Department of Religion
In order to have a paper approved, the following requirements need to be followed:
The learnings reflected in the papers must be of college quality and be sufficient in length to warrant consideration for credit.
To clarify this concept as much as possible, it is helpful to be mindful of the fact that a student taking the traditional equivalent 3 semester hour course will likely:
- attend 40 class lectures
- peruse a textbook
- study a broad range of topics
- write one or more papers
- read outside references
- take several exams
- The sum of participating in all of these opportunities for learning is that a great deal of knowledge, critical thinking, discussion, and research has taken place. It is the sum of these learnings that will be the benchmark on which the paper is evaluated.
- This means that the paper must correspond to the content of a current course listed in the College Catalog. For example, a paper dealing with Religion must correspond to the content and scope of learning in the course: New Testament - (Rel 112).
- Credit is not awarded for personal and professional experiences in themselves but for the learning outcomes that accrued from those experiences. These outcomes must be academically measurable and comparable to the learning outcomes expected from students taking the equivalent traditional course.
Because these papers need to be of college quality and traditional course equivalency, the following requirements need to be met:
- The proposed topic and a detailed outline need to be sent to an instructor in the discipline in which the topic resides for written approval before work begins on the paper. This instructor will be your “reader.”
- The paper will have a minimum of eight double-spaced, typed pages for each semester hour of credit sought. For example, a paper written for 3sh credit will have a minimum of 24 pages in the body of the text, which does not include appendices or reference pages.
- The papers will have a minimum of five professional references for each semester hour of credit sought. For example, a paper written for 3sh credit will have a minimum of 15 separate, professional references that reflect the current state of the research. A professional reference is one authored by an expert in the field, in contrast, for example, to magazine or newspaper articles. If the latter discuss research, you need to go directly to the research and evaluate and discuss it as it was originally presented.
- The paper must reflect critical thinking. In a college level paper, it is not sufficient to write about one’s experiences or the work of experts in an uncritical fashion. For example, if you write that you’ve suffered depression because your mother was depressed, you need to explain why you think there is a relationship. In other words, why aren’t all your brothers and sisters depressed if your depression was inherited or learned from your mother?
- When the first draft is approximately one-quarter completed, a typed copy should be sent to your reader to ensure that the paper is progressing on the right track. The instructor will evaluate it and make suggestions.