New Grant Fuels Insights on Hybrid Theological Education

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

McCormick Theological Seminary is thrilled to announce we've been awarded a Small Project Grant from the Wabash Center! This grant will support our project, "Enhancing Student Engagement, Formation and Learning Outcomes in Hybrid Course Models," and allow us to delve into the exciting potential of hybrid learning in theological education. The Wabash Center champions initiatives that strengthen teaching and learning in religion and theological studies, and we're honored to be among their grantees.

Our project will focus on evaluating the impact of hybrid learning on our students – specifically looking at engagement, spiritual formation, and learning outcomes. We'll be using our redesigned Introduction to Biblical Studies course as a case study, allowing us to closely examine how this hybrid model is working in practice. We're particularly interested in identifying teaching methods that promote equitable participation and truly maximize the benefits of blending online and in-person learning. This research will give us valuable insights into how to best design and deliver courses that integrate these components effectively.

We're confident that this project will provide our faculty with data-driven best practices for hybrid teaching and course design, ultimately leading to a richer and more engaging learning experience for our students. We also believe our findings will contribute to the broader conversation about the future of theological education and how hybrid models can be leveraged to nurture both intellectual growth and spiritual formation. We're excited to get started!