Asking the Right Questions

It has often been said that asking the right questions is just as important as, if not more important than, finding answers to the questions we ask.

This is perhaps nowhere more true than of the questions asked on final exams.

This semester in my course on the Bible I’ve been trying to approach things differently than in the past, focusing on finding reliable information rather than on memorization and recall.

The final exam for the course will ask students to make use of any sources available to them via computer, and to answer a question that relates to the Bible, but which is not a question that they have been asked or answered in earlier assignments this semester.

Since this is my first time trying something like this, I am filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

And so I thought I would ask for input from others. What question(s) related to the academic study of the Bible do you think that a student could realistically find reliable information on, read, and answer in a two-hour exam period? The plan is for them to have a short list of questions from which they choose one and then have the full two-hour period to find sources, read them, and answer the question.

Any questions? 🙂