Johnson Lim, Singapore-based author and teacher in several subjects, including Old Testament and Homiletics, provides this bundle of creative teaching methods:
Some key words for me include: Relevance, (Re) Contextualisation and Creativity.
1) Contextualisation e.g. When I taught the book of Ruth, I used popular Indonesian songs to illustrate and also I sought to make it a musical to make the book more exciting.
2) Instead of exams I have the students (a small group of 5) choose a theological theme from the book and act it out (drama, mime, ventriloquist, powerpoint, video, etc). Also I get students to compose poetry, song, do a painting, sculpture to illustrate the book. At times they do a debate on the pros and cons.
3) To teach Genesis, I use great paintings (Renaissance) to compare and contrast and teach them how to interpret art.
4) I sometimes get students to cut out articles on certain biblical themes from newspapers, magazines to illustrate the contemporariness of the book.
5) In teaching biblical languages, I use Hebrew songs to augment their knowledge and help them appreciate the Hebrew culture. I also bring students to the synagogue to dialogue with the Rabbi.
6) I show a DVD clip to illustrate and reinforce the teaching.
7) I prepare a pre-Test on the course (all would do badly and get depressed) and at the end of the course prepare a post-test with similar questions to help them learn.
Dr. Geoff Pound