Incorporating Spirituality in the Classroom

Matthew Hiatt, Jeffrey Reber, Alan Wilkins, Jillian Ferrell

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:273132 • DOI: 10.4018/IJITLHE.20210101.oa1

This study tested the extent to which professors could be trained to help enhance students’ experiences of spirituality in their classes. Three areas of focus that may be important to incorporating spirituality into the classroom were identified in the integration of faith and learning literature: 1) Professor Self-Disclosure, 2) Intellectual Connections, and 3) Interpersonal Connections. In a quasi-experimental design, two professors were trained to incorporate these focus areas into four experimental conditions. A sample of 203 student participants attended different teaching conditions and rated their perception of the teaching quality. Statistical tests revealed that professor ratings on General Teaching Skills and Spirituality greatly improved after training; however, ratings also depended on the professor. Results indicated that applying such a pedagogical training can be a useful tool in educating faculty to successfully incorporate spirituality in the classroom and improve student perceptions of their general teaching skills.