In a culture marked by pluralism and relativism are evangelical Christian leaders with their faith-based conclusions intellectually strong? How do their assumptions about revealed knowledge affect their ability to solve important ill-structured (ambiguous and controversial) issues of life and ministry? The reflective judgment model and its semi-structured interview (RJI), based on 20 years of research, were used to assess the problem-solving ability of students preparing for ministry. The 38 male students were enrolled in an accredited seminary with an epistemology of revealed knowledge. Differences between entering and graduating students' RJI mean scores were not statistically significant, nor were their mean scores significant between religious and secular dilemmas. Further, students' scores did not decrease significantly as their references to faith increased. Recommendations for higher education are offered to help seminarians develop reflective judgment so they can adequately respond to ill-structured problems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BlamiresH. (1978). The Christian mind: How should a Christian think?Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications.
2.
DaleJ. L. (1995). Reflective judgment in a conservative Christian college for clergy education (Doctoral dissertation, University of Denver, 1995).Dissertation Abstracts International, 56, 1289A.
3.
DeBordK. (1993). Promoting reflective judgment in counseling psychology graduate education. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia.
4.
EricksonM. J. (1983). Christian theology (Vol. 1). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
5.
GuinnessO. (1994). Fit bodies fat minds: Why evangelicals don't think and what to do about it.Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
6.
GrudemW. (1994). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine.Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
7.
HatchN. O. (1985). Evangelical colleges and the challenge of Christian thinking.The Reformed Journal, 35(9), 10–18.
8.
HoferB. K., & PintrichP. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning.Review of Educational Research, 67, 88–140.
9.
KingP. M. (1977). The development of reflective judgment and formal operational thinking in adolescents and young adults.Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 7233A.
10.
KingP. M., & KitchenerK. S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
KingP. M., & KitchenerK. S. (2002). The reflective judgment model: Twenty years of research on epistemic cognition. In HoferB. K., & PintrichP. R. (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 37–61). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Publisher.
12.
KirkJ. A., & VanhoozerK. J. (Eds.). (1999). To stake a claim: Mission and the western crisis of knowledge.Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
13.
KitchenerK. S., & KingP. M. (1981). Reflective judgment: Concepts of justification And their relationship to age and education.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2, 89–116.
14.
KitchenerK. S., & KingP. M. (1985). Reflective judgment scoring manual. (Available from K. S. Kitchener, School of Education, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208).
15.
KitchenerK. S., & KitchenerR. F. (1981). The development of natural rationality: Can formal operations account for it? In MeachamJ. A., & SantilliN. R. (Eds.), Social development in youth: Structure and content. Contributions to human development, (Vol. 5, pp. 160–181). Basel, Switzerland: Karger.
16.
KrollB. M. (1992). Teaching hearts and minds: College students reflect on the Vietnam War in literature.Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
17.
KronholmM. M. (1996). The impact of developmental instruction on reflective judgment.Review of Higher Education, 19(2), 199–225.
18.
LynchC. L., KitchenerK. S., and KingP. M. (1994). Developing reflective judgment in the classroom: A manual for faculty. Report of FIPSE Project #P116B00926. Available from Cindy Lynch, HCR75, Box 91, New Concord, KY 42076.
19.
LynchC. L., WolcottS. K., & HuberG. E. (2000, September).Tutorial for optimizing and documenting open-ended problem solving skills [On-line]. Retrieved September 28, 2000, from www.2.apex.net/users/leehaven.
20.
NollM. A. (1994). The scandal of the evangelical mind.Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
21.
QuineW. V. O. (1953). From a logical point of view.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
22.
RortyR. (1979). Philosophy and the mirror of nature.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
23.
SattlerJ. M. (1990). Assessment of children (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Author.
24.
SireJ. W. (2000). Habits of the mind: Intellectual life as a Christian calling.Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
25.
StevensJ. (1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences.Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
26.
WoodP. K. (1997). A secondary analysis of claims regarding the reflective judgment interview: Internal consistency, sequentiality, and intra-individual differences in ill-structured problem solving. In SmartJ. C. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 12, pp. 243–312). Edison, NY: Agathon Press.
