Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 8.3
What you will learn
- Turn your scores, ratings and uncertainties into a short, ordered plan for further study.
- Choose readings from the library and from Scripture for each priority.
- Set realistic dates, including the suggested 1, 7, 30 and 90 day reviews.
- Understand clearly that finishing this course gives no certificate, credit, degree or ordination.
The big idea
The last task of the assessment is a plan. From the score table, the ratings and the list of uncertainties, the student chooses three to five priorities, assigns readings and dates to each, and sets review points. The suggested reviews after 1, 7, 30 and 90 days are an option. Finishing the course does not give any certificate, accreditation, credit, degree or ordination, and the site holds no record. The plan is the one lasting product of the course: a private statement of what to study next and when.
Key terms
- Priority
- A topic or skill that comes first in the plan because the results show it is most needed.
- Milestone
- A dated point at which a piece of the plan is to be done and checked.
- Review
- A return to earlier results or material to see what is retained and what has changed.
- Reading list
- A short, ordered list of texts chosen for a priority.
- Sustainable pace
- An amount of study that can be kept up for months alongside other duties.
- Credential
- A certificate, degree or similar document issued by an institution. This program issues none.
Background
The plan builds on every earlier part of the course. The score table shows which components are weakest. The ratings of the written work show which skills need practice. The list of uncertainties shows which questions matter most to the student. The reflection shows what the study has meant. A good plan draws on all of these and turns them into a short list of things to do.
A plan should be modest enough to be kept. A student who commits to read ten major books in a month is likely to give up. A plan of one reading and one short piece of writing each week for twelve weeks, aimed at the top three priorities, is more likely to succeed. The plan should also include rest, and it should take account of the student’s other duties, such as work, family and church life.
This is the end of the program, and its limits should be stated clearly. Completing the course does not make anyone a theologian, a minister or a scholar, and the program does not claim to prepare anyone for ordination or to substitute for the formation offered by churches and schools. Students who want to go further may take courses in a university or seminary, join a study group, speak with a pastor or priest, or simply continue to read. The program is not opposed to any of these. It offers instruction, and the rest is the student’s own to decide.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Choose three to five priorities
From your score table, ratings and list of uncertainties, choose the most important needs. Include at least one knowledge gap, one skill, such as argument or fair description of other traditions, and one question that matters to you personally. Write them in order.
Step 2: Assign readings
For each priority, choose one or two readings from the library or the Bible. For example: for historical gaps, a survey and one primary source; for fairness across traditions, the Catechism, an Orthodox author and a Protestant confession; for argument, an entry from the Stanford Encyclopedia. Write each with a plan to read it in part or in full.
Step 3: Set dates
Give each reading and each piece of writing a date. Choose a rhythm you can keep, such as two or three hours each week. Mark rest weeks. Write the dates on a calendar and in your notebook.
Step 4: Schedule the reviews
If you choose the suggested pattern, write review dates for 1, 7, 30 and 90 days after completing the assessment. At each, review your lowest-scoring component, re-answer five questions from it from memory, and record your progress against the plan. Adjust the plan if it is not working.
Step 5: Write the plan and file the record
Write the plan on one or two pages. File it with your score table, statement of faith, rule of life and reflection. Write the date at the top. Consider adding a sentence to remind yourself of the purpose of study: to know and love God and neighbor better, and not to win arguments or collect knowledge for its own sake.
- What are my top three priorities, and why these?
- Which readings will actually help me with each?
- What pace can I sustain alongside my other duties?
- How will I know whether the plan is working?
- Whom, if anyone, will I ask for advice or company in study?
- What is the purpose of all this study for me?
Examples
A modest plan
Priority one: the early councils. Reading: the first two chapters of a survey and the Nicene Creed, in two weeks. Priority two: fairness to the Orthodox. Reading: a short book by an Orthodox author, in a month. Priority three: the problem of evil. Reading: an overview entry and a defense, in a month. Review dates written beside each. (A constructed example.)
A review entry
Day 30: re-answered five historical questions, got four right. The councils are better but the Reformation is weak. Added two weeks on the Reformation to the plan. (A constructed example.)
A plan that is too large
A student lists twenty books for the first month and drops the plan in the second week. The remedy is to choose the three most important readings and to add more only when those are done. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic tradition values lifelong formation in the faith and offers catechetical programs, parish study groups and theological courses for lay people. A Catholic student may combine the plan with such resources.
Orthodox
Orthodox tradition understands theological learning as part of the life of the church, and often places it under the guidance of a spiritual father or mother. A student may bring the plan to such a person for advice, if they wish.
Protestant
Protestant traditions encourage the lifelong study of Scripture and offer church study groups, Bible colleges and seminaries. Many also have a tradition of self-directed learning, and some of the library’s authors, such as Wesley, urged it.
Educational
Studies of adult learning commonly find that regular short sessions, retrieval practice and a clear purpose help more than occasional long sessions. The plan is built around these ideas, and may be adapted.
Why it matters
A plan turns the work of the course into continued growth. It gives study a direction and a pace and keeps the lessons of the assessment from being lost. It also leaves the student free: nothing in it is required by anyone but the student.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Finishing this course gives a qualification.
Correction: It does not. There is no certificate, accreditation, credit, degree or ordination, and the site keeps no record of the student’s work.
Misunderstanding: A good plan has many books in it.
Correction: A good plan is one the student can keep. Three well chosen readings finished are better than twenty begun.
Misunderstanding: Private study replaces church, teachers and community.
Correction: The program does not claim this. It supports individual study and is not opposed to churches, clergy or formal education. Many students will want to combine it with others.
Knowledge check
What goes into a plan for continued study?
Three to five priorities chosen from the scores, ratings and uncertainties; one or two readings for each; dates and a sustainable pace; and review points, such as 1, 7, 30 and 90 days if the student chooses. The plan should be modest enough to be kept and should account for other duties.
What does the student receive on finishing the course?
No certificate, accreditation, credit, degree or ordination. The site receives and grades nothing. What the student has is a body of private work, a set of honest results and a plan, which together show what has been learned and what to study next.
How can the suggested review dates be used?
At 1, 7, 30 and 90 days, the student reviews the lowest-scoring component, re-answers five questions from memory and notes progress against the plan, adjusting the plan if needed. The dates are a suggestion, and a student may choose other dates or none.
What are some options for going further?
Courses at a university or seminary, a study group, conversation with a pastor, priest or spiritual guide, a reading program in the library and regular worship with a community. The program is not opposed to any of these, and the student decides which, if any, to pursue.
Think it through
- What do you most want to understand a year from now?
- How can you protect time for study without neglecting your other duties?
- Who might be a good companion for the next stage?
- What would you say is the purpose of all this learning?
Independent assignment
The plan for continued study
In your own notebook, write one or two pages of about 400 words. Name three to five priorities, assign readings from the library or the Bible, set dates at a sustainable pace, write review dates at 1, 7, 30 and 90 days or your own, and add a closing sentence on the purpose of your study. File it with your other records. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction A survey to return to when planning further study.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) A larger history of doctrine, for a longer project.
- Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of St. Benedict For rhythm and balance of study, prayer and work.
- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ On the purpose of learning and humility.
- Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.
- Philippians 1:9 That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge.