Teaching Statistics

This article compares grades earned by incoming MSW students in traditional classroom-based statistics courses and those taught using software-based content and no regular classes. Traditional-learning students earned high grades overall, regardless of prior undergraduate grade point average (GPA). Students in the electronic-learning course with high GPAs performed as well as students in the regular course. However, electronic-learning students with low GPAs earned lower course grades than students with high GPAs who took the same course and students in the traditional course, regardless of their GPA. Findings suggest students can learn statistics successfully in a programmed instruction/distance education course; however, some might need additional assistance or do better in a traditional format.     

Evaluating Distance Learning in Social Work Education

Fifty-seven MSW students enrolled in two different practice courses were exposed to approximately equal amounts (five 4-hour sessions) of live, in-class instruction and two-way interactive televised instruction. Separate post-course evaluations of both teaching methods, using a previously published measure of instructional quality, significantly favored live instruction over televised distance learning. More empirical research demonstrating the potential benefits of distance learning technology is urgently needed prior to the widespread adoption of these methods.     

Comparison of Student Outcomes in a Campus and a Distributed Learning Class

Although interest and development of online and distributed learning (DL) has increased in recent years, the social work community has not fully embraced these formats. Many social work students are unable to commute to universities and DL education can provide degree options. A nonexperimental study using a convenience sample was done comparing student outcomes from campus and DL research methods classes with 44 students. Results indicated that final course scores did not statistically differ by course format. Results from this study confirm previous studies' conclusions that online and DL courses are an effective format for social work education.     

A Task-based Language Teaching Approach to Developing Metacognitive Strategies for Listening Comprehension

In second (L2) or foreign language (FL) learning, learning strategies help learners perform tasks, solve specific problems, and compensate for learning deficits. Of the strategy types, metacognitive strategies manage and regulate the construction of L2 or FL knowledge. Although learning strategies are frequently taught via teacher demonstration, an alternative but underresearched approach is through embedded instruction in tasks. To develop strategy awareness in language learning, the present study aimed to investigate how well a task-based teaching framework was able to develop intermediate Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ metacognitive awareness of listening comprehension. Eighty-eight sophomores participated in the study, which used a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group received strategy-embedded task-based listening instruction for 18 weeks, whereas the control group received only strategy-based instruction. Listening tests and questionnaires were used in the pretest and posttest stages. The results showed that the experimental group improved their metacognitive awareness of strategies for listening and outperformed the control group in the listening test. The students in the experimental group considered tasks to be an important medium of input enhancement for improving listening ability.     

Empowering learners through open (distance) programmes: An evaluation of a practice teaching programme

Changes to social work practice in many parts of the world and the introduction of social work in other parts of the world have raised many issues for educators. One particular area of difficulty is setting up flexible systems for social work education which will meet both individual learning needs and provide high quality professional education. To date, social work education has been traditionally delivered through taught courses that limit access to those who enjoy group learning and are physically able to attend the establishments delivering these courses. This results in a significant number of learners being deprived of learning opportunities. This paper explores the notion of open (distance) 1 learning as a model for empowering students who are unable or reluctant to attend taught courses.     

Exploring the Educational Experience of a Social Work Student with a Disability: A Narrative

Social work educators seem to have mixed feelings about the development of open and distance learning in Britain and the USA. Open and distance learning has tended to be marginalised. It has been compared unfavourably to campus based programmes, but there has been a lack of research on this topic in the United Kingdom. However, research in the USA indicates that open and distance learning social work students have a high degree of satisfaction with teaching and learning approaches compared with those on campus based programmes, while student outcomes and level of achievement have been at least comparable to those on ‘traditional’ programmes.

Some criticisms of open and distance learning in the UK are examined. These include narrow, mass produced, ‘assembly line’, mechanistic, isolating, individualistic approaches. Advantages of open and distance learning in the UK are considered, such as well organised teaching packs, flexibility and individual choice in pace, time and place of learning with especially good learning opportunities for mature women with family commitments. Improvements are advocated, centred around developing more opportunities to rehearse and develop practice skills, encouraging more divergent, critical thinkers operating from a more pluralistic knowledge base and the empowerment of students in collectives.     

EVALUATING A BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN SPAIN: THE IMPACT BEYOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Bilingual education programs, which consist of doing a substantial part of the instruction in a language different from the native language of the students, exist in several countries like the United States, India, and Spain. While the economic benefits of knowing a second language are well established, the potential effects over the learning of other subjects have received much less attention. We evaluate a program that introduced bilingual education (in English and Spanish) in primary education in a group of public schools of the Madrid region in 2004. Under this program, students not only study English as a foreign language but also some other subjects (at least Science, History, and Geography) are taught in English. In order to evaluate the program, a standardized test for all sixth grade students in Madrid on the skills considered “indispensable” at that age is our measure of the outcome of primary education. Our results indicate that there is a clearly negative effect on the exam results for the subject taught in English, for children whose parents have less than upper secondary education. This negative effect is a composite of two phenomena: the effect of the program on the student's knowledge of the subject and a reflection of the student ability to do the test in their native language when English is the medium of instruction. Although we are not able to separate quantitatively these two effects, the composite effect has a relevant interest, because the results for exams taken in Spanish are the measures that determine academic progression in the Spanish system. In contrast with the previous result, there is no significant effect for anyone on mathematical and reading skills, which were taught in Spanish. (JEL H40, I21, I28)     

A Tale of Three Cities: Teaching Online to Students in Shanghai from Hong Kong and Texas

SUMMARY

The University of Hong Kong collaborated with the Fudan University in Shanghai to offer a Master of Social Service Management (MSSM) part-time degree for students in Shanghai. While most courses of the program were taught by instructors sent from Hong Kong and other overseas countries on weekends and holidays, the “Information and Communication Technology in Social Service Organizations” course was offered online and supplemented by several face-to-face sessions. Instructors in Texas and Hong Kong collaborated and offered the course to the students in Shanghai. Teaching and learning online was a completely new experience for the students. Technical, social, cultural, and linguistic issues arose throughout the four months during which the course was offered. This paper shares the teaching experience and reflection of the instructors as well as the learning outcome and evaluation of the students.     

Novel Dictation and Intraverbal Responses as a Function of a Multiple Exemplar Instructional History

We tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) on acquisition of joint spelling responses, vocal to written and vice versa, for three sets of five words by four kindergarteners with language delays using a delayed multiple probe design. First, students were taught to spell Set 1 as either vocal or written responses (two vocal and two written) and probed on untaught responses. Next students were taught Set 2 using MEI (i.e., alternating responses) and again probed untaught responses for Set 1. Finally, Set 3 was taught in a single response and students were probed on untaught responses. Two students spelled none of Set 1 untaught responses before MEI, while two spelled the words at 60% accuracy or 10% accuracy. After MEI on Set 2, all students spelled untaught responses for Set 1 at 80% to 100% accuracy and Set 3 at 80% to 100% accuracy. The MEI resulted in joint stimulus function such that formerly independent responses came under the same stimulus control. We replicated these results with four other kindergartners with autism who performed academically above their typically developing peers. The results are discussed in terms of Skinner''s treatment of the independence of the two verbal operants.     

Part-Time MSW Distance Education

SUMMARY

An evaluation of a part-time master's of social work program including 18 hours of interactive video instruction examined student academic performance, instructors' ability to achieve instructional objectives, interactions among students and between students and faculty, and quality of instructional environment. The evaluation was conducted following 12 hours of interactive video, “distance” coursework. Results of grade comparisons and surveys of students, faculty and staff suggest that distance education courses are comparable to the main campus courses in instructional quality. Students and faculty voice concerns, however, about limitations on interaction and spontaneity imposed by the interactive video environment.     

Widening the Lens: The Efficacy of the Case Method in Helping Direct Practice MSW Students Understand and Apply Mezzo and Macro Dimensions of Practice

This study tested the effectiveness of the case method as a teaching and learning tool to help direct practice (micro) graduate students to more fully incorporate the mezzo and macro dimensions in clinical situations. Participants for this study included 115 MSW students enrolled in a second‐year clinical concentration who, as a requirement of the program, took an integrative seminar that was taught using the case method. Students completed a pre‐ and post‐test that measured the importance students placed on selected mezzo and macro dimensions of practice. The study also assessed whether the case method influenced students' perceived capacity for critical thinking, vertical integration of first‐ with second‐year content, and understanding the program's theoretical model. Results showed significant increases in several areas assessed. The paper begins by tracing the historical and contemporary writings in the social work literature on integrated learning, and discusses the impact of these trends on the learning process. Ideas on how to build integrative opportunities or methods of instruction into the social work curriculum are then explored. The case method is advocated as a viable tool in teaching with empirical evidence presented to support its efficacy.     

Financial Education With College Students: Comparing Peer-Led and Traditional Classroom Instruction

This project compared the learning gains from teaching financial literacy skills to undergraduate students through two methods: traditional classroom instruction and peer financial counseling. Students at a southeastern university received instruction through either a semester-long course on family economics (N = 78) or a one-hour peer-led session (N = 149). Students in the peer sessions received instruction on either budgeting (n = 94) or credit (n = 55). Students in the course received extended instruction on budgeting, credit, and other topics. Comparisons of posttest learning revealed similar gains between the two methods on shared content and on planned financial behaviors. Results suggest additional investigation to explore peer financial counseling for teaching financial literacy skills may be warranted.     

Teaching Practice Methods Using Interactive Television: A Partial Replication Study

ABSTRACT

This study compares 52 on-campus and 26 distance education (DE) MSW students enrolled in two practice methods courses. This is a partial replication study, describing the results of the evaluation of the second cohort of a large DE program. The results from the first cohort are reported elsewhere (Kleinpeter & Potts, 2000). The DE students were located at four universities linked through interactive television (ITV). The comparison group was located at an urban university, taught in traditional classrooms. Comparisons were made on student grades, faculty evaluations, and field instructors' evaluations. Results indicate that no significant differences were found between on-campus and DE students which supports the findings of the first cohort, despite a reduction in faculty visits to off-campus locations, a greater use of ITV instruction, and an increased reliance on the use of local site coordinators as assistant instructors in the classroom.     

Policy Planning Models: Heuristics for Education

Findings from a study of 229 students at five schools of social work in the introductory research course show: students with a good background in research learn best when a variety of content is introduced; students with poor backgrounds gain most with limited content. All students appear to learn best when taught by didactic methods and evaluated by objective examinations as compared to other methods. Differences in teacher characteristics such as age, field of study, and experience had little impact on student learning.     

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Practicum Instruction: An Empirical Study

Practicum instructors play a strategic role in assisting students gain the competence essential to effective practice. This article reports on a comparative study that tested the efficacy of traditional and experimental competency-based/task-centered methods of practicum instruction. It revealed that students taught under the latter method performed at a higher overall level of competence and had more confidence in their skills than those taught under the traditional method.     

Distance Education: A Multidimensional Evaluation

SUMMARY

The empirical evaluation of distance education is social work has lagged behind that of other fields. This research compares classes taught in person and via interactive television on the dimensions of student satisfaction (course evaluations), and educational outcomes (pretest, post test, and follow up design). The research design and controlling for the instructor variable (the same instructor taught both courses) adds methodological rigor not present in prior evaluations. Outcome differences between the instructional mediums were explained by the demographic and other differences brought by the students. This research joins the bulk of such research that finds the effectiveness of the mediums comparable.     

Outcomes of an interdisciplinary study abroad course: learning Spanish and multicultural education concurrently

This study reports the outcomes of undergraduate students completing a pilot Interdisciplinary Intensive Course Abroad (IICA) with a service learning component. The IICA model is comprised of a three-part sequence of study that includes a seven-week course on campus, followed by three weeks of study abroad, and a summative seven-week course back on campus. The additional summative component gives students the opportunity to bring together their newly acquired knowledge and skills, and to reflect on how to integrate these experiences in their future. The sequence integrates discipline-specific content studies with foreign language classes, and grounds them with a study abroad experience. A mixed-method design was used to measure students’ development of language skills, understanding of multicultural education concepts, and intercultural skills. Primary data sources were pre/post-assessments, student field notes and reflections, and a post-course survey. Results indicated that students gained confidence in their Spanish skills and were likely to enroll in further Spanish courses, their ability to define multicultural education concepts increased, and service learning, homestays abroad, and their time in an indigenous reservation contributed to development of intercultural skills.     

Social Welfare Policy as a Specialization in the Graduate Social Work Curriculum

This paper describes a new student/teacher evaluation system that helps students monitor and evaluate their progress in each course or unit of instruction. Because it produces a learning curve for each student and for the class as a whole, it is useful to both students and teachers in the assessment and evaluation of joint learning-teaching activities and achievements. Its major purpose is to help maximize learning gains.     

Emotionalized learning experiences: Tapping into the affective domain

The experimental study was undertaken to examine the effect of emotionalized learning experiences on the academic achievement of students at Preston University. The major objectives of the study were to identify the effect of teaching methods on students’ academic achievement and to evaluate the relationship between affective learning conditions and students’ academic achievement. Based on four intact semesters, the population of the study comprised 140 students from the Bachelors of Business Administration Program. The whole population was considered as the sample. The control group (28 students) was taught through the interactive lecture method, whereas, the experimental group 1 (35 students), experimental group 2 (46 students) and experimental group 3 (31 students) were taught through the activity method, reflective learning method and cooperative learning method respectively. Results indicated a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores obtained in the achievement test as a result of the effect of teaching methods used for offering the emotionalized learning experiences. There was also a significant relationship between affective leaning conditions and students’ academic achievement. Furthermore, it was found that students’ academic achievement in the affective domain was highest with regard to workshops 1, 2 and 3. It was concluded that the emotionalized learning experiences offered to the students via the four teaching methods helped students in enhancing their knowledge, changing their attitudes and developing their skills with regard to living a happy, healthy and meaningful life. However, the reflective learning method proved to be the most suitable followed by the interactive lecture method, the cooperative learning method and the activity method.