Research and Writing for Religious Disciplines – RLGN 301

Course Description

This course builds upon the concepts for scholarly research and writing to prepare students for completing scholarly research and writing specifically within the religious disciplines. The course covers various methods and aims for research within religious disciplines, tools for performing scholarly research, and the tools for writing clearly and effectively in an academic setting. As such, this course lays the foundation for future academic writing in the religious disciplines.

Rationale

This course prepares the student for advanced courses in the religious studies disciplines by reinforcing prior learning of the information literacy skills and resources needed for academic research, introducing a variety of credible resources and tools within the religious disciplines, and providing the student with opportunities to engage in academic writing on religious topics prior to entering upper-level religion courses.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be 250–300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 150 words. (CLO: D)

Peer Review Discussion

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will complete 1 Peer-Review Discussion in this course. The student will post in one thread his or her introduction paragraph for peers to review. The introduction should be one paragraph closely following the course instruction for developing an introduction. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 150 words each, providing feedback to peers for the purpose of strengthening and developing the ideas of the introduction. (CLO: D)

Research Project Assignments (5)

Research Project: Topic and Question Assignment

The student will select a research topic from a list of approved topics provided in the course and narrow that topic by proposing a specific research question to be addressed in his or her Research Project: Paper Assignment. (CLO: A, D)

Research Project: Working Bibliography Assignment

The student will develop a Working Bibliography of at least 8 scholarly sources that will be used to address the research topic. This bibliography must be appropriately formatted in current Turabian style. Accompanying each citation will be an 100-150 word annotation addressing how the source addresses the research problem. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Research Project: Thesis and Outline Assignment

After collecting, reading, and evaluating the research materials, the student will produce his or her Thesis and Outline for the Paper. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Research Project: Paper Assignment

Using the materials collected throughout the course, the student will write a 2,000–2,500-word research-based paper in current Turabian format. A title page and reference page are required and are not included in the word count requirement. The paper must include at least 8 scholarly references in addition to the Bible. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E)

Research Project: Revisions and Summary Assignment

Using the comments from the instructor and the principles learned in the course, the student will revise his or her Paper and resubmit it along with a 200-word explanation of the overall impact of the revisions on the paper. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E) 

Quizzes (4)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned Modules: Weeks. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 25 multiple-choice and true/false questions, and have a 45-minute time limit. Each quiz will allow 1 attempt. (CLO: D)