Investigating the Educational Needs of Iranian Students in Islamic Theology: A Step Towards Effective Religious Education

Hamed Nazarpour, Ahmad Abedi

Abstract


Islamic Thought 1 and 2 are among courses offered in Iran by the Islamic education departments of universities for undergraduate students and their topics cover the field of Islamic theology. The aim of the present study is to revise and prioritize the most important educational topics of these courses for undergraduate students of the University of Isfahan in general and also by gender and field of study, based on needs and interests of students. This is a survey research that was carried out on 376 students of the University of Isfahan. To ensure the reliability of the research instrument, Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient was used and this coefficient for the research 56-item questionnaire was 0.96. The research findings showed that students feel more need for the topics of God's wisdom, God's justice and God's purpose for the creation of the world and humans. There are different priorities for girls and boys as well as those of students of different disciplines in the topics of these courses. There is also a significant relationship between students' gender and field of study in some topics. The results showed that in order to make these courses attractive and effective, it is necessary to pay attention to the gender and field of study of the students when formulating the lesson plan and preparing the educational content. Practical suggestions are also provided.


Keywords


Religious Education; Educational Needs; Islamic Theology; Iran

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ashrafi, A. & Akhondi F. (2012). Pathology Religious Education in University Students' Perspectiv", In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University, n. 52, pp. 401-426.

Blinkova, A. & Vermeer, P. (2017). Religious education in Russia: a critical analysis of a widely used textbook, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 41, n. 2, pp. 174-187, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2017.1405794.

Blinkova, A. & Vermeer, P. (2016). Religious education in Russia: a comparative and critical analysis, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 40, n. 2, pp. 194-206, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2016.1190687.

Broberg M. (2020). The use of teaching materials in religious education in Sweden: a quantitative analysis of Swedish religious education teachers’ reported use of teaching materials in RE classrooms, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 42, n. 1, pp. 45-55, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2017.1405795.

Document of Islamicization of Universities. (2013). Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Tehran.

Ebadi, A. (2017). Content Pathology of Islamic Studies Courses of Universities: The Orientation of Islamic Theoretical Foundations, In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University, n. 71, pp. 157-178.

Fathi Vajargah, K., Musapur, N. & Yadegarzadeh, Gh. (2013). Higher Education Curriculum: Introduction to the Concepts, Ideas and Patterns, Mehraban Nashr, Tehran.

Fazlallahi, S. (2016). Students’ Evaluation of the Islamic Ethics Syllabus Followed at Universities, In Knowledge, n. 228, pp. 131-148.

Firouzi, R. (2015). Pathology of Islamic Units and the Place of Teachers of Islamic Teachings Regarding the Students View in M.D, Pharm.D and Dentistry Periods in the Uremia University of Medical Sciences, In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University, n. 63, pp. 151-172.

Khodayari, M., Hossini Nasab, S.D. & Yari, J. (2014). Instructional needs assessment of personnel educational services of Tabriz Islamic Azad University, In Education and Evaluation, vol. 7, n. 25, pp 13-28.

Khoshi, A. (2012). Explain and Identify the Issues and Needs of Students in the Curriculum of Islamic Studies Courses at Tehran University to Provide an Appropriate Model, Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabaei University.

Maleki, H. (2004). The Principles of Islamic Education from the Perspective of Martyr Motahhari, In Misbah, n. 50, pp. 102-123.

Markham, I. (2006). Theology, In The Blackwell companion to the study of religion, edited by R.A. Segal, pp. 193- 210, Blackwell Publishing, USA.

Meshkat, A. (2016). The Increased Knowledge Approach to Attitude Instrument Approach (At Pathological Islamic Books and Offer a Useful Approach), In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University, n. 66, pp. 31-56.

Misbah Yazdi, M.T. (2010). Teaching Beliefs, International Publishing Co, Tehran.

Mobasheri, M.T. (2017). Educational Needs Assessment of Students in Holy Quran, s Interpretation (Case Study: Cultural University), In The Knowledge Studies in The Islamic University, n. 72, pp. 335-352.

Mulya, T.W. & Aditomo, A. (2018). Researching religious tolerance education using discourse analysis: a case study from Indonesia, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 41, n. 4, pp. 446-457, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1556602.

Nai, P., Sun, J., Zhang, Y. & Yang, G. (2019). Religious education legislation in an atheist state: towards a typology and policy analysis for contemporary China, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 42, n. 1, pp. 75-89, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2019.1571994.

Nazarpour, H. & Abedi, A. (2019). Educational Needs of University Students in Islamic Thought One (Case Study: University of Isfahan), In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University, n. 78, pp. 5-20.

Nazarpour, H. & Abedi, A. (2021). Educational Needs of University Students in Islamic Thought Two (Case Study: University of Isfahan), In The Knowledge Studies in the Islamic University. n. 87, pp. 355-370.

New Titles and Topics of Islamic Education Courses approved in 2004. (2005). Vice Chancellor for Professors and Islamic Education Courses, Second Edition, Bada't Al-Rasoul Publishing, Qom.

Rodríguez García, J.A. (2018). Islamic religious education and the plan against violent radicalization in Spain, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 41, n. 4, pp. 412-421, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1484693.

Sai, Y. (2018). Teaching Qur’an in Irish Muslim schools – curriculum, approaches, perspectives and implications, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 40, n. 2, pp. 148-157, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2016.1269723.

Sözeri, S., Altinyelken, H.K. & Volman M. (2019). Training imams in the Netherlands: the failure of a post-secular endeavor, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 41, n.4, pp. 435-445, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1484697.

Ucan, A.D. & Wright, A. (2019). Improving the pedagogy of Islamic religious education through an application of critical religious education, variation theory and the learning study model, In British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 41, n. 2, pp. 202-217, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1484695.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v9i8.3860

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2022 International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding (IJMMU) ISSN 2364-5369
https://ijmmu.com
editor@ijmmu.com
dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu
facebook.com/ijmmu
Copyright © 2014-2018 IJMMU. All rights reserved.