Image: Drawing on recent work relating a reduction of racial bias with diversity education, Josh Patterson (PhD 2020) and Robert L. Foster seek to provide a foundation for studies seeking to explore the effects of religious education on ecumenical outlook. They write, "[B]eyond understanding the effect of [curricular] interventions on students, we also need to understand how students come to take religion courses, or not, in the first place." In "Who is Learning about Religion? Factors that Predict First-Year Student’s Curricular Decisions," Patterson and Foster examine relationships between institution types, student characteristics, and college course selection. They explored data in the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEAL) from 122 institutions across the United States. Their findings indicate that institutional characteristics had a greater impact than individual student demographics. Some student descriptors, such as identifying as an evangelical or as a Business major, most consistently correlated positively and negatively, respectively. However, Patterson and Foster found the correlations between institution size, institution religious-affiliation, and Carnegie rating to be most persistent and robust. Colleges with the most success engaging first-year students with religion course tend to be smaller institutions with a residential focus. The article is published online as part of Religion & Education https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2020.1832948 Type of News/Audience: Alumni
