SBS 3033                                                                              Spring 2007

Perspectives                                                                         Dr.. David Tait

Advance Instructions for First Exam

And

Modification of the Syllabus

Posted February 7, 2007

10:40 AM

Exam Date and Deadlines

The first exam in our class will take place on Wednesday February 14.  There is a take-home essay, which is described in these instructions, and an in-class proctored test.  The essay must be submitted on time and the exam must be taken in class at the scheduled time.   As a general rule, make-up exams are not available in this class.  Late essays and missed in-class tests mean no credit.

Modification of the Syllabus

These instructions modify the syllabus distributed at the beginning of the semester in the following ways:

• The exam date has changed. (This change was announced in class and on the professor’s website on February 5.)
• The syllabus description of the exams did not refer to a take-home essay, but one such essay will be included and required of all students.  The syllabus did not refer to “brief writing assignments,” but these could occur on the in-class test.
• The class calendar says the test covers Dye’s chapters 1-7.  However, the exam will focus on chapters 2, 5, and 6 in their entirety, and portions of chapters 3 and 4.  Classroom presentations by the professor and guest-lecturers may be relevant to portions of the exam.

Structure and Basis of the Exam

The exam is worth 100 points.  The take-home essay is worth 50 points, as is the in-class test.  The exam is based on the course materials, i.e., assigned reading and class presentations.  You should know this material well, but do not need to consult any other sources of information.

IN-CLASS TEST

To prepare for the test, pay close attention to the Dye chapter guidelines posted on the professor’s website.

You will not be able to master every single term or piece of information in the book.  The professor knows that.  The test will attempt to reward you for what you know more than it will try to ferret out what you do not know.

You may bring with you to the test a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with all the notes you want, front and back.  No books and no other memory assist devices of any kind whatsoever!

Please bring with you a #2 pencil suitable for marking a Scantron.  You may also bring a pen to use in responding to writing questions.  Only black ink and blue ink may be used.

The test will include some or all of the following kinds of questions:

• Multiple-choice
• True-False
• Fill in the Blanks
• Matching
• Identifications
• Brief writing assignments

An identification is a short answer, usually one to three paragraphs, in which you define a term and provide key information about it.  This information may include many things, for example, the importance of a theory, major criticisms of a theory, experiment, method or technique, etc.

A brief writing assignment would ask for a short written response (two to four paragraphs or so) to a question. For example: What are some of the problems a social scientist faces when “applying the scientific method to social problems” (Dye 39)?

TAKE-HOME ESSAY

CHEAP SHOT OR DEVASTATING CRITIQUE?

3-6 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font

Due at 8:00 A.M. on Wednesday February 14

Please submit a Word (.doc) or text (.txt or .rtf) file as an attachment to an e-mail no later than the deadline.  The subject line of the e-mail must read: Perspectives Exam Essay, followed by your full name, e.g. Perspectives Exam Essay, Sigmund Freud.

The Topic

A recent article in Christian Century reported on the controversy surrounding a decision by a Southern Baptist Seminary to remove “pastoral counseling” from its curriculum because its use of psychology is thought to be antithetical to the practice of Christian ministry.[1]  Among the persons quoted in the article, Russell Moore says “there are only sciences and theories of psychotherapy that are contradictory and incoherent.” (CC 24).  In addition, David Powlison contends, “There is no unitary psychology.  Modern psychology . . . is a marketplace of differing popular philosophies of life.”  The article includes additional remarks by Powlison (CC 26). 

In light of the charges by Moore and Powlison, evaluate three of the “Approaches to Psychology and Personality” discussed in Dye, 134-152.  A list of six approaches is provided below. You must include at least one of these three: Psychoanalytic/Freudian; Social Psychology; or Humanistic (because these have been important in the development of the pastoral counseling field which is under attack by critics like Moore and Powlison).  Are they so different, even contradictory, that psychology is not a unified field of study, or is there more common ground than these critics suggest?  Do they simply package “popular philosophies,” or do they offer useful ways of understanding human behavior?

Procedure

• After selecting three approaches, summarize the main features of each one.  You may comment on the strengths and weaknesses you find in them.
• Then consider whether they are “contradictory and incoherent” (Moore)  by comparing them to each other. 
• Consider whether they are simply “simply differing popular philosophies of life” (Powlison). In that connection you may want to reflect on the Dye text’s claim that “underlying much theory in the social sciences are assumptions about human nature” (Dye 22).
• You may also want to consider to what extent, if at all, some or all of these approaches can be considered scientific.  In that case, refer to Dye’s second chapter, “Social Sciences and the Scientific Method.” 
• You are free to draw on any other material in Dye that may seem relevant to the topic (ideology, anthropology, sociology, etc.). You may also draw on any of the remarks made by the professor and the guest lecturers.

Dye discusses several approaches.  Be sure to include at least one of the approaches marked with an asterisk (*):

Biological (135)

* Psychoanalytic/Freudian (135-136

Authoritarian Personality (136-140)

Behavioral Psychology, Behaviorism and Learning Theory (140-145)

* Social Psychology (145-150)

* Humanistic Psychology (150-152)

It is not recommended that you do any additional research.  The course materials are sufficient.  If you choose to do additional research, you must include a Works Consulted page that provides full bibliographic data for each one.

Caution

            The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on the theories discussed in Dye, not to evaluate the possible relationships between psychology, Christianity and ministry.  If you have strong views on those matters, try to keep them out of the body of your paper.  However, you are welcome to comment on them in a postscript.  The professor would enjoy reading what you think about such issues, but our main task is to work with the social scientific content of the course.  It will not improve your grade to include such a discussion, nor will it hurt your grade if you decide not to do so.

            The paper topic does not ask you to discuss different forms of treating mental and emotional problems.  However, both Dye and the CC article include such discussions.  You may do so as well, provided that you have fully addressed the main concerns the professor has identified as vital to the topic.

Evaluating Your Work

            When he reads your essay the professor will ask:

1. Does this paper address the assigned topic?

2. Does the paper show a command of the key course materials?

3. Does the paper show a capacity for critical reflection on the course materials?

4. Is the paper clearly, competently and professionally written in college-level Standard English? (Yes, matters such as organization, word selection, grammar punctuation, etc.  are relevant to the grading of your work.)

The question in the context of the course objectives

            This essay assignment is related to the following course objectives, as stated in the course syllabus:

• An improved appreciation of the differing approaches to understanding human behavior as practiced by historians, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists. 
• A heightened awareness of the different insights produced from the disciplines of the social sciences, and how those insights can be used synthetically to produce a more robust and comprehensive understanding of human behavior. 
• An enhanced ability to think critically . . . and to articulate ideas in written and verbal form in a ‘scientific environment.’