Thirteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

In Krahtwohl’s (2002) revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the two highest levels of cognitive processing activities in learning are ‘analysis’ and ‘creation.’ Yet creating opportunities for this kind of deep learning (Manalo 2019) can be time-consuming and challenging for instructors. The present study posits that interdisciplinary collaboration among students from different majors in different courses at different institutions can provide opportunities for these higher levels of learning to occur in a more engaging way, more student-centered way. This dynamic pedagogical approach has been labeled “cross-course” learning (see Nwokeji & Frezza 2017) to distinguish it from the more traditional “in-course” learning where students may work collaboratively but are limited to learning interactions only with their classmates at the same institution. Specifically, in the context of Qatar, this project explored the following teaching-related questions: 1. How do students and faculty perceive cross-course, interdisciplinary approaches to learning pedagogical content in the field of religious studies (RS) when compared to more traditional in-classroom approaches? 2. How do cross-course reading activities impact the quality of student learning? Preliminary survey results from this case study involving three partner universities at Education City in Doha, Qatar show that cross-course activities create more dynamic engagement and discussion than in traditional in-course reading activities. The researchers observe that such cross-course reading activities whether done in-person or online can add a valuable and enriching component to traditional religion-themed courses.