Sample Discussion Questions after Touring the Education in Zion Gallery
Professors may use these questions for class discussions, class presentations, or writing assignments after their students have toured the permanent exhibition at the Education in Zion
Gallery.
“The uniqueness of Brigham Young University lies in its special role—education for eternity— which it must carry in addition to the usual tasks of a university. This means concern—curricular and behavioral—not only for the ‘whole man,’ but also for the ‘eternal man.’”
Spencer W. Kimball, “Climbing the Hills Just Ahead: Three Addresses,” in Educating Zion
John W. Welch and Don E. No rton ed. (Provo: BYU Studies, 1996), 43.
1.
What is an education for eternity? How does this relate to BYU?
2.
How does educating your whole soul—intellectually, spiritually, and physically—impact your education? What role will your education play in your life’s mission? How will it impact your family?
3.
Why would the Lord want his children to obtain an education?
4.
Why is learning such a priority for the LDS Church and for the Lord? What does the Lord expect from me in this class this semester, during my time at BYU, or after I graduate?
5.
How will my time in this class prepare me to help build the kingdom of God? In what ways do writing, reading, and critical thinking further your education?
6.
Think about why you chose to attend BYU and how your education might be influenced by the stories told in the permanent exhibition at the Education in Zion Gallery.
7.
The permanent exhibition contains many stories of sacrifice. Why is sacrifice an important element of gaining an education?
8.
What are some concrete ways you plan to use your education to serve others?
9.
Think about some role models in your field of study and discuss how they are using their education to serve others. What qualities make them successful and effective?
10.
Think about ways in which you can continue your learning (either formally or informally) after you graduate and begin creating a plan to pursue learning opportunities over the next five to ten years.
11.
Think about some of the best teachers you have had. What makes these people stand out and how did they emulate the Savior in teaching and learning? What qualities relate to stories told in the permanent exhibition at the Education in Zion Gallery?
Suggested extensions
1.
Assign students to spend half an hour in the gallery and then write personal essays about their visit generally and what they learned specifically.
Rotating exhibition labels contain thought-provoking questions related to the content. For example, from the 50 Years of Fluency in the Human Conversation exhibition, “How can embracing culture open your eyes to the world?” or “How do you harmonize the secular and the sacred?” Assign students to choose a question or two to answer in a reflective essay.

Ways Professors Use the Education in Zion Gallery:
Anatomy 220: Working in teams of 4 to 6 students (self-selected), produce a creative project (e.g., poster, book, video, song, illustration, sculpture) that integrates information from class with the themes of the permanent exhibition.
Biology 100: Visit the gallery outside of class and write a one-page report answering why you chose to attend BYU, why you think education is important for salvation, and how your faith will inform how you learn and practice science. Another section has the second class lecture focus on temporal knowledge & eternal knowledge and the space where those two overlap; afterwards students visit the gallery outside of class and complete a writing assignment on this topic.
Chemistry 351: Visit the gallery outside of class and write a 1-page description of how your visit influences your answer(s) to one or more of the following questions: Why am I at
BYU? Why is education a priority for the Church and the Lord? What does God expect from me in this class, during my time at BYU, or after I graduate? How will my time in Chem 351 help prepare me to build the kingdom of God? How does my faith inform how I learn and practice science?
Educational Leadership & Foundations 201: Students write 3 papers after an in-class gallery tour. The first is their personal educational autobiography, explaining the role of education in their lives and their families. The second is a reflection of their visit, and they must spend another half hour in the gallery for it. The last paper is a statement of their educational philosophy.
English Language 105: Read Franklin S. Harris’s inaugural address in Educating Zion, have students tour the north side of the permanent exhibition, and afterwards have them write about what they learned from their reading and their visit.
English 150: As a formative writing assessment, students go through the exhibition during a class period and then write a personal response about the four aims of a BYU education after leaving.
Geometry or Civil Engineering: Examine the spiral staircase. If it were constructed as a spring, what would that mean? If there were supports in the floors, what would that mean?
Humanities 101: Give an assignment to complete on students’ own time in which examples of history, music, art, and literature of Church culture are discovered in the exhibition.
Humanities 250: For a semester-long group project, students create exhibition proposals based upon themes in Education in Zion.
Music 378: Spend at least two hours in the exhibition outside of class. Take scriptures with you to respond to promptings or fleeting thoughts. Before going, reading your patriarchal blessing and pray for guidance while you are there. Take notes and record your impressions.
You will turn in a one-page reflection describing the teacher in Zion you perceive yourself becoming; also discuss your goals, dreams, aspirations, and visions in this inspired calling.
Think of it as a constantly renewing vision statement about yourself as a teacher.
Portuguese 322: Send students to the gallery to explore one part in great detail for half an hour, then come to class and discuss the experience in Portuguese.
Spanish 311: Summarize major sections of the exhibition, translate into Spanish, give an oral presentation, and create a Spanish gallery guide.
Visual Arts Studio 490: Use the gallery as a catalyst to consider ways to harmonize faith and learning, and then create and display art inspired by these messages.

Faculty Experiences
“BYU’s mission is to instill faith across the curriculum. The university has maintained its unique mission to be a University of Zion fundamentally to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in a household of faith yet in an academic setting.” Richard E. Bennett, Church History and
Doctrine
“I see a large number of students going through a process of self-discovery [at the Education in Zion Gallery]. They catch the vision of who they are in the educational process of the
Lord. And they realize that they belong here.” Jerry Jaccard, School of Music
“[After visiting the Education in Zion Gallery] almost all of [my students] said ‘I’m going to try harder. I’m not going to focus so much on grades. I’m going to focus more on learning that I can take with me. I’m not going to be so annoyed by assignments I think are boring or stupid or wasting my time.’ It was very gratifying to read the students’ insights; in fact, it was very touching to read them.” Lora Beth Brown, Nutrition and Dietetics
“I use the Education in Zion Gallery with my undergraduate class of pre-service teachers as an opportunity to explore teaching as a moral endeavor. After reading about the moral dimensions of teaching and discussing responsibilities as future educators, we come to the gallery to determine practical applications of those concepts as exemplified by the founders of BYU.” Melissa Newberry, Teacher Education
“As I continue to use the gallery, there are more and more students who have already toured the facility (sometimes more than once) but have never thought so much about their place and personal responsibility to and for Brigham Young University. This holds true for the students' present circumstances as well as any future plans and goals they have for themselves. I believe the exhibit helps students not only to have gratitude to those that help make this institution possible, but also to imagine themselves as links in the chain of influence that Brigham Young University and the Church could and can have on the rest of the world.” Marci Shaver-Adams, Department of Biology
“The Education in Zion Gallery is an excellent resource for me to help my PDBIO 220
Human Anatomy students learn more about the importance of sacrifice and life-long learning. Each semester my students have the option of doing an assignment at the gallery or participating in Anatomy Academy. Student reviews have shown that many students love doing the EIZ project. . . . Being on the medical school admissions committee at the
University of Utah and having served in a similar capacity at UCLA, I meet many candidates who have a lack of understanding toward the importance of sacrifice and life-long learning.
I am hoping my efforts teach more students the importance of both those principles.”
Jonathan J. Wisco, Physical and Developmental Biology
Student Experiences

“The Education in Zion Exhibit helped me see the beauty and purpose of the raging storm of the college life. The exhibit helped me soften my heart, rekindle my commitment to life-long learning, and remind me why I want to become a teacher.”
“I was highly impressed by the idea conveyed of learning for the eternities. I have struggled since returning from my mission to see how anything could compare to the importance of what I have just been doing for the past two years. This presentation put into perspective for me how this step of life fits into the bigger picture of building the kingdom of God and further consecrating myself through education.”
“The Education in Zion exhibit embodies and effectively communicates what I consider the point of my education at BYU and elsewhere. That is, it touches the depth of the truth of things—and relates it, most importantly, to my relationship with God and my fellowman.”
“I must admit that I was not looking forward to going to the Education in Zion exhibit because I had gone before and I had no desire to go again. However, it was just like the scriptures in that I may read something 9 times but on the 10 th time I find something different, and that’s exactly what I found.”
“While attending the Education in Zion exhibit this semester, I was not only able to connect things I have learned in my religion classes to things I saw in the exhibit, but I learned a lot of new information as well.”
“I never made it all the way through the exhibit; I didn’t even make it a quarter of the way through. Fascination was my thought as I learned and followed the Spirit on what I should study. There were quite a few things I learned that I had never known before.”
“I felt utterly ungrateful for the education I am getting. The only thing I have to sacrifice to have this magnificent education is time. I am not paying for it, and I didn’t have to work to build it or maintain it. . . . After today I hopefully am going to think about what I learned about those who wanted an education so much and had to work so hard for it the next time I whine about having to wake up to go to class.”
“As I watched [one of the videos] I started to see those teachers and the faculty differently than I ever have before. When I used to think of my teachers in the past I would usually think of them as strangers. Because I never really saw their individual lives it almost felt like they didn’t have any other existence except teaching at BYU. But as I watched this film I began to see a whole new light as they talked about their personal experiences. I felt like these were my friends and people who were trying to be their very best in the gospel that they could. They started to feel less like teachers to me and more like good friends that I might find in my ward.”
Faculty Experiences

“I see a large number of students going through a process of self-discovery [at the
Education in Zion Gallery]. They catch the vision of who they are in the educational process of the Lord.” Jerry L. Jaccard, School of Music
“I use the Education in Zion Gallery with my undergraduate class of pre-service teachers as an opportunity to explore teaching as a moral endeavor. After reading about the moral dimensions of teaching and discussing responsibilities as future educators, we come to the gallery to determine practical applications of those concepts as exemplified by the founders of BYU.” Melissa Newberry, Teacher Education
“The early Saints sacrificed a great deal to establish schools and ensure their people were educated. Understanding their commitment inspires today’s students to value their opportunities more. My students are studying to be professional educators and the gallery offers so many examples of educators with vision and dedication.” Michael S.
Pratt, Educational Leadership and Foundations
Student Experiences
“The Education in Zion Exhibit helped me see the beauty and purpose of the raging storm of college life. The exhibit helped me soften my heart, rekindle my commitment to life-long learning, and remind me why I want to become a teacher.”
“I was highly impressed by the idea conveyed of learning for the eternities. I have struggled since returning from my mission to see how anything could compare to the importance of what I have just been doing for the past two years. This presentation put into perspective for me how this step of life fits into the bigger picture of building the kingdom of God and further consecrating myself through education.”
“The Education in Zion exhibit embodies and effectively communicates what I consider the point of my education at BYU and elsewhere. That is, it touches the depth of the truth of things—and relates it, most importantly, to my relationship with God and my fellowman.”