Students experience practical learning in situations outside regular classroom Gaining insight both in and out of the classroom has been the goal ofmany professors at Harding, but some teachers in the College of Bible and Religion have made outside activities requirements for their classes. In Ken Neller's Introduction to the Christian Ministry class, students are required to do 15 hours of service work in lieu of a semester term paper. They can choose whatever ministry they want, such as hospital and nursing home visitations or prison ministry. Neller goes with the students in the beginning so they are comfortable. "Most of the students are nervous at first, and I go with them to break the ice," he said. Neller has his students' best interest at heart. "I hope that the students can use this experience later in their own ministries," he said. "If they become comfortable visiting nursing homes now, they will know what to do in their own ministries later. " Neller wants his students to be prepared for their future ministry careers. "Most importantly, this exercise will help them to react to people and to real situations they will encounter later," he said. Travis Downs, a senior Bible major in Neller's class, decided to visit hospitals and a prison and to observe funeral and wedding services. He has especially chosen the observation of ceremonies to learn how other preachers conduct them. "I want to see some other examples before I actually perform one of these ceremonies," he said. "I also want to be able to get different ideas and learn how to be interesting. " Downs is thankful for this outside experience. "The School of Business has clubs and competitions which students can enter to gain experience, so why should the College of Bible and Religion be different? It wouldn't be good to graduate from Harding with a degree in Bible and know nothing about ministry," Downs said. Bible professor Dan Stockstill instructs a class in which students learn to teach young people. Students are required to interview five teenagers in order to find out their different learning styles. Students in Stockstill 's class also observe different teachers as they teach classes. Matt Washington , a senior youth ministry major in Stockstill's class, believes this class has been very helpful to him. Since the class started, he has noticed an improvement in his own teaching style. "Before, I taught only one way, but I have learned to be more diverse, " he said. "Now, I use more visual aids for visual learners, statistics for people who learn better by numbers, and active experiences for hands-on learners." "By observing classes, I am able to see teaching techniques that do and don'twork, " Washington said. "I have seen students react to these different styles, and I might not have picked up on these unless I had distanced myself from the situation." Washington has learned to vary his teaching styles for his audience and says that Stockstill has reinforced this through his class. "Mr. Stockstill practices what he preaches by using various types of creative learning methods. I can draw ideas from what he teaches and get ideas for my own teaching jobs," he said. Kevin Jensen, a senior religious education major in Stockstill's class, applauded those Bible teachers who have their students learn outside of the classroom. "Classroom learning is concepts, but outside learning takes what you have learned and makes it real, helping you to make a difference in other people's lives," he said. - Christie Rogers Adrian Hickmon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, MFT Gordon Hogan, B.A., Resident Missionary, Asia Joe Jones, M.A., Associate Professor Bill Lambert, Ed.D., Professor, Director HSBS Ken Miller, Ed.D., Associate Professor Lew Moore, Ph.D., Prof. Psych., Dir. Counseling Ctr. , Chair MFT Edward Myers, Ph.D., Professor, Christian Doctrine Ken Neller, Ph.D., Associate Professor Owen Olbricht, Resident Missionary, Domestic L.V. Pfeifer, M.Th., Professor Paul Pollard, Ph.D., Professor Bible, Greek Vann Rackley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, MFT Bill Richardson, D.Min., Associate Professor Don Shackelford, Th.D., Prof., Dean International Studies Dan Stockstill, M.Th., Assistant Professor Van Tate, Ph.D., Professor Duane Warden, Ph.D., Professor Will Ed Warren, M.A.R., Professor
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