Vocation/calling as a framework for Christian character formation in college students.

This project examined the use of a Christian understanding of vocation/calling with first-year college students to discover how it contributed to their formation in Christian character. Over the course of a sixteen-week semester, a test group of students was taught a theological construct of vocation/calling and explored its implications for their lives, especially as it relates to higher education, work, and their relationships to God, others, and broader creation. A voluntary control group was utilized as well, which was formed by students taking a different course that focused on major exploration without the use of a vocation/calling framework. A pre-intervention survey served as a baseline assessment to discern students’ initial perceptions of vocation/calling and its impacts in their lives. At the conclusion of the semester, a similar post-intervention survey, supplemented by a long-form interview, was administered to gauge the impact of the vocation/calling curriculum on the test group in comparison to the control group. The purpose of this project was to equip college students with a more holistic perspective on the purpose and meaning of their lives and thereby lead to the development of character consistent with the Christian faith.