LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Robert Plummer was recently became the first professor ever to receive a Louisville-area educational award for three consecutive years.
Plummer, assistant professor of New Testament interpretation, was among five professors who received 2005 Kentuckiana Metroversity Awards for Instructional Development. He was recognized for developing a course to teach doctoral students theological French using innovative methods such as movies, technological tools and children’s literature.
The Kentuckiana Metroversity Awards for Instructional Development have been presented annually for more than 20 years to full-time faculty members at Louisville-area colleges and seminaries who develop creative educational plans.
Plummer said a French course using innovative teaching techniques will help students overcome their fears of learning the language and motivate them to use French in their academic research.
“In my proposed class, I attempt to make the acquisition of French as painless as possible,” he said. “I use current movies and children’s literature as well as the latest language technology tools. I also focus the class on the actual type of translation that students will be doing in their dissertation research.”
Christian teachers must always remember that they have a mandate to ensure their teaching is done in an engaging way, he said.
“As ministers, we are commanded in Scripture to pass along faithfully the apostolic Gospel,” Plummer said. “We should do our utmost to make sure that such teaching is done in a skillful, engaging and passionate way. Teaching is a lifelong journey of growth and improvement. One never ‘arrives,’ as far as I am concerned.”
Programs such as the Metroversity contest rightly encourage seminary professors to “continue faithfully in the steps of the founders of our seminary—showing that theological and biblical study can never be taught or learned as a second-class discipline. The greatest minds and resources of our age should be directed to the study, contemplation and application of God’s Word,” he said.
He noted, “I am thankful for Metroversity’s sponsoring of this contest, which has challenged me over the past few years to think creatively about redesigning my classes.”