slide, (2) do some web research on one of the topics on the slide and report on what you learned, or (3) make connections between different parts of the VoiceThread presentation for that religion. Post only one comment for each religion (five comments total). Your comment should be short but substantial (not word-y or trivial). You can earn a maximum of 10 points for each comment. Grading criteria include accuracy, extension of learning beyond what is given in the presentation, academic approach to the religion, civil tone, and use of grammatically correct English. Your grade will be available on D2L within one week after the due date.
5 comments x 10 points/comment = 50 points
3. Midterm "exam"
The midterm "exam" (really just a large quiz) will be a 25-point, objective test (multiple choice, true/false questions) over the VoiceThread lectures. Your have 30 minutes to complete this test. The midterm will cover the material on all of the VoiceThread presentations combined. It will include some of the same questions used for the quizzes in #1. Your grade will be available immediately after you submit your test.
4. Quizzes on textbook chapters
In the second half of this course, you will be reading parts of World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction by Paul Gwynne. This textbook has 12 chapters; we will read eight of them. At the end of each chapter, you will take a 15-point quiz on that chapter. The quizzes are open book, but they are timed (20 minutes for a 15-point quiz). Each quiz will contain 15 questions, and each question is worth one point. Quizzes contain only multiple choice questions (including true/false questions). Your grade will be available immediately after you submit your quiz.
8 quizzes x 15 points/quiz = 120 points
5. Final project
Students will be divided into five groups. You can self-enroll in your groups, but I may re-arrange you a little in order to have approximately equal numbers of students in each group. Each group will be responsible for one of the five religions studied this semester. Students in a group will work together to create a VoiceThread presentation on their religion. One student will be responsible for one chapter. For example, one student in the Hinduism group may prepare several slides on images in Hinduism (chapter 1), a second student may prepare several slides on death in Hinduism (chapter 5), a third student may prepare several slides on marriage in Hinduism (chapter 6), and so on. Upload your slides into the Locker. (PUT YOUR NAME ON EACH OF YOUR SLIDES). Then go to the Groups tab and view the slides of the other members of your group. Help each other improve the presentation by critiquing the work of all the members in your group: What are the good points and which parts need improvement? Edit your own slides based on the comments of the other members in your group. Each group will combine their slides into a single presentation--Select a group member who is willing to perform this task. The completed PowerPoint presentation should be placed in the Locker. I will retrieve it from the Locker and upload it to VoiceThread. After the presentation has been loaded onto the VoiceThread site, each student will narrate his or her slides. It is important to find and present the main points of the textbook section. It is also important to include visuals (pictures, links to short videos, etc.). Each student will receive a maximum of 30 points for his or her narrated slides (group work, but individual grades). Grades will be based on accuracy, selection of main points, your critiques of the other students in your group, helpfulness and appropriateness of pictures and links, tone (civil, academic), and writing and speaking skills--5 points for each of these criteria. Your grade will be available on D2L within one week after the due date.
1 narrated slide in group VoiceThread presentation x 30 points/slide = 30 points