Students engaging in diversity: blogging to learn the history of jazz

This study examined discursive choices made by the instructor of a Black Studies course in constructing what counted as blogging and the history of jazz; how students showed evidence of meeting the course requirements, and how particular students engaged with issues of race and diversity in their blogs. The instructor required blogging to enable an interactional form of learning that supported development of a writing voice, criticality, and thinking in interdisciplinary ways. Students entered the course having different prior experiences and understandings of jazz and the class format allowed students to move from whatever path they were on to embrace the positive nature of diversity in the creation of culture.     

Graduate Social Work Students' Attitudes Toward Service-Learning

Service-learning attitudes among graduate social work students enrolled in a course on human diversity and oppression are presented. A survey was administered at the beginning and at the end of the semester to students enrolled in the course, which was taught using a service-learning approach. Among the results were believing that service-learning aided in meeting learning goals and higher overall satisfaction with the service-learning experience. This article expands the literature on service-learning in social work education and promotes the use of this experiential method in social work diversity curricula.     

The transfer of reflective engagement from social work education into the workplace: a study of the value of scaffolded reflection

The focal concern of this article is the investigation of the transfer and sustainability of the reflective process into the work environment. Specifically, the identification of the variables which support or challenge practitioners to continue the ongoing process of reflection in practice contexts is addressed. The article describes a study carried out over a seven-year period with students/graduates from a master's in social work (MSW) professional qualification programme in Ireland. The research involved gathering data on participants’ experiences of reflective teaching and learning while on the course and in the initial years of their work as practitioners. In the early phases of the data collection, participants referred to developing epistemological awareness through the reflective process while on the course. This was in the context of a scaffold for reflection through journal writing and mentored portfolio inquiry. The outcomes of the study offer considerable insight into the challenges and value of developing a reflective teaching and learning environment in professional education. In particular, the work highlights how it impacts positively on professional practice.     

Community,self and identity: participatory action research and the creation of a virtual community across two South African universities

Fourth year students in psychology and social work from two South African universities worked together across boundaries of race and class in a course which required them to engage in a personal reflexive way with issues of community and identity. A combination of face-to-face workshops and online tutorial groups was used. The course was demanding of both staff and students, but preliminary analysis suggests that the creation of virtual communities may be of benefit in assisting students in their preparation for the challenges of working in a diverse and unequal society.     

The Construction of Social Class in Social Work Education: A Study of Introductory Textbooks

Social work introductory textbooks reflect myriad practical interests, pedagogical concerns, and theoretical considerations. However, they also present students with accepted views, dominant perspectives, and main discourses of knowledge. In light of this centrality, the present article examines the representation of the concept of “social class” in introductory textbooks as a way to look at the construction of the concept in social work education. Based on the content analysis study of 50 introductory textbooks, the article suggests that social work education has overlooked or even denied the relevance of social class. Class differences, as part of other categories of power such as race, ethnicity, and gender are crucial factors in explaining diversity and inequality. As social justice is one of the main premises of social work, the question of how to prepare students to deal with class issues as future practitioners seems to be very important, especially in light of increasing social class gaps.     

Teaching Pragmatic Psychodynamic Psychotherapy to Graduate Social Work Students

Evolving developments in psychodynamic theory have strengthened it as an evidence-based approach and have made it concordant with social work’s strengths-based, multicultural perspective. An elective focused on teaching fundamental concepts of psychodynamic psychotherapy was developed for graduate social work students based on Kolb’s theory of experiential learning, applied to Summers and Barber’s pragmatic model of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Data were collected based on students’ experienced self-efficacy with specific competencies in psychodynamic psychotherapy in the first, sixth, and last class. Outcomes were positive, and the data were used to make specific suggestions to strengthen course outcomes.     

An Exploratory Study Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Innovative Model for Teaching Multicultural Social Work Education

Abstract

Effective social work practice with diverse populations requires the successful incorporation of multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills.As a result, there is a pressing need for innovative and evidencebased teaching strategies and methods that provide social work students with these key multicultural tools. This paper describes one such teachingmodel and presents the findings of an exploratory study to empirically evaluate its effectiveness with undergraduate social work students (N =23) enrolled in a multicultural social work course. Based on pre-and post-test composite scores, the findings suggest that this new model of multicultural instruction and assignments increases students' multicultural awareness andknowledge.     

美国顶峰体验课程对社会工作专业实践教学的启示

顶峰体验课程作为美国高校在高年级开设的一种综合性课程,提升了人才培养质量,受到学生、学校和用人单位的好评.将顶峰体验课程引入社会工作专业实践教学,对学生主体意识的培养、专业认同的建立以及知识技能的整合都有重要意义.社会工作实践教学顶峰体验课程的设计应当以项目为核心,凝练教学目标、改革教学手段,重视学生非专业能力的培养.这一课程的引入,还需要完善在教育理念、项目来源、教学团队和评价体系等方面的配套改革.     

Performance and perception in the flipped classroom

Changes in the conceptualisation of higher education have led to instructional methods that embrace technology as a teaching medium. These changes have led to the flipped classroom phenomenon - where content is delivered outside class, through media such as video and podcast, and engagement with the content, through problem-solving and/or group work, occurs in class. Studies investigating the impact of the flipped classroom have mainly looked at the student experience with little focus on whether exam outcomes are enhanced by flipping. An undergraduate Material Technology course at The University of the West Indies was taught in two formats over two successive years. The course was taught during the 2012/13 academic year in a ‘traditional’ format but, after reflecting on student feedback and personal pedagogy, the lecturer restructured the class and taught it in a flipped format during the 2013/14 academic year. This research examines whether the flipped format improved the learning experience in relation to exam performance and student perception. Data was gathered through analysis of course grades and student evaluation questionnaires. The lecturer’s reflective comments were also reviewed before and after the study. Analysis of the qualitative data shows that the flipped format led to a slight improvement in how students perceived the course and the lecturer’s reflection shows that they are keen to continue with the flipped format as it allowed more time for them to work with students at an individual level. While no significant change in relation to average cohort exam performance was found, fewer students in the flipped classroom achieved marks at the highest level. It is therefore recommended that practitioners who intend to flip their classroom pay as much attention to student performance as they do to student perception.     

高职社会工作专业实务课程的任务驱动型教学模式研究——以个案工作实务为例

探索在个案工作实务课中进行任务驱动型教学模式改革,呼应高职教育的职业导向定位,同时为社会工作专业教育加强实践教学,切实提升学生的实际服务能力开拓思路。从任务驱动型教学模式在个案工作实务课中的操作要点、操作过程、注意事项三个方面对此进行了详解。     

Comparing Student Evaluations of Distance Learning and Standard Classroom Courses in Graduate Social Work Education

Abstract

This study compared the student course evaluations of standard education and distance learning courses in the school of social work of one southern university. The sample included 14 distance learning (DL) and 122 standard education courses. A 20-item quantitative student course evaluation and a 7-item qualitative questionnaire were used to compare differences between social work courses taught in a standard classroom setting with those taught using distance learning technology. Comparisons of identical courses taught in both formats found that students rated distance learning higher than the standard classroom for a course having predominantly lecture content. Conversely, ratings for clinical practice courses were just the opposite with lower ratings for distance learning than the standard classroom. Results of a qualitative survey (n = 39) of students conducted at the end of a course taught by distance learning found that 73% of the students felt that distance learning technology interfered with class participation. However, 73% of the students felt the instructor handled technological problems in a professional and patient manner. Although 54% of the students reported that they would take another course by distance learning, more research is needed to determine what social work courses can be most effectively taught by distance and classroom formats.     

Queering the Social Work Classroom: Strategies for Increasing the Inclusion of LGBTQ Persons and Experiences

ABSTRACT

The inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) perspectives and experiences in the social work classroom is necessary to adequately include LGBTQ students and prepare graduates to practice effectively. Drawing from queer theory as a theoretical framework and the authors’ experiences in practice and teaching/learning spaces with LGBTQ youth, this article offers practical strategies for creating classrooms inclusive of LGBTQ persons. Queering the classroom builds skills in students beyond practice with LGBTQ people and communities, thereby enhancing their capacity to engage diversity in practice more generally and to advance human rights and social justice.     

Using a Social Work Professor's Autobiography as a Teaching Tool in Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Abstract

Social work, like other disciplines, has long used case studies as a (1) methodological approach to communicating a body of knowledge, and (2) as a tangible means to acquaint students with archetypical applications of realistic conditions. In social work, one required course sequence enhanced by case study assessments is Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE). This paper describes the author's use of another social work professor's controversial and sensitive autobiography, To Ascend into the Shining World Againto instruct graduate students in HBSE courses. In his non-fictional account, the social work professor recalls the time when, during his own youth, he killed a teenager in 1967. The author recounts the way in which she incorporated the professor's story as a focus for analysis at The Ohio State University and how it was similarly examined in a course at the University of Louisville.     

Distance and Online Social Work Education: Novel Ethical Challenges

Digital technology has transformed social work education. Today's students can take individual courses and earn an entire degree without ever meeting their faculty members in person. Technological innovations such as videoconferencing, live online chat, asynchronous podcasts, and webinars enable social work educators to reach students whose personal circumstances and geographical locations make it difficult for them to attend school in person. This paper highlights complex ethical issues associated with the proliferation of digital and online social work education. Key ethical issues concern student access; course and degree program quality and integrity; academic honesty and gatekeeping; and privacy and surveillance.     

Empowering Students in a Feminist Social Work Practice Course

Abstract

Since 1993, a faculty collective has team-taught a feminist social work practice course. The course, designed to heighten student knowledge of feminist practice, was expected to empower students. An overview of the course is presented with an analysis of its impact on student perceptions of personal and professional power. Pre and post measures of empowerment were analyzed and used to derive outcome measures of change in student views of themselves as empowered persons and practitioners. Findings indicate that students had significantly higher perceptions of their personal and professional power upon completion of the feminist practice course than before. Implications for social work students and practitioners are discussed.     

高校“网格化”社会工作实务教学模式初探

社会工作在我国属于新兴学科,自开始招生至今仅20余年。这期间,社会工作教育者们从未停止对社会工作实务教学的探索,但至今依然是教学难点,社会工作的教师身兼督导和教学双重任务往往会顾此失彼。基于此,找到一个适合于目前社会工作实务教学的场所和模式便十分重要。本文将高校作为社会工作实务教学的场所,社会工作专业学生的实务课程在教师的指导下展开,提供适当的社会工作服务以解决学生群体中存在的诸多问题,同时实现实务教学的要求。在高校实施社会工作实务教学,＂网格化＂是一种比较理想的模式。     

Factors Influencing M.S.W. Students' Interest in Clinical Practice

This study utilizes linear and log‐linear stochastic models to examine the impact that a variety of variables (including graduate education) have on M.S.W. students' desires to work in clinical practice. Data was collected biannually (between 1992 and 1998) from a complete population sample of all students entering and exiting accredited graduate programs of social work in California (n = 5,793). The influences of past practice experiences, professional motivations, socio‐demographic characteristics, ideological affiliations, and education and training experiences while a graduate students were all examined. Findings suggest that there is tremendous commonality in the variability of interest toward doing clinical practice among all student groups both before and after the completion of graduate studies. Male and female students, students of varied ethnic, social class and political identifications/affiliations, along with students of varied ages did not differ in their desire or interest to engage in clinical practice. The desire to prepare for private practice had the strongest influence—that was maintained over the course of their education—on students' interests in clinical social work. Desires to work with the poor were not associated with students' desires to be clinicians who wish to apply their trade across a wide variety of problems and populations.     

Skills assessment,PIAAC and the adult literacy agenda

This study seeks to investigate the importance of life course capital on the educational aspirations of 40 social work undergraduates who were predominantly visible ethnic minority, immigrant descendants or non-traditional students in the mainstream US. Applying the resource perspective in this context, minority students’ academic successes hinge on their ability to acquire valuable resources needed for academic success over their life course (e.g. economic capital such as parental financial investment, scholarship and financial aids; cultural capital such as educational aspirations and values; and social capital such as parents’ involvement and social networks). Overall, minority social work students in this study face a multifaceted array of challenges associated with family financial strain, poor quality of early education, work obligations and economic constraints. Despite the fact that the participants exhibited a remarkable range of educational resilience, the diversities in their journeys to social work were influenced by a number of life course resources and varied systematically by personal experience as well as age cohort.     

Teaching Research Methodology Through Active Learning

To complement traditional learning activities in a masters-level research methodology course, social work students worked on a formal research project which involved: designing the study, constructing measures, selecting a sampling strategy, collecting data, reducing and analyzing data, and finally interpreting and communicating the results. The final product was accepted in a respected, peer-reviewed journal. In the hopes of motivating social work educators to use active learning strategies when teaching research methods and to provide some pragmatic advice on how to do so, this article presents students' perceptions of involvement and lessons learned by the instructor. Through open- and closed-ended questions, students reported that involvement was meaningful, promoted understanding of research, strengthened relations among students, and made learning more exciting. Additionally, 41% of students reported that work on the project increased their interest in pursuing doctoral level work. Students also reported that engagement was time-consuming, stressful, and occasionally frustrating. Pragmatic suggestions about how to incorporate a formal research project with teaching are given based on experiences of the students and instructor.     

Adjuncts in Social Work Programs: Good Practice or Unethical?

Social work education programs rely heavily on adjunct instructors, as do most academic institutions. This article adds to existing literature on adjuncts by focusing on the unique issues in social work education, using social work values and ethics as a focus. The benefits and detriments for adjuncts, programs, and students in schools of social work are reviewed. Social justice issues are explored with respect to adjuncts and nontraditional students. The author recommends supporting adjuncts by offering an orientation and a mentor, providing health benefits, distributing course times more evenly, and providing more advance notice of course offerings.