Richard S. Ascough

Queen's
Theological
College

This course will be taught online as a distance education course in Fall 2002, using WebCT.

If you are interested please contact the instructor

229 Theological Hall
Queen's University
Kingston, ON
Canada, K7L 3N6

(613) 533-6000
x78066

rsa@post.queensu.ca

http://
post.queensu.ca/~rsa

Roetzel 1998



Jewett 1994



Ascough 1998

Course Description | Course Textbooks | Student Assessment |
Online Learning | Course Resources

At the successful completion of this course, students will:

• show familiarity with the content and background of the letters attributed to Paul

• understand typical literary and rhetorical features of Paul's letters

• demonstrate an ability to engage critical issues that arise in the analysis of passages from Paul's letters

• demonstrate an ability to integrate Paul's letters into reflection on pastoral issues of today.

This course will be taught online as a distance education course in Fall 2002, using WebCT.

Prerequisite/Co-requisite(s): THEO 516 or permission of instructor

Frequently Asked Questions About This Course

Please Note: As the instructor I reserve the right to change any aspect of the course at any point during the duration of the course.

Course Textbooks

Calvin Roetzel, The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. (4th edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998). ISBN 0-664-25782-8.

Robert Jewett, Paul the Apostle to America: Cultural Trends and Pauline Scholarship. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994). ISBN 0-664-25483-7.

Richard Ascough, What Are They Saying About the Formation of Pauline Churches? (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1998). ISBN 0-8091-3768-2.

You will also need a Bible. There will also be a number of online readings in the course.

Student Assessment

In this course we will be using computer interface to create an online collaborative learning environment. Regular weekly participation will be required and learners will be expected to be more self-directed than is often the case in classroom environments. We will be using an "asynchronous" format - that is, you can login and do your work anytime, anywhere (with computer access, of course!). You will not have to plan for live, real-time "chats" ("synchronous"). WebCT will allow us to set up "threaded discussions" of various topics each week.

Much of the work will be as part of a collaborative learning group - that is, working together with others in the course to understand specific texts or Paul's overarching theology and purposes. I will also include some discussion of the "so what" for various ministry settings (preaching, teaching, counseling). However, this is not the primary aim of the course.

I expect that there will be about 10-12 hours of online and off-line work per week (we get a one-week break from Nov 4-8). In order to recognize the work done in this environment, most of your grade will be based on participation in individual and group projects online. For this reason, you need to insure that you participate regularly and substantively in the online discussions. If for some reason you cannot participate substantively in a given week (e.g., because of work or illness or family commitments) I may ask you to do extra work to make up for the missed time. The "participation" grade will be worth 100% of your final grade but will include material that I ask you to submit directly to me at various points in the course. I will also require a final, summative paper to be submitted to me before December 19, 2002.

Finally, I want to assure you that I do not expect that the online course will be more work than one of my face-to-face classroom courses. At the same time, it is not less work! It is, however, a somewhat different way of learning (check out some of the links below under "Resources for Online Learning" for some ideas about what you might expect).

Online Learning

The online course format will involve the use of computers and the internet to create an online collaborative learning environment. Regular weekly participation will be required. In order to insure that you can access the course on the first day it is imperative that you have registered for the course and obtained the necessary username to access the Queen's WebCT site. Instructions for doing so are linked below under "Accessing an Online Course". This should be done at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the course.

• Accessing an Online Course This is important information. Please insure that you have undertaken all of the steps before the course begins.

  Please note: If you took online courses at Queen's prior to Fall 2001 you will recall that your student number was your password for WebCT. However, Queen's has now changed the procedure and your Q-link password is now also your WebCT password.

  If you have forgotten your original Qlink password, visit http://www.queensu.ca/its/getid/ and enter your student number and PIN to see your original Qlink password.

• Information about WebCT at Queen's

• Characteristics of a successful online student

• Online Learning - An Overview. If you go to this site, be sure to explore the self-tests and the "tips for success" in the resources frame on the right hand side.

• Successful Internet Student Self-Assessment

• Navigating and Assessing Web Sites. A self-guided tutorial on searching the web and evaluating the quality of web sites.