Teaching Technical Courses
from a Christian Perspective:
A Reformed Approach to Pedagogy
Charles C. Adams
Dordt College
2006-2008 ARIHE Lectures
“As a result of this course and your
instructor’s efforts, how has your faith
grown and your worldview been shaped in
a positive Christian direction? And,
specifically, how has your understanding/
appreciation of Christ’s lordship over the
particular subject matter of the course
been deepened?”
The Problem
• The nature of “technical” courses:
abstraction.
• The nature of “non-technical” courses: less
abstraction, more holism.
• A moralistic solution.
A Simple Approach to Teaching
Christianly
• WHAT? God’s good creation.
– The heavens declare the glory of God; the
differential equation proclaims the work of his
hands.
• WHY? Service.
– Creatures are servants.
– Life is service.
• HOW? Pedagogy that respects the
created order.
But to do that will require us to
cultivate a holistic quality in our
colleges, our majors, our courses,
and, at appropriate times, our
lessons.
Providing a Holistic Context for
Abstraction
• At the institutional level
– Student Services as part of the overall
academic program.
– Institutional modeling of holistic Christian
behavior.
• At the program curricula level
– Faculty commitment: word and deed.
– The “tapestry” metaphor.
Curricular Component
Thread
Mathematics
Physics
Biotic (life science)
Curricular Threads
in the Mechanical
Engineering
Curriculum
Analytic (critical thinking)
Cultural formative (design)
General Education
Aesthetics (the arts)
Communication
Social Science
Ethics
Philosophy/Worldview
Engineering Science
General Engineering
Engineering Systems
Engineering Design
Thermal-Fluid Systems
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Systems
Materials & Processing
Mechanical Engineering Curriculum – 1998 – Perspectives Thread
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
FOURTH
FALL
(17.0)
ENGL 101 Grammar
& Composition
(3)
EGR 105 Engineering
Principles
(3)
CMSC 102
Programming - Natural
Sciences (3)
MATH 112
Calculus I
(4)
CHEM 103
Chemistry I
(4)
SPRING
(17.0)
ENGL 200 Literature
(3)
EGR 101 Engineering
Graphics (3)
PHYS 201 Physics I
Mechanics (4)
MATH 113
Calculus II (4)
CHEM 104
Chemistry II (4)
FALL
(17.0)
HIST 100 Western
Civilization
(3)
EGR 220 Linear
Circuits and
Electronics (4)
PHYS 202 Physics II:
Fluids, Waves, Heat,
E&M (4)
MATH 203 or
MATH 204
(3)
COMM 110
Fundamentals of
Speaking & Listen. (3)
SPRING
(16.0)
THEO 101
Perspectives in
Theology (3)
EGR 221 Linear
Systems Analysis (4)
EGR 299
Thermodynamics I (3)
MATH 201 Calculus
III
(3)
EGR 202 Elements of
Materials Science (3)
FALL
(17.0)
Foreign Language
Elective
(3)
EGR 204
Microprocessors and
Digital Electron. (4)
EGR 302
Fluid Mechanics
(3)
EGR 208
Statics and Strength of
Materials (4)
Social Science
Elective
(3)
SPRING
(17.0)
PHIL 201 Perspectives
in Philosophy
(3)
EGR 362 Control
Systems
(3)
EGR 303 Heat
Transfer
(4)
EGR 209 Kinematics
and Dynamics
(4)
EGR 310
History of Science &
Technology (3)
FALL
(16.0)
Humanities Elect.
(3)
GEN 200 Introduction
to the Arts
(3)
Math/Science Elective
(3)
EGR 315 Machine
Design (3)
EGR 379
Senior Design (4)
SPRING
(15.0)
Social Science
Elective
(3)
EGR 390 Technology
& Society (3)
GEN 300 Calling,
Task, & Culture (3)
EGR 320 or
EGR 350 or
EGR 351 (3)
EGR 380 Senior
Design Project (3)
Providing a Holistic Context for
Abstraction
• At the course level
– Concepts, laws, and “things” as creatures
– Respecting the integrity of students in the
course pedagogy
– Communicating the context of the subject
matter: history of the discipline
• An attempt to bring wholeness to a fluid
mechanics course
Providing a Holistic Context for
Abstraction
• At the “lesson” or “assignment” level
– An occasionally “odd” homework problem:
“What is the nature of a pump, in the context
of the history of creation-fall-redemption?”
– Two answers to an “odd” problem.
Providing a Holistic Context for
Abstraction
• At the “interstitial” level
– History: stories about historic characters and
events.
– Application: stories that provide professional
context for the application of concepts
– Application: stories that provide personal
context for the application of concepts
Conclusion
• Imagine that you are a Board
member…
– Hiring a mathematics teacher
– Asking the right questions
• Two helpful, complementary books
– Roy Clouser, The Myth of Religious
Neutrality
– Duane Litfin, Conceiving the
Christian College