STEP ONE: CHOOSE A TOPIC

Select a specific, focused topic to research. Where do topic ideas come from? If ideas are not suggested in your study guide, you can often find a topic by looking through your textbooks, particularly in the sections that list suggestions for further reading and study. You can go through lecture notes, examine books and articles in the library, look through subject catalogs, or refer to encyclopedias. Often the most interesting topics for you personally are drawn from your own experience – your personal knowledge, interests, and beliefs.



STEP TWO: NARROW YOUR TOPIC BY DEVELOPING SOME RESEARCHABLE QUESTIONS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER

Rather than beginning with a preconceived thesis (a truth claim) that you then must rationalize, narrow your topic by developing a set of questions related to it. You might start with the classic journalists’ questions Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? Or ask, What is positive about “X”? What is negative? What is merely interesting?



Consider your topic from different perspectives. The static perspective focuses on what is. The dynamic perspective looks at action and change. The relative perspective examines relationships and systems. Ask, for example: How can “X” be systematically described? How has “X” changed over time? What other factors are related to “X”? How is one element of “X” related to another?



Other strategies for question development can focus on narration, process, cause and effect, definition, classification and division, or comparison and contrast. For example: In what sequence of events does “X” manifest? What precedes and what follows “X”? Is it possible to say what causes “X”? How can “X” be systematically defined? What classes and subclasses of “X” exist, and how are they significant to the whole of “X”? How does “X” compare and contrast with “Y”?



Some ideas will seem worth pursuing; others will seem inappropriate for your purpose, audience, or occasion. You will find yourself discarding ideas even as you develop new ones.



STEP THREE: SURVEY THE FIELD

Create a tentative bibliography of your topic by searching relevant databases, library catalogues, and existing bibliographies in books. For computerized indexes, carefully choose key words that best capture the essence of your topic. Seek the help of a local professional librarian or Trinity’s librarian if necessary.



Skim all of the works on the tentative bibliography to acquire a clearer idea of the topic and to ascertain which are most useful for your paper.



Find the passages in the books and articles that are most germane to your needs. Revise your research questions in light of what your literature survey reveals. Search and revise again if necessary.



STEP FOUR: WRITE THE PAPER

The following is a general structure to follow for many kinds of research papers. Adapt it to specific assignments as appropriate.

Introduction

Announce the subject, set the tone and gain the reader’s attention and interest. Provide some general information on the background of your topic.

Statement of the Problem

Announce the purpose of your study. Give the reader a firm sense of what you’re doing and why. List the questions that you will address. List your assumptions, those self-evident conditions that you take for granted. Describe your rationale, the underlying principles, and the logical basis for your study. Define the scope of your work and discuss any weaknesses that you can perceive in your approach. Define the key terms that you will use in your paper. Stipulate meanings for ambiguous terms.

Summary of Investigation

Identify the principal works and authors, the main ideas dealing with your topic, and any generally accepted concepts and explanations. Organize your review by themes, systematic propositions, historical sequences, or other important ideas relative to the research questions that you asked. Take note that this is a creative exercise. Do not merely cite a reference, write a few sentences about its content, and then repeat the procedure for the next reference. Organize your summary of the thinking on your topic in such a way as to clarify for your reader the commonly accepted ideas, the current points of debates, and aspects of the topic yet to be investigated adequately.

Analysis of Findings

You must do more than ask and answer questions. You must show how your questions are answered differently and try to say why. You must be able to point to books and articles that support your classification of answers. In a research paper, the solution to the problem or the answer to the question often is found in the ordered discussion itself rather than in any set of assertions about it. Once again, identify any contradictions, gaps, uncertainties and controversies that you uncovered. Sort, arrange, and define the issues that arise. If a question is clear, and if you can be reasonably certain that authors answer it in different ways, then an issue has been defined. It is the issue between the authors who answer the question in one way and those who answer it in another opposing or variant way. Classify the authors according to their views on the issues. An issue is truly joined when two authors who understand a question in the same way answer it in contrary ways. Remember, however, that differences in answers can often be ascribed as much to different conceptions of the question as to different views of the subject.

Maintain objectivity

Remember that none of the opinions in conflict may be wholly true. Try to see all sides fairly. Make a deliberate effort to balance question against question, to forgo any comment that might be prejudicial, and to check any tendency toward overemphasis or under-emphasis. Avoid animosity and ad hominem arguments. Do not cite authors out of context. Accompany interpretation of authors’ views with actual quotations from their texts.

Conclusion

Ask yourself, What conclusions and implications can I draw from my study? Synthesize new information and personal insights in a way that is uniquely yours. Draw on your own insights, make connections, note similarities, discern what is true. Evaluate your findings with respect to your own theological and philosophical perspectives. However, avoid polemics, triviality, and weak theorizing. Make suggestions for future studies if appropriate.

The post How To Write A Research Paper first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

When writing a précis, one should begin by reading the assigned text. As one goes through the text, it is helpful to take notes along the way and summarize in a couple of sentences the main point or each section, as well as make notes on any supporting evidence used to support the main point. Be sure to restate the author’s points in your own words.

It is helpful, especially with larger works, to build up your précis paper as you go along. Read a chapter, follow the steps above, and then write that portion of the précis from the notes made from that section. Be sure that your précis paper follows the outline of the original work.

When you structure your précis, the introductory paragraph should state the nature and purpose of the author’s work being, describe the discipline and field of the work, and what the main purpose of the work. The subsequent paragraphs should be summaries of the various sections of the work, and then the concluding paragraph should state the author’s concluding thoughts and also restate the main thesis of the work over all.

The post How To Write A Precis first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

Purpose
The clearer your purpose, the better your writing is likely to be. The purposes of nonfiction writing may be classified as expressive, expository, and persuasive. These purposes are often combined in an extended piece of writing. Expressive writing emphasizes the writer’s subjective feelings and reactions. Expository writing focuses the reader’s attention on the objective world. Persuasive writing is intended to influence the reader’s attitudes and actions. Most writing is to some extent persuasive; however, it is usually called persuasive if it is clearly arguing for or against a position.

Audience and Occasion
Keep in mind the audience and the occasion for which you are writing. Your understanding of audience and occasion will determine your choice of words, examples, details, and tone. Tone is a reflection of your attitude toward your subject. It must be appropriate to your purpose, audience and occasion.

Arrangement and Organization of Thought
Thought units—whether single words, a sentence or paragraph, or longer sequences—must be orderly. You must aim for continuity in words, concepts, and thematic development from the opening statement to the conclusion so that readers (i.e., graders) will understand what you are presenting.

Continuity can be achieved in several ways. Punctuation marks contribute to continuity by showing relationships between ideas. They cue the grader to the pauses, inflections, subordination, and pacing normally heard in speech. Neither overuse nor underuse one type of punctuation, such as commas or dashes.

Continuity is also achieved through the use of transitional words. A pronoun that refers to a noun in the preceding sentence serves as a
transition and also helps avoid repetition. Other transition devices are time links (then, next, after, while, since); cause and effect links (therefore, consequently, as a result); or contrast links (however, but conversely, nevertheless, although, whereas).

Smoothness, Clarity, and Logic of Expression
Aim for clear and logical communication. Sometimes when you spend much time close to your own material, you lose objectivity and may not see certain problems, especially inferred contradictions. Avoid setting up ambiguity, inserting the unexpected, omitting the expected and suddenly shifting the topic, tense, or person. These devices can confuse or disturb graders.

Economy of Expression
Say only what needs to be said. Tighten overly long papers by eliminating redundancy, wordiness, jargon, evasiveness, circumlocution, and clumsiness. Weed out overly detailed descriptions, gratuitous embellishments, elaborations of the obvious, and irrelevant observations or asides. Use no more words than are necessary to convey the meaning. Direct, declarative sentences with simple, common words are usually best. Short words and short sentences are easier to comprehend than long ones (although variety in sentence length can be helpful for readers). Similar precautions apply to paragraph length. Single-sentence paragraphs may be abrupt. New paragraphs provide a pause for the grader – a chance to store one step in the conceptual development before beginning another. If your paragraphs run longer than a page, you are probably straining the grader’s thought span. Look for a logical place to make a break or reorganize the material.

STYLE

Style is the author’s individual choice and arrangement of words, sentence structures, and ideas as well as less definable characteristics, such as rhythm and euphony. To a limited extent, style can be thought of as the written expression of a writer’s personality and quality of thought. In academic writing, personality may need to be subordinated to clarity, simplicity, orderliness, and sincerity.

SOME STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING

1. Write from an outline. Sometimes coming up with an outline might prove difficult. In those cases, simply write on a piece of paper whatever comes to mind regarding a topic—questions, impressions, feelings, reservations, etc. From this free-style exercise, you should note how various thoughts might be rearranged into an outline. Then write your essay from this initial outline. At this stage do not be concerned about punctuation, spelling, or diction. Then go to suggestion #2.
2. Put the paper aside and reread it later. If you read the paper aloud, you have an even better chance of finding problems. After this, proofread the essay to correct spelling and grammar. Change sentences around as needed to make your paragraphs clearer.
3. Get critiques from one or two colleagues.
4. Hire professional editorial help if necessary.

The post How To Master Diction, Rhetoric, and Style first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

• What is the book/message about as a whole?
• What is the author/speaker saying in detail, and how is it said?
• Is the book/message true, in whole or in part?
• What is the significance of the book/message?

ELEMENTS OF A CRITICAL PAPER

The following is a general structure to follow for the body of a critical paper. Be sure to include a suitable introduction and conclusion, as described in the previous section, How to Write a Whole Composition.

Adapt it to specific assignments as appropriate.

PART ONE: DESCRIPTION

• Classify the book/message according to kind and subject matter.
• Very briefly, state what the whole of the book/message is about.
• Enumerate the major parts of the book/message in their order and relation.
• Define the problem or problems that the author/speaker is trying to solve.

PART TWO: INTERPRETATION

• Find the important words (terms) in the book/message and determine the author’s/speaker’s meaning of these terms, with precision.
• Identify the most important sentences (propositions) in the book/message, the ones that express the judgments on which the whole book/message rests. These are the foundational affirmations and denials of the author/speaker. They must be either premises or conclusions. State them in your own words.
• Construct the author’s/speaker’s arguments, beginning with any assumptions and/or self-evident propositions. An argument is the author’s/speaker’s line of reasoning aimed at demonstrating the truth or falsehood of his or her claims, that is, the coherent series of reasons, statements, or facts that support or establish a point of view. If the arguments are not explicitly expressed in the book/message, you will need to construct them from sequences of sentences.
• Determine the author’s/speaker’s solutions to the problem or question that he or she posed. Ask: Which problems were solved and which were not? Did the author/speaker know which were not solved?

PART THREE: CRITICISM

General Pointers.
From this point on, you will have a chance to argue with the author/speaker and express yourself, but keep in mind the following general maxims of scholarly etiquette:

Do not say that you agree, disagree, or suspend judgment until you have adequately interpreted the book/message. Do not begin criticism until you are able to say, with reasonable certainty, “I understand,” i. e., I have done an adequate job with parts one and two. Complete the task of understanding before rushing in.

When you disagree, do so reasonably and not contentiously.

Demonstrate that you know the difference between knowledge and personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgments that you make.

Three conditions must be satisfied if controversy is to be well conducted:

Make an attempt at impartiality by reading/listening sympathetically.

Acknowledge any emotions that you bring to the dispute.

State your own assumptions explicitly.

Determine, wherever possible, the origins and the consequences of the author’s/speaker’s arguments.
Try to locate the origins of the author’s/speaker’s ideas in the larger picture of history. What movements, currents of thought, or other thinkers might have influenced him or her? Then carry the author’s/speaker’s ideas to their logical conclusions. To the best of your ability and given the academic background that you already possess, relate the author’s/speaker’s ideas to those of other authors with whom you are familiar.

Judge the soundness of the author’s/speaker’s arguments.
As called for, show where the author/speaker is uninformed. To support your remarks, you must be able to state the knowledge that the author/speaker lacks and show how it is relevant, i.e., how it affects the conclusions.

As called for, show where the author/speaker is misinformed, where assertions are made that are contrary to fact. This kind of defect should be pointed out only if it is relevant to the conclusions. To support your remark, you must be able to argue the truth or greater probability of a position contrary to the author’s / speaker’s.

As called for, show where the author/speaker is illogical, where there are fallacies in reasoning. In general fallacies are of two sorts. There is the non sequitur, which means that the conclusion simply does not follow for the reasons that are offered. Then there is the problem of inconsistency, which means that two things the author/speaker has tried to say are incompatible. To make either of these criticisms, you must be able to show the precise respect in which the author’s/speaker’s argument fails to be forcibly convincing. Be concerned with this defect only if major conclusions are affected by it.

In addition, show where the author/speaker fails to draw any conclusions that are implied by the evidence given or principles involved.

If you have not been able to show that the author/speaker is uninformed, misinformed or illogical on relevant matters, you simply cannot disagree. You must agree, at least in part, although you may suspend judgment on the whole. If you have been convinced, you should admit it. If, despite your failure to support one or more of these critical points, you still honestly feel unconvinced, perhaps you should not have said that you understood in the first place!

Judge the completeness of the author’s/speaker’s arguments.
Define any inadequacy precisely. Did the author/speaker solve all the problems he/she started with? Did the author/speaker make the best use of available materials and resources? Did the author/speaker see all the implications and ramifications of the problem? Did the author/speaker make all essential or relevant distinctions in his or her presentation?

Judge the value of the book / message.
Your final evaluation must be concerned with the truth and significance of the book/message for a given purpose, i.e., its value. This judgment must be based on definite criteria. These criteria should be internal (soundness and completeness) as well as external (relevance to some purpose).

PART FOUR: (OPTIONAL) INTEGRATE THE ACADEMIC AND THE PERSONAL.

Engage the key idea(s) that are most provocative and alive for you. Consider how your experience is similar to or different from what you read. Identify any spiritual issues as they arose for you and your way of responding to or struggling with them. Describe which key ideas, if any, might be applied in your ministry.

The post How To Write a Critical Paper first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

An index of the Writing Information and Help pages on Trinity’s website for student writing help at all degree levels. The following pages will help students make the most of their writing skills. The first link is a full PDF of all the Writing Helps that are contained on Trinity’s website. You may download this file and print it or use it as you need. If you redistribute the information in any way, all we ask is that proper credit be given. Trinity students may contact Trinity at contact@trinitysem.edu if they have further questions.

• Trinity Writing Helps Manual (Printable PDF)
• General Research Paper Guidelines
• Annotated Bibliographies
• Book Reviews
• Turabian Style
• Trinity’s Writing Standards
• How To Think Logically
• How To Outline
• How To Write An Abstract
• How To Write A Precis
• How To Write Correct Sentences
• How To Write Good Paragraphs
• How To Write A Whole Composition
• How To Master Diction, Rhetoric, and Style
• How To Use Headings
• How To Use Outside Sources
• How To Write A Critical Paper
• How To Write A Research Paper
• Helpful Resources

The post Writing Information and Help first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

1. Introduction, i.e., a topic sentence
2. Body, i.e., supporting details
3. Conclusion or a transitional sentence to the paragraph that follows.

A good paragraph is characterized by unity, coherence, and adequate development.

Unity: State the main idea of the paragraph in a clearly constructed topic sentence. Make sure each sentence is related to the central thought.

Coherence: Arrange ideas in a clear, logical order. Provide appropriate transitions to the subsequent paragraph.

Adequate development: Develop your paragraphs with specific details and examples.

Strategies for adequate development:

Elaborate: Spell out the details by defining, or by clarifying and adding relevant, pertinent information.

Illustrate: Paint a verbal picture that helps make or clarify your point(s). Well illustrated pieces are easier to read and follow than those on a high level of abstraction.

Argue: Give the reasons, justifications, and rationales for the position or view you have taken in the topic sentence. Draw inferences for the reader and explain the significance of assertions or claims being made.

Narrate: Relate the historical development of the phenomenon at issue.

Process: Describe how something works.

Describe: Observe without preconceived categories.

Classify: Organize phenomena or ideas into larger categories that share common characteristics.

Analyze: Divide phenomena or ideas into elements.

Compare and Contrast: Show similarities and differences between two or more phenomena or ideas.

Relate: Show correlations and causes (beware of logical fallacies, however!)

A paragraph should be neither too short nor too long. A good paragraph in a Trinity exercise should be 5-6 sentences long. As a general rule, avoid single-sentence paragraphs. If your paragraphs run longer than a page, you are probably straining the grader’s thought span. Look for a logical place to make a break or reorganize the material. Indent each new paragraph five spaces.

The post How To Write Good Paragraphs first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

The most common sentence problems in student writing are: comma splice and fused (or run-on) sentence, sentence fragment (or incomplete sentence), agreement, and shifts. If you are unfamiliar with these terms and others such as subject, verb, object, complement, phrase, main clause, independent clause, subordinate clause, coordinating conjunction, number, person, etc., you are strongly encouraged to research their meanings and application in a standard English grammar book. Please see the list of recommended books in this Survival Manual or consider enrolling in a local or distance writing course.

Keep a few simple principles in mind:

COMMA SPLICE AND FUSED (OR RUN-ON) SENTENCE

Do not link two main (independent) clauses with only a comma (comma splice) or run two main clauses together without any punctuation (fused sentence).

Examples:

Comma Splice: The wind was cold, they decided not to walk.

Fused Sentence: The wind was cold they decided not to walk.

To correct comma splices and fused sentences: 1) Place a period after the first main (independent) clause and write the second main clause as a sentence; 2) use a semi-colon to separate main clauses; or 3) insert a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet) after the comma; or 4) make one clause subordinate to the other.

Revisions:

The wind was cold. They decided not to walk.

The wind was cold; they decided not to walk.

The wind was cold, so they decided not to walk.

The wind was so cold that they decided not to walk.

SENTENCE FRAGMENT

Avoid sentence fragments. The term fragment refers to a group of words beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. Although written as if it were a sentence, a fragment is only a part of a sentence – such as a phrase or a subordinate clause.

Examples:

Larry always working in his yard on Saturdays.

Because he enjoys his flowers and shrubs.

Which help to screen his house from the street.

For example, a tall hedge with a border of petunias.

Eliminate fragments by making them into complete sentences or by connecting them to existing sentences. One way to eliminate many sentence fragments is to be sure that each word group has at least one subject and one predicate.

Corrections:

Larry always works in his yard on Saturdays.

He enjoys the flowers and shrubs.

OR: He enjoys the flowers and shrubs that help to screen his house from the street – for example, a tall hedge with a border of petunias.

AGREEMENT

Make a verb agree in number with its subject; make a pronoun agree in number with its antecedent.



A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Singular: The car in the lot looks shabby. [car looks]

Plural: The cars in the lot look shabby. [cars look]

When a pronoun has an antecedent (an antecedent is the noun to which the pronoun refers), the noun and pronoun should agree in number.

Singular: A dolphin has its own language. [dolphin – its]

Plural: Dolphins have their own language. [dolphins – their]

SHIFTS

Avoid needless shifts in person and number.

Shift: If a person is going to improve, you should work harder. [shift from third person to second person]

Better: If you are going to improve, you should work harder. [second person]

OR If people are going to improve, they should work harder. [third person]

OR If we are going to improve, we should work harder. [first person]

GENDER REFERENTS

Avoid awkward “his/her” and “he/she” gender constructions.

Awkward: The client is usually the best judge of his or her counseling.

Better: The client is usually the best judge of the value of counseling. [Omit gender referents.]

OR Clients are usually the best judges of the value of the counseling they receive. [Change to plural]

OR The best judge of the value of counseling is usually the client. [Rephrase the sentence.]

The post How To Write Correct Sentences first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

Perhaps you’ve wondered how it might benefit your ministry, and the incredible work you’re doing for the Kingdom. Many people put off theological education or choose not to pursue their next degree because of the cost or time they suspect it might involve. Some have been out of school for so long that they are unsure they have what it takes to complete rigorous coursework. At Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, we have made every effort to alleviate these concerns. In fact, we believe that no matter your current situation in life, you can begin at Trinity . . . today!

Take a few minutes to consider this video, and find out why we believe Trinity is right for you. Call us today at 812.602.3320 and ask for an Admissions Advisor, or email us at contact@trinitysem.edu, and we’ll be happy to give you more details on our degree programs.

The post Trinity is Right for You first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

On-demand webinars are the most popular type of course at Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary. This video provides an overview of how our on-demand webinar courses work.

For more information about Trinity’s online bible college or online seminary, complete the “Request more information” form on the right side of this page.

Video Transcript

Greetings. In this video we are going to talk about the on-demand webinar classroom.
Now this classroom functions similarly to the independent study of the traditional web in our classroom, but our on-demand classes are probably the most popular that we have here at Trinity College the Bible and Theological Seminary.

So, when you come to the classroom of course at the top you find the start date and the end dates of the classroom – that would be the end date that would be the start date. Now this date in the middle in this example, 3/6/17 to 4/3/17, marks the 4 week period for which the class runs. And then, of course, the final end date comes down to the additional two weeks for the four weeks of the class runs for students to complete their coursework.

So, there’s 4 weeks in an on-demand webinar in which you can watch the video lectures at anytime during that week and participate in that week’s discussion forum with, of course, the final two weeks after the last week of lecture to finish any remaining reading assignments and writing assignments such as research paper or precis paper or anything else.

Now you have the picture of the professor for the course and his email or her email contact listed below. In this case, it’s Professor Layton Flowers and his email address where you can contact him if you were taking this course for example.

Below that is the textbook information. If you click on that, it’ll take you to the required textbooks for the course. If you hover over the textbooks, it will open up a new window where you can purchase the book from an online store like amazon.com or even the Trinity bookstore. Go back to the main page. You can also just right click and open it, and it’ll take you there. And of course, if you click on the book, it’ll take you to, open up a new window as well.

Here is the “Ask the Professor” forum, which takes you to this page where you can post questions to the professor that you might have, and a news and announcements forum where messages are posted to the class from Trinity professors, Trinity staff, and so forth.

The student cafe is where… it’s just kind of an additional forum where students can hang out and discuss things with their classmates whether they pertain to the course or not.

Now here is some information that you might want to test your browser and make sure you have flash as required to function for the video lectures.

Now below that you have where you upload the assignments for grading. This has three main assignments. You click on the participation assignment, open a new window. It says, “Students are to participate in the weekly discussion forums for participation credit” which is 20% of your grade, will show you where those forums are. Your precis assignments here… these assignments may vary… and of course there’s a precis assignment for two different text books, so that would be two different assignments there and then the main assignment here, which is a presentation paper in this case. But usually there will be three or four assignments, sometimes there’s quizzes in there as well.

And of course when you go to the assignment page, this is where you can choose your file. Say if you have a Word document, you find your Word document on your on your Desktop or whatever folder you have it in, and then you click to upload the file. That will upload your assignment to Trinity, and that way we’ll have your assignment for grading.

Below where the assignments are where you have upload your assignments is the webinar handouts and resources. And here you can download the PowerPoint for the course, and there’s also a version of the PowerPoint in PDF format that will allow you to take notes. So if you download that it looks like this, where you see the PowerPoint. Download it like that and you can print it out and make notes if you would like to. Or you can just download the regular PowerPoint file and follow along as you listen.

Now below that this is where you will find your lectures. Now, the lectures are typically opened up by noon on the day that the course would start. So, in this particular case, the course started on March 6th, so your first week would be there probably opened up by 12 o’clock Central Standard Time on that day, and you’ll find the lectures there. Sometimes they may be there earlier, in rare cases they’re later than that, but usually they’re there by 12 o’clock on the first day if not already there.

So, for this particular week one you have three videos that you can watch at any time during that week, and then below the video is the weekly discussion forum where you respond to the content, anything that that prompted you. And here’s an example where four people posted, and then there’s replies to their postings for that week’s lecture content where they just respond to something in the video, and that constitute their participation credit.

And then the following week there will be more videos. In this case, there are three more videos for week two. And then you have the discussion forum that you again participate in, and responding to the video, and responding to classmates.

Week three, another three videos… The number of videos for each week can vary. They can vary in length varying, vary in number of videos for each week. Some may have one video that’s two hours, others may have more videos but the running time for each video may be less. And of course, again, the discussion forum.

And then the fourth week, where there’s videos for that week of the course and participate in that forum. Below that there is a course survey.

Participating in the weekly discussion forums is required again for full participation credit, and make sure that your prompts are responding to the videos that were for that week’s lessons… week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4. So, you need to participate in each of the forums. And then of course, that that would run from 3/6 in this example to 4/3. But again… you want to make sure you participate in that week for week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4 in the discussion forums.

And then you have that final end date 4/17/17 for which you can complete the other assignments for the course. In this case, that would be the two previous assignments and the main assignment. Those are due by the final end date. If you do not have them complete by this end date, you can always contact Trinity and ask for an extension, and the admissions department and student services would be able to help you with getting it an extension if you so need it.

So, that’s basically the overview of the course, how it operates for these on-demand webinars.

When you’re finished with the on-demand webinar be sure and take the course survey. Click on that will take you to a different page. If it doesn’t you just click and redirect you. And then you can fill out the course number, the course name, and then answer a few questions… a few meanings, I don’t know, about 46 different block.

But typically you don’t have to fill in tags; you can just answer the questions honestly, and that helps us to continue to work on our courses and to make sure we’re meeting our students needs and getting valuable feedback from our students. Of course, the survey, be sure and take that before the end date, so that you can still access it, because access to the on-demand webinars are cut off after the end date. So make sure you do… like in this case, you would even have to take the course survey by the 17th as well as upload all your final assignments.

So that is an overview for all of the on-demand webinar classes. They all function pretty much the same – textbook, assignments, and of course the weekly video lectures, and the discussion forum for each week. So, thank you for your time and attention. God bless.

The post On-Demand Webinars Overview from Trinity Bible College Online first appeared on Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

Have you started seminary classes but gotten stuck or off-track? Not sure if it’s worth continuing?

In this video, Danny Loeffelholz shares the story of how he got off track and discouraged in seminary, but through Trinity’s online seminary he was able to complete his masters degree and PhD online. Hear the story of his journey.

What will your Trinity story be?

If you want to get your master of divinity online or other online ministry degree on your path towards becoming a pastor, complete the “Request more info” form on the right side of this page.

Video Transcript

Hello, my name is Danny Loeffelholz, and I am a member of Trinity’s 2016 graduating class.

This past August we joined together as graduates to celebrate the completion of our degree. During that weekend I had the privilege of getting to hear the many different Trinity stories that each student had.

My Trinity story began when my wife Kara and I were newlyweds. I had a deep desire to grow in my relationship with Christ and also had a deep desire to be further equipped as a person who wanted to be a pastor one day. So, I enrolled in Trinity, and my story began at that time.

The first year and a half flew by quickly. I grew so much, I learned so much, I was soaking so much up It was as if I was drinking from a fire hydrant. But then my Trinity’s story came to an abrupt halt. I was pursued by a parachurch ministry in a different state. I took the job. A few years later I was offered the opportunity to come on staff with a local church, and during that time as well my wife and I started a family, and now we are parents of three amazing boys.

During that time life just happened but seminary did not. Over that period I finished only two courses, and it brought me to a point to where I began to question do I continue on with seminary.

One night my wife and I had a very honest conversation about the future and seminary and if that was a part of our future or not. I shared with her I was highly discouraged, and I did not want to go on, but my wife lovingly and gracefully looked at me and said, “Danny I believe that you need to finish this.”

After that conversation, I realized that seminary is not simply a personal journey; it’s actually an entire family journey together. Soon after, I finished my master’s program and then rolled straight into the PhD program, and now my Trinity story is complete.

I don’t know what your Trinity story will look like, I don’t know what will be involved in your Trinity story, but I can tell you this: your Trinity story will include interaction with incredible faculty. I can tell you that the Trinity faculty will be extremely personable but also incredibly servant-hearted. Some of my professors not only taught me an incredible amount of content and theological knowledge but also shepherded my heart through my time in their course.

I can also tell you that your Trinity story will include great theological training that will be gospel-centric and will also be academically challenging. And I can tell you this: that your Trinity story will also include a challenge to your walk with Jesus. It will encourage your walk with Christ. It will challenge your pursuit of him and knowing him more.

So, I encourage you to prayerfully consider what your Trinity story might be.

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