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Course 26 · Lesson 8.1

Scoring the results of the components

9 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 26 outline

Module 1: Comprehensive Biblical Knowledge Examination

  1. Preparing: a review plan for the whole Bible
  2. The examination: books, story, genres and key passages
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers and planning review

Module 2: Historical Theology Examination

  1. Preparing: a timeline, key figures and key councils
  2. The examination: periods, controversies and primary texts
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers and planning review

Module 3: Systematic Theology Examination

  1. Preparing: an outline of the doctrines
  2. The examination: God, Christ, humanity, salvation, church and last things
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers, especially on fairness across traditions

Module 4: Philosophical Argument Evaluation and Historical Apologetics Assessment

  1. Evaluating a philosophical argument: premises, validity and objections
  2. Exercises: cosmological, moral, evil and hiddenness arguments
  3. Assessing historical evidence: sources, dating, witnesses and bias
  4. Exercises: the resurrection, the reliability of the New Testament and the canon

Module 5: Written Defense of Three Christian Propositions

  1. Choosing three propositions and defining the terms
  2. Building the case: arguments, evidence and sources
  3. Stating and answering the strongest objections
  4. Evaluating your defenses against the criteria

Module 6: Statement of Faith and Rule of Life

  1. Writing a personal statement of faith
  2. Relating the statement to the creeds and the traditions
  3. Writing a personal Christian rule of life
  4. Making the rule concrete and reviewable

Module 7: Reflection on Theological Development

  1. Mapping your development: beliefs held at the start and now
  2. Changes of mind: what changed and what caused the change
  3. Writing the reflection

Module 8: Strengths, Uncertainties and Continued Study

  1. Scoring the results of the components
  2. Naming your uncertainties without shame or evasion
  3. A plan for continued study, with dates for review

All courses

Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 8.1

What you will learn

  • Gather the results of all ten components in one table.
  • Use the suggested standards of 70, 80, 80 and 80 percent as personal options, and know what each applies to.
  • Read the scores as information about what to study, not as a verdict.
  • Set the 1, 7, 30 and 90 day review dates as an option.

The big idea

Scoring brings the results of the whole assessment into one table. This course suggests four standards for the student’s own use: 70 percent on each of the three knowledge examinations (biblical, historical and systematic), and 80 percent on each of three kinds of written or analytical work (the philosophical and historical apologetics evaluations, the three defenses, and the statement of faith, rule of life and reflection). These numbers are suggestions. The site sets no pass mark, receives no scores, and gives no certificate, accreditation, credit or degree. The student alone decides what the numbers mean.

Key terms

Suggested standard
A target offered for a student’s own use. It may be adopted, changed or ignored. It is not a requirement of the site.
Score table
A single page listing each component, the date taken, the score and the rating.
Percentage
The marks earned divided by the marks possible, times one hundred.
Weakest component
The component with the lowest score relative to its standard. It becomes the first place to review.
Review schedule
The dates for returning to the results. This course suggests 1, 7, 30 and 90 days.
Self-assessment
An assessment made and marked by the student, without outside grading.

Background

The course plan states the aim plainly: take each examination under honest conditions, mark the answers against the sources, record a score for each component, aim for 70 percent or better on each examination, review the relevant courses if a component falls below it, and retake a different set of questions after at least one week. For each written piece, rate it strong, adequate or weak and write one sentence on how to improve each weak one. Finally, return to the results after 1, 7, 30 and 90 days.

The suggested standards are therefore as follows. For the three knowledge examinations, the suggestion is 70 percent. For the written and analytical work, which is rated against criteria, the suggestion is 80 percent, taken separately for the evaluations of arguments and evidence, for the three defenses, and for the statement of faith, rule of life and reflection. That makes 70 for the exams and 80 for each of the three groups of written work. These are suggestions for the student’s own use. A student may choose different numbers, a different grouping or no numbers.

It matters what a score means. A knowledge examination score measures recall and understanding on a given day, from a given set of questions. A rating of written work measures how well the work meets criteria that the student set. Neither measures the sincerity of faith, the value of the person or the truth of what the person believes. For this reason the site gives no certificate or credit, and the program asks the student to treat the numbers as information and not as a judgment.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Build the score table

Draw a table with ten rows, one for each component, and columns for the date, the score, the standard you set and the result (met, not yet met). Fill it in from your marked papers. Do not round up.

Step 2: Apply the suggested standards

Write beside each exam the suggested 70 percent, and beside each group of written work the suggested 80 percent. If you set different numbers earlier, use those and note the change. Mark each row as met or not yet met.

Step 3: Find the pattern

Look at the table as a whole. Which components are lowest? Is the weakness in knowledge, in argument, in writing or in honesty about limits? Is there a connection among the weak components, such as a gap in church history that affects the historical exam and the apologetics assessment?

Step 4: Plan retakes

For any examination below the standard, plan a retake with a different set of questions after at least one week. For written work rated weak, plan a revision with one concrete change. Write the dates in your notebook.

Step 5: Set the review dates

Write the dates for returning to the results after 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and 90 days, if you choose that pattern. On each date, review the lowest component, re-answer five questions from it from memory, and note your progress against the plan.

  1. Did I record each score honestly, without rounding up?
  2. Which components met the standard I set, and which did not?
  3. What does each score actually measure?
  4. Is there a connection among my weakest components?
  5. Do I need to change any standard, and why?
  6. When will I return to these results?

Examples

A score table row

Historical theology examination, taken on a set date, 31 of 50 marks, 62 percent, standard 70 percent, not yet met. Plan: review the Christological controversies and retake a different set of questions in two weeks. (A constructed example.)

A met standard

Written defenses rated against the criteria, 38 of 45 marks, 84 percent, suggested standard 80 percent, met. Note: the weakest criterion is the treatment of objections, so I will add one stronger objection to each. (A constructed example.)

A changed standard

A student with a demanding job and limited time sets a personal standard of 60 percent for the first attempt at the systematic exam, and records the reason. The change is allowed, since the numbers are suggestions. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

Catholic

Catholic teaching does not measure faith by examination. It does value knowledge of the faith and offers catechesis to deepen it. A Catholic student might treat the scores as a guide to further catechesis and not as a mark of standing.

Orthodox

Orthodox teaching is wary of reducing the knowledge of God to information. It values learning, but says that theology is primarily a matter of prayer and life. A student of that tradition may regard the scores as tools of limited importance.

Protestant

Protestant traditions often stress the importance of knowing Scripture and doctrine, and many hold that salvation is by grace and not by works, including the work of learning. The scores are a help to study, not a basis for standing before God.

Educational

Educators distinguish assessment for learning, which guides study, from assessment of learning, which certifies. A self-assessment of this kind is assessment for learning. It does not certify, and its value lies in what the student does next.

Why it matters

Scores make results visible, and visible results can be acted on. At the same time, a number can mislead if it is taken for more than it is. Keeping the standards as suggestions, and the results as information, helps the student use the numbers without being ruled by them.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: The suggested standards are pass marks set by the site.

Correction: They are not. The site sets no pass mark. They are suggestions for personal use, and a student may change them.

Misunderstanding: Meeting all the standards means I have completed a program with credentials.

Correction: No certificate, accreditation, credit, degree or ordination is offered. The value is in what the student has learned and what they decide to study next.

Misunderstanding: A low score shows a lack of faith.

Correction: It shows that a certain body of knowledge or skill needs more work. It says nothing about a person’s faith or worth.

Knowledge check

What are the suggested standards and what do they apply to?

The suggestion is 70 percent on each of the three knowledge examinations, biblical, historical and systematic, and 80 percent on each of three groups of written or analytical work: the evaluations of arguments and evidence, the three defenses, and the statement of faith, rule of life and reflection. They are personal options, not requirements.

What should a student do if an examination falls below the standard?

Review the relevant material and retake a different set of questions after at least one week. The student decides whether to do this. Nothing is reported, and the aim is to improve understanding, not to qualify for anything. A written piece rated weak should be revised with one concrete change.

What does a score measure and not measure?

An examination score measures recall and understanding on one day with one set of questions. A rating of written work measures how well it meets criteria the student set. Neither measures sincerity of faith, personal worth or the truth of what the student believes.

Is there a certificate for meeting the standards?

No. The program offers no certificate, accreditation, credit, degree or ordination, and the site does not receive or grade the results. The student keeps the scores privately, and uses them to plan study.

Think it through

  1. How do you feel about being the only judge of your results?
  2. What temptation is greater for you, to be lenient or to be harsh?
  3. Which score would most change your plans if it were different?
  4. What does a number leave out about what you have learned?

Independent assignment

The score table and a short analysis

In your own notebook, build a table of the ten components with date, score, standard and result. Then write about 300 words on the pattern you see, the standards you want to keep or change, and your plan for retakes and revisions. Write the 1, 7, 30 and 90 day review dates or your own. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.

Further study