2.1.2 How well did the instructor help you find meaningful connections between course content and the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Why this teaching practice matters:

• President Spencer W. Kimball said, “It is proper that every professor and teacher in this institution would keep his subject matter bathed in the light and color of the restored gospel." [7]
• Helping students find meaningful connections between course content and the gospel of Jesus Christ is one way to apply the BYU-Idaho Learning Model principle of Lay Hold on the Word of God.

Student examples of this principle in action:

• “My theatre teacher had us relate aspects of theatre to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I found many connections of theatre to the temple and endowments. This helped me develop more appreciation for the temple and God's love and use of theatre in our lives.”
• “[My instructor] taught how magnetism is like us and Christ. If we are aligned correctly, Christ draws us to him.”
• “One of the most influential ones was in my ED 200 class (teaching as a profession). In this class we learned a great deal about how to teach in the Savior’s way. This course and my professor helped me to know that as teachers, we don’t look at the student as a student, we look at them as people and children of God. We have to love them as He would because we don’t know if anyone else will.”
• “One example I really enjoyed was how we learned about y=mx+b and slopes, [my teacher] brought in the talk called "The Parable of the Slope". It was interesting to see how there are slopes in the gospel as well as math and the gospel is not about where we start, it's about where we're going and how we're progressing towards getting there.”

Ways to triangulate your data:

• Invite a peer instructor or SCOT to come observe ways you help students find meaningful connections between course content and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ideas for improvement:

• When scores are low on this item, it does not usually mean that the instructor is making poor connections between course content and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather that students are not consistently noticing or experiencing attempts to make those connections.
• Reflect on how learning about a gospel principle might help students better understand course content, or how the course content can help students better understand or appreciate the gospel. These connections need not be frequent or elaborate to be meaningful.
• Talk with or observe others who teach the course or similar courses about ways they help students find connections between course content and the gospel of Jesus Christ.