Abstract
Instructional communication literature suggests that, to achieve optimal student learning outcomes, an instructor must completely engage in all aspects of experiential learning. It follows, then, that youth ministers should also employ experiential learning in their youth ministries to achieve their learning outcome goals among the youth they teach. This research project examined three research questions: 1.) What pedagogical strategies do youth ministers use during large group class sessions? 2.) In what ways do youth ministers employ instructional communication best practices within their pedagogical strategies? 3.) What strategies do former students remember their youth minister using the most? The analysis revealed four key conclusions. First, youth ministers privilege lecture-style delivery formats over other formats suggested as key in the instructional communication literature. Second, youth ministers who do implement discussion-based delivery formats predominately use teacher-student rather than student-student discussion, which is also an instructional communication best practice. Third, although youth ministers talk about instructional communication best practices regarding engagement and action, they rarely provide opportunities for students to do so during large group class session. Finally, former students report recalling that youth ministers privilege lecture delivery over student-to-student discussions or active application activities related to their daily lives. Based on these conclusions, several implications and suggestions for future research are proposed.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2019
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Sellnow, Deanna
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Department
Communication
Degree Program
Communication; Interpersonal Communication Track
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0007539
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007539
Language
English
Release Date
May 2019
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Taylor, Lakelyn, "The Religious Classroom: Analyzing the Cross-Application of Instructional Communication Pedagogy to Youth Ministries" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6289.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6289