Challenges Faced by Canadian Social Work Field Instructors in Baccalaureate Field Supervision

ABSTRACT

This article examines the challenges faced by social work field instructors in two Canadian provinces. The results are based on the responses from 239 field instructors to a questionnaire survey. Findings highlight student difficulties, administrative issues with the social work schools, and practicum setting challenges. These demands hinder the optimal implementation of social work field education, reveal the concerning gatekeeping role of schools of social work, and discourage some social workers from taking on (or continuing) as field instructors. Implications for social work student placements, supervision of students, academic programs, and directions for future research are presented.     

The NonMSW Task Supervisor,MSW Field Instructor,and the Practicum Student

Abstract

This paper adds to the literature on field instruction and supervision of social work practicum students by nonMSW professionals. It shares insights gained from a focus group discussion of professionals' experiences with practica when there was no MSW on site. Reported findings indicate student, agency, and relational characteristics contribute to the success of these placements. The focus group and the authors conclude that active involvement of all three parties -the on-site nonMSW supervisor, the off-site MSW field instructor, and the practicum student -in a triad model of field education increases the likelihood that these practica provide students with field learning experiences that are among the very best.     

Learning Plans

Abstract

Learning plans are essential tools for field education. The development of a learning plan invests the student in the learning process by encouraging ownership. It alsoserves as a model to help students understand the contracting process used when engaging clients. A well thought out learning plan assures accountability and avoids problemsthat may arise resulting from unclear field expectations. Yet, many students and field instructors have difficulty in developing meaningful plans that truly relate to the social work educational experience. This paper provides a framework for developing a learning plan that includes an overview of the student, faculty advisor, and field instructor's roles and the process utilized. Working from broad comprehensive learning goals, cognitive and affective objectives are developed. This leads to specified tasks and evaluative standards. A sample format is presented to further assist students, faculty advisors, and field instructors to develop useful, instructive, and evaluative learning plans.     

Infusing Content About Discharging Legal Responsibilities into Social Work Practice Classes

ABSTRACT

In social work education, legal content may be best conveyed through infusion, rather than specialized law/social work courses. Infusion will occur differently in each social work education sequence (practice, human behavior, policy, and research). When infusing content about discharge of legal responsibilities into a practice class, the instructor should choose a common legal topic, and teach the relevant knowledge and skills. As the instructor generalizes from the topic presented, students learn that most legal topics affect practice in a complex manner. The example of legally mandated child maltreatment reporting is used to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and teaching methods. Implications are presented for social work literature, and for contact between social work faculty and field instructors.     

Non-Traditional and Traditional Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

Drawing on a sample of undergraduate social work students from four mid-western social work programs, this study compared perceptions of field instructors regarding non-traditional and traditional students. Field instructors rated their perceptions of the successful fulfillment of the demands of field practicum and the impact of several life characteristics for traditional and non-traditional students.

Non-traditional students were rated significantly higher on a variety of measures as assessed by field instructors. This study has implications for social work education that involves differential recruitment, retention, and support of traditional and non-traditional students.     

Deep Breaths on Paper

Abstract

Calls for more attention to social work student writing have gone largely unanswered in the literature and, it can be assumed, in the classroom. An emphasis on writing skills will help prepare students for active and effective advocacy in their practices and in policy arenas. To assure social work instructors that writing instruction, like writing, is no mysterious and impossible chore, this article introduces three key concepts of composition theory: writing to learn, writing as process, and writing as social act. To demonstrate the interrelated applications of these concepts, various uses of classroom journals are presented. Further, instructors are encouraged to require multiple drafts of papers and to provide written assignment guides. Some suggestions for useful commenting on drafts are provided.     

Instructor Social Presence Effects on Learner Social Presence,Achievement, and Satisfaction

Instructor social presence involves instructors establishing their presence as “being there” in terms of frequency of communication and interaction with students as well as supporting students throughout the learning process (Lowenthal 2015). Instructor social presence can be constructed and maintained through the design and facilitation of online courses. Studies have indicated that instructor social presence can be correlated with increased learning satisfaction, engagement and achievement as well as learners perceptions of the instructor. This sequential explanatory mixed method study investigated the effects of instructor social presence on achievement, satisfaction and learner social presence and further sought to identify effective instructor social presence techniques in asynchronous online courses. The results of this study showed that the degree of instructor social presence significantly influenced instructor perceptions of student achievement. Findings also suggest that a well-designed collaborative learning activity can be an effective strategy for building instructor social presence.     

Ratings of university teacher instruction: how much do student and course characteristics really matter?

Several student and course characteristics were examined in relation to student ratings of instruction. Students at a major Canadian university completed the Universal Student Ratings of Instruction instrument at the end of every course over a three‐year period, providing 371,131 student ratings. Analyses of between‐group differences indicate that students who attend class often and expect high grades provide high ratings of their instructors (p < .001). In addition, lab‐type courses receive higher ratings than lectures or tutorials, and courses in the social sciences receive higher ratings than courses in the natural sciences (p < .001). Regression analyses indicated, however, that student and course characteristics explain little variance in student ratings of their instructors (<7%). It is concluded that student ratings are more related to teaching instruction and behavior of the instructor than to these variables.     

高校辅导员专业化路径——社会工作服务技能的培养与运用

中国高等教育在由"精英教育"向"大众教育"转型的过程中,大学生的教育与管理变得更加复杂,高校辅导员工作理念和方法需要有所创新、发展和完善。从社会工作的专业视角来看,高校辅导员社会工作服务技能的培养与运用,是提升高校辅导员队伍素质和专业化水平的一种专业路径和行动模式。     

Dilemmas of Teaching Inquiry in Elementary Science Methods

Because various definitions of inquiry exist in the science education literature and in classroom practice, elementary science methods students and instructors face dilemmas during the study of inquiry. Using field notes, instructor anecdotal notes, student products, and course artifacts, science methods course instructors created fictional journal entries to represent the experiences of both the instructors and students during instruction on inquiry. Identified dilemmas were varying definitions of inquiry, the struggle to provide sufficient inquiry-based science-learning experiences, perceived time constraints, determining how much course time should be slated for science instruction versus pedagogy instruction, instructors' and students' lack of inquiry-based learning experiences, grade versus trust issues, and students' science phobia. Instructors' attempts at dealing with these dilemmas included using analogies, increased field-experience time, modeling, and detailed rubrics.     

大学新生教育的改革与创新研究

新生教育是整个大学教育的起点,起着成才发展的＂导航＂作用,同时也是加强和改进大学生思想政治教育的重要载体和手段。辅导员是联系广大学生与校院（系）领导之间的桥梁,负责广大学生的学习、生活等方面的工作,辅导员的工作做得到位与否将直接对广大学生的学习、生活、心理等方面产生影响,特别是大一的新生更是如此。本文从大学新生教育的现状谈起,分析新生教育存在的问题和原因,并在明确的思想和方向的指导下,提出大学辅导员在现今大学发展的形势下新生教育中的改革和创新建议。     

Instructional practices in reformed undergraduate STEM learning environments: a study of instructor and student behaviors in biology courses

ABSTRACT

Theoretically, organisational culture, instructor training, and learning space design influence how faculty teach STEM courses. Previous studies have used classroom observation protocols to characterise the range of teaching practices in mostly teacher-centered, traditional STEM classrooms. In this study, we examined the classroom behaviour of 13 STEM faculty teaching biology courses in a reformed undergraduate STEM learning environment. Our findings indicate that instructors teaching in this reformed environment guided student learning (58.4?±?1.9%) almost three times more than they presented information (20.0?±?2.2%). Students worked individually or in groups and talked to the whole class (57.1?±?1.8%) 1.5 times more than they received information (35.5?±?1.9%). We found significant positive correlation between ‘instructor presenting’ and ‘students receiving’ information (r?=?0.743, p?=?1.4?×?10^?4) and ‘instructor guiding’ and ‘student working and talking’ in class (r?=?0.605, p?=?7.2?×?10^?5), suggesting that instructors can change their own classroom behaviours and expect concurrent change in their students’ behaviours. Finally, sequencing teaching practices in high active-engagement classrooms showed instructors move and guide student group work and lead whole class discussions before lecturing to students, which could lead to deeper learning of conceptual knowledge. We discuss insights from these findings that have implications for acculturating evidence-based teaching practices in STEM departments.     

Academic support model for post-secondary school students with learning disabilities: student and instructor perceptions

ABSTRACT

While post-secondary school students with learning difficulties confront many challenges, there is little research on methods of support. In the current study, the ‘adapted course’ model was qualitatively examined from the perspective of both students and instructors. The main goal was to explore how students and instructors perceived the instruction in adapted courses. Five pre-service students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and three instructors were interviewed. Responses were analysed using subjective analysis, with central content categories identified based on student and instructor statements. Six main themes emerged: (1) small class size; (2) emotional support; (3) adjusted teaching methods; (4) independent practice exercises; (5) instruction by modelling; and (6) instructor characteristics. The current study can inform pedagogical principles on which a support model for post-secondary students with LD can be based. It provides analyses of the effectiveness of one support model and presents the perceptions of both faculty and students. Moreover, the study provides an opportunity to learn about potential components of effective teaching-learning, not only in the specific context of adapted courses, but in any supportive learning situation (e.g. tutoring) or course.     

Designing effective,contemporary assessment on a flipped educational sciences course

ABSTRACT

Evidence shows flipped learning increases academic performance and student satisfaction. Yet, often practitioners flip instruction but keep traditional curricula and assessment. Assessment in higher education is often via written exams. But these provide limited feedback and do not ask students to put knowledge into practice. This does not support the tenets of flipped learning. For two years, the author flipped instruction but retained traditional curricula and assessment. However, on the author’s current course, all three aspects were redesigned to better support flipped learning. The aim of this research is to test the effectiveness of this redesign regarding student engagement and satisfaction. Thus, it is asked: How, on this course, can meaningful, continuous assessment be provided as well as effective, personalized feedback, while staying in line with the philosophy of flipped learning? Action research took place from September 2016 to June 2017. Quantitative data from a student survey, and qualitative data from a research diary and student focus group were gathered. What emerged is: a little-and-often assessment approach is effective for learning and engagement; tasks must be authentic and test demonstration of knowledge, not memory; quality, not quantity, is key for student learning; and students desire individualized feedback.     

In your Facebook: Examining Facebook usage as misbehavior on perceived teacher credibility

Teachers sometimes do things that negatively impact their own credibility in classroom settings. One way instructors maintain credibility among students is by keeping a veil between their personal and professional personas. The advent of Facebook presents new challenges for instructors seeking to keep their personal lives private in order to maintain credibility among students. In educational settings, Facebook communications can blur the personal and professional boundaries that students and professors are accustomed to. As such, instructors in higher education sometimes struggle with the implications of ‘friending’ students in the context of social networking. The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not educator usage of Facebook had any impact on student perceptions of instructor credibility. Facebook presence was examined in the context of teacher ‘misbehaviors’ (that is, actions by educators that negatively impact their credibility). A modified version of Teven and McCroskey’s (1997) Source Credibility Instrument was given to a sample of college students (N?=?187) to compare instructors that use Facebook with those who do not. While students appear to be generally accepting of instructor usage of the social tool, some findings suggest that there are probably ways to abuse it in a manner that could lead to negative perceptions of credibility. Ultimately, results from this study indicated that there were no significant differences among student perceptions of instructor credibility based on whether or not an educator used Facebook.     

The influence of individual- and class-level fairness-related perceptions on student satisfaction

This study advances two contributions to the study of student evaluations of teaching: (a) a multilevel conceptualization that allows for the simultaneous analysis of individual- and class-level correlates of evaluations and (b) an application of recent social/organizational psychology theory and research on fairness. Thus, this study examined the relative influence of individual- and class-level perceptions of fairness and expected grades on students’ satisfaction with their instructors and with their grades. Multilevel regression showed that, at the individual level, grade satisfaction was significantly related to perceived fairness of the instructor’s grading procedures, the perceived fairness of the expected grades, and the expected grades themselves; instructor satisfaction was significantly related to perceptions of the fairness of grading procedures, the fairness of instructor–student interactions, and the fairness of the expected grades. At the class level, instructor satisfaction was significantly influenced by the average perception of the fairness of interactions. The implications for research on student ratings are discussed.     

Cognitive and social help giving in online teaching: an exploratory study

While literature suggests that college students may be less reluctant to seek help in online rather than traditional courses, little is known about how online instructors give help in ways that lead to increased student help seeking and academic success. In this study, we used theories and research on learning assistance and scaffolding, teacher immediacy, social presence, and academic help seeking to explore through a cross-case study design how three online instructors differed in their use of cognitive and social supports and how those differences related to student perceptions of support, help seeking, and performance. Primary data sources included all course postings by the instructors, interviews with the instructors, observational field notes on course discussions, student interviews, and final student grades. Archived course documents and student discussion postings were secondary data sources. Data analysis revealed that while all instructors provided cognitive and social support, they varied in their level of questioning, use of direct instruction, support for task structuring, and attention to group dynamics. This variation in teaching presence related to differences across the courses in student perceptions of support, student help seeking in course discussions, and final course grades. Implications for online teaching and suggestions for further research are offered.

Quality Control in Online Courses

SUMMARY

There has recently been increased interest in the quality of online courses. Faculty from the School of Education at Marquette University suggest using social constructivist theories in the design and development of online courses and in the training and pedagogy of online instructors to ensure quality in online courses. Quality can be designed into online courses by focusing on complex tasks, using multiple perspectives, establishing a learning community, encouraging the social negotiation of meaning and providing assistance for learners at various levels. While good design can go a long way to ensure quality in online courses, the quality of the instructor is equally critical. Training instructors to establish a supportive climate, provide constructive feedback, and ask critical and probing questions leads to high quality online instruction.