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3.1. Units

To earn the Diploma, the student must complete three compulsory units and five electives. 

Compulsory units: 

  • BSD01 Biblical Theology (first) 

  • BSD02 Reading the Gospel of Mark 

  • CTD01 Church History 1 

Elective units: 

  • BSD03 The Twelve Prophets 

  • BSD04 The Pentateuch 

  • BSD05 Paul and His Letters 

  • CTD02 The Written Word of God 

  • CTD03 The Cross of Christ 

  • CTD04 Apologetics 

  • CMD01 Engaging with Islam 

  • CMD02 Making Disciples 

 

The elective units must include at least one unit each from Biblical Studies (BS), Christian Thought (CT) and Christian Ministry (CM). These are in addition to the three compulsory units. 

Each unit in the DBT consists of weekly lectures (introductory video plus text), set readings, and short quizzes that are automatically graded.  

3.2. Assessment

In terms of assessment, all units have a set of quizzes (either weekly quizzes of about 8 questions each, or five quizzes across the semester of 20 questions each), and a major final assessment (essay or reflection). If the final assessment is an essay, then there are also two graded development workshop activities during the semester: 

  • An essay reading workshop, and 

  • An essay structure workshop 

Workshops 

In workshops, students submit a piece of work leading up to their final essay. They then give feedback on work by a peer or peers. Giving feedback is primarily to assist students to focus on the assessment criteria and produce a better essay themselves.  

As a tutor, you will mark each submission and give feedback to help them write a better final assessment. These workshops build towards the final essay. Thus, your feedback helps your students write better assessments. (Students must pass their Final Assessment to pass the unit.).  

Some units will have additional workshops, unrelated to the major assessment, that focus on the exposition of material. 

Units with exposition workshops: 

  • BSD01 Biblical Theology 

  • BSD02 Reading the Gospel of Mark 

  • BSD03 The Twelve Prophets 

  • BSD04 The Pentateuch 

  • BSD05 Paul and His Letters 

  • CTD01 Church History 1 

  • CTD02 The Written Word of God 

  • CTD03 The Cross of Christ 

 

Forum Discussions 

Other units do not have these exposition workshops, but assessed forum discussions instead. These can either be related to a primary document or a more general topic. You will grade the participation of each student based on their contribution and engagement in the forum. 

Units with forum discussions: 

  • CTD01 Church History 1 

  • CTD02 The Written Word of God 

  • CTD03 The Cross of Christ 

  • CTD04 Apologetics 

  • CMD01 Engaging with Islam 

  • CMD02 Making Disciples 

 

HREC 

Two units (CMD01 Engaging with Islam and CTD04 Apologetics) require students to engage with people from the wider community who are not Christians and to reflect on this for their major assessment. This requires them to fill out a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) application. The HREC process includes a quiz and various forms to be submitted. If you are tutoring in one of these units, please follow up with all your students to ensure that they have the quiz and ‘notification form’ completed by Week 5, so they can proceed with their work on time. 

 

3.3. The DBT Semester/Course Schedule

DBT semesters, like Moore College face-to-face teaching semesters, are 13 teaching weeks and usually start on the same dates as Moore undergraduates. Each semester follows this pattern: 

  • Orientation Week  

  • Week 1 

  • Week 2 

  • Week 3 

  • Week 4 

  • Week 5 

  • Research Week 1 

  • Week 6 

  • Week 7 

  • Mid-Semester Break 

  • Week 8 

  • Week 9 

  • Research Week 2 

  • Week 10 

  • Week 11 

  • Week 12 

  • Week 13 

  • Final Assessment Week 

The important dates every semester are: 

Orientation Week – The week before you start getting paid. Students can access syllabi, readings, and assessment instructions. If you would like, you can send a brief general message introducing yourself this week – though there is no obligation for you to do so.  

Week 1 – The final week a new student can enrol. 

Week 3 – The final week students can change subjects. They need to contact the registrars to change a subject. 

Census Date – The last date students can drop a unit without incurring a Fee-Help debt. You will need to remind students of Census Date as it approaches, especially students who might be struggling with their work. If a student wishes to withdraw, please direct them to the Registrars. Census dates tend to fall late April and late August. 

Research Weeks – Two per semester. You are available to students, but this is time for them to work on assignments and readings, with no lectures or set readings. These are usually around Weeks 5 and 10. 

We also normally have a brief tutor catchup during each research week. 

Mid-Semester Break – Bear in mind that most of our students will be working or otherwise busy, so may not be able to take a week away from their studies. Tutors are expected still to check Teams and email daily, and to reply to students. 

Final Assessment Week – Immediately following their final regular week. Major Assessments are due Friday 10pm (Sydney Time) in this week. 

Marking Weeks – The two weeks after Final Assessment Week, when you will need to grade and give feedback on all final assessments. During this period, you will have to submit grades to the Registrars. 

 

3.4. Our students

Our students range in age and life stage from fresh out of high school to retired. They are located across Australia and around the world. In terms of academic background, they range from having completed only secondary education to education in different cultures to higher research degrees. Some are highly skilled in reading, writing, and thinking in the ways of Western academia, while others are strangers to such discourses and ways of thought. And some will be highly confident (for better or worse), while others will doubt their abilities and skills, or be overwhelmed by the work. 

But all are brothers and sisters in the image of God and have been admitted to the DBT because we believe they have the ability to learn and to pass the course. 

Enrolments

We are endeavouring to set our enrolment process so that students have an incentive to register early, so that we open no new classes after the start of O-Week. We may allow students to join classes that are not full until the end of Week 1. But no classes will start in Week 1, and any new students will commence by the end of Week 1. But no new classes will start after Orientation Week, and no new students will join any class after Week 1. 

 

3.5. Our tutors (you!)

Please read the following alongside your Position Description from Moore People and Culture. 

 

Expectations 

As a DBT tutor, your goal is to help your students complete the course and to support them academically. Here are a few hints. 

 

Pastoral and academic care 

  • Students who are in their first semester will need extra encouragement, and some will need help with technology and assessments. This includes all students in the Biblical Theology unit, and in any electives they choose that semester. 

  • The DBT Tutor Coordinator will send through details each semester of students to keep an eye on because they may need extra support. Please monitor these students and their work throughout the semester.  

Monitoring your students: 

  • Keep an eye on all your students. Most will do fine, but a couple might fall behind on quizzes or suddenly disappear from any online engagement. Please follow up quickly with a personal message. 

  • Encourage your students to stay consistent in their quizzes from Week 1 onwards, and their participation in workshops and forums. Getting behind makes it harder for them to complete the course. 

  • Low quiz scores may indicate a struggling student. A gentle query may reveal important struggles.  

  • If a student stops completing quizzes or otherwise ‘goes silent’ for more than a week, please make contact to ensure they are all right. 

  • If a student does not participate, submit work, or respond to your messages, please notify the Registrars and copy the DBT Tutor Coordinator. 

Supporting your students: 

  • If you come across academic issues you are not sure how to deal with, please contact Gordon Cain, Moore’s Academic Support Coordinator and the DBT Tutor Coordinator, via TEAMs or email. Gordon will reply within a few days. 

  • If you see evidence that a student may struggle to successfully complete the final assessment, please contact them. Find out if they have any challenges. Offer support if suitable. 

Supporting the DBT program 

  • If you see improvements for your subject, please take a moment and note them in Course Feedback on Teams. You are our front-line troops, and you see best of all what works and what needs improvement in your subject. 

 

Weekly and occasional duties 

  • You are contracted to work up to 2 hours per week. A recent survey (Dec 2020) suggests that most tutors average that over the semester. However, like all teaching, your workload will vary, with some weeks very light, and some heavy.  

  • You are responsible to schedule time for: 

Grading and feedback: 

  • Forums and workshops must be graded within two weeks maximum. All students should receive basic feedback for anything they have written.  

  • If a student’s work on the formative early assessments indicates that they may struggle, please tell them that. Please also tell them what you believe they should do to improve and pass the final assessment. 

  • Grading and feedback on your students’ reflections or 1500-word essays after the Final Assessment Week. Grading is due within two weeks of submission. Plan on working extra hours during these two weeks. (This should fill out your average of two hours work per week.) 

Maintaining communication with students: 

  • Sending a group message to all students in your subject by Monday morning. Details are below. 

Note: If you are away or on personal holidays on a Monday, you are still responsible to message your students and reply to their queries. 

  • Answering student queries within 24 hours.  

  • Checking both Teams and email daily for student correspondence. 

Academic support: 

  • Assisting students with their assessments, as needed. Some students will need support, and others will work quite well independently.

  • Please be proactive and check in with strugglers. Contact the DBT Tutor Coordinator if you want to discuss how to assist a student. 

  • Attending our DBT tutor meetings. These are twice a semester and often occur during the DBT Research Weeks. 

  • Responding to all communications from college personnel, especially the Academic Dean, the DBT Tutor Coordinator, and the Registrars. 

Academic misconduct, plagiarism, and inadequate referencing

  • If you believe a student has breached academic integrity guidelines, please contact the Registrars ASAP with details of the student and any evidence you have noted. They will investigate and deal with the matter from there. It is your responsibility only to detect and report such instances and suspicions of such instances. 

Grading and feedback 

  • Feedback on development workshops and on forums is valuable formative feedback to students. 

  • If you have to make a choice, pour more effort into feedback for formative assessments than into feedback for the summative, final assessment. The formative can be implemented and make a final difference. Feedback on the final assessment shapes future semesters. Pour more energy into the formative if you must make a choice. 

  • However, our students are generally keen. Please provide thoughtful feedback on their final assessments too.  

  • Good feedback should include (if at all possible) a couple of comments on what they did well, but also, one to three key areas for improvement. Focus on where they can make their biggest gains. 

  • See the Tutor FAQ’s on the Tutor Resource page of the MOD for more info on marking assessments and using Teams. 

Assessment extensions 

  • Medical: Students should submit documentation to registrars at least three days before the assessment due date. 

  • Compassionate: Students discuss with tutor, who can recommend to registrars. Registrars then advise student and tutor of final decision. 

  • For WORKSHOP activities, students will not be able to submit late without prior approval. Students seeking late admission for a workshop activity must apply at least three days before the end of the Submission Phase. If they are approved for late submission, they will not be able to take part in the Assessment Phase of the workshop activity. (This is because access to other students’ assessments before submitting their own work would unfairly advantage them.) However, if approval is given for late submission, the submission phase mark given will be the total mark given for the workshop activity i.e. students will not be penalised for not completing the Assessment Phase. Please note this only applies to Workshop Activities. 

Mondays 

  • Message your students on TEAMs every Monday morning of the semester, reminding them of upcoming work:  

  • Forums, quizzes, and workshops.  

  • Encourage them through the stages of the semester.  

  • Also, set them a single, clear question to consider or apply as they work through the week’s material. 

  • Check that the quiz and readings are all uploaded and accessible. 

  • Check that students are up to date with quizzes and other work. 

  • Read and acknowledge (by way of emoji) the weekly message from the DBT Tutor Coordinator or the Academic Dean. 

Your first semester 

  • Ask for help as you need. You are a valuable team member, and we want you to thrive.  

  • Expect this to go all right – most of our students continue till the end of the semester, and most pass. 

  • Expect a few adjustment bumps if this is new to you. That’s normal.  

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