Tyndale Seminary
Directed Reading and Research Courses
What is a Directed Reading and Research Course?
Directed Reading and Research (DRR) courses allow students to study in a specific area of interest not addressed by the scheduled course offerings.
All DRR courses adhere to the policies of the Academic Calendar and must be completed within one term. For the comprehensive Tyndale policy on DRR courses, please see the ‘Seminary Policies’ section of the current Academic Calendar.
Policies for DRR Courses
- Students may apply to take a DRR course in a particular area of study not addressed by regular course offerings.
- DRR courses normally may not be taken as a substitute for an on-site classroom course offered in the same academic year.
- Students will be eligible for a standard DRR course after they have completed at least 15 semester hours of regular course work and demonstrated ability to do independent research and writing.
- Normal prerequisites apply to all DRR courses. The student will have completed the prerequisites in the given curricular area with at least a 3.0 (B) average in those courses.
- DRR courses are not normally open to occasional students.
- Limit of DRR courses allowed towards a degree: 2 for MDiv program and 1 for MTS program.
Application Process
A special application is required for all DRR courses. Standard DRR courses require a few steps that will require some time.
Based on the information provided on the DRR request form, the Dean's Office will determine a suitable instructor to supervise a DRR course. The Dean's Office will notify the student when a suitable supervisor has been found.
NOTE: Faculty will consider requests to supervise a DRR course on the basis of their expertise in the field. Faculty will not accept a proposal to work outside of their fields of competence.
Because DRR courses require custom-designed course requirements and performance evaluation, as well as additional workload for faculty supervisors, students wishing to apply for a DRR should begin the process early (at least two months in advance).
The deadline for DRR requests is two weeks prior to the registration deadline.
The Dean's Office will request and obtain approval from the suggested faculty supervisor on the student’s behalf.
Once the DRR course has been approved, students will prepare in consultation with the faculty supervisor a course syllabus and reading list to be approved by the Academic Dean.
Reading for a DRR course will normally consist of approximately 2000 pages. A lesser number of pages may be appropriate when the course includes other forms of structured learning experiences.
Writing assignments for a DRR course will normally total approximately 6000-7000 words of written work that reflects a scholarly treatment of the topic at the graduate level.
Ensure the course syllabus is delivered to the Seminary Dean's Office no less than two weeks before the semester's registration cutoff to receive approval.
All requests for DRR courses must be approved by the Academic Dean.
Final approval of the designated faculty supervisor rests with the Academic Dean who takes into consideration faculty workload.
Approved or denied application will be notified to student.
Approved request form will be forwarded to the Office of the Registrar for registration.
The Office of the Registrar will process the application. Check the MyTyndale.ca portal for the status of your course.
Please note that DRR courses start and end in concert with the standard academic semester (Fall, Winter, Spring). Students register for a DRR at the beginning of each of the three semesters and complete the course by the end of the corresponding semester.
If you have any questions, please email drr@tyndale.ca.