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.     

Can Clinical Skills Be Taught Online? Comparing Skill Development Between Online and F2F Students Using a Blinded Review

This study compared the development of clinical assessment and intervention skills between students enrolled in a face-to-face (F2F) or an asynchronous online clinical social work class. All students from three semesters of F2F (n = 74) and online (n = 78) sections of an MSW clinical class taught by the same instructor were included. Two assignments were used to compare students: an assessment and treatment plan of a fictional case and a digital role-play. A doctoral student who was blinded to the course delivery mechanism graded the role-play. After controlling for baseline differences in age, there were no differences between online and F2F students in skill demonstration. It appears clinical skills can be taught as effectively online as in F2F situations based on blinded review of role-plays.     

College Students' Perceptions of Professor/Instructor Bullying: Questionnaire Development and Psychometric Properties

Abstract

Objective: This study developed and examined the psychometric properties of a newly formed measure designed to assess professor/instructor bullying, as well as teacher bullying occurring prior to college. Additionally, prevalence of instructor bullying and characteristics related to victims of instructor bullying were examined. Participants: Participants were 337 college students recruited in 2012 from a northeastern university. Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to college students. A split-half, cross-validation approach was employed for measurement development. Results: The measure demonstrated strong criterion validity and internal consistency. Approximately half of students reported witnessing professor/instructor bullying and 18% reported being bullied by a professor/instructor. Report of teacher bullying occurring prior to college was related to professor/instructor bullying in college, and sex was a moderating variable. Conclusion: College students perceive instructor bullying as occurring but may not know how to properly address it. Prevention efforts should be made by university administrators, faculty, and staff.     

REAL COSTS OF NOMINAL GRADE INFLATION? NEW EVIDENCE FROM STUDENT COURSE EVALUATIONS

College grade point averages in the United States rose substantially between the 1960s and the 2000s. Over the same period, study time declined by almost a half. This paper uses a 12‐quarter panel of course evaluations from the University of California, San Diego to discern whether a link between grades and effort investment holds up in a micro setting. Results indicate that average study time would be about 50% lower in a class in which the average expected grade was an “A” than in the same course taught by the same instructor in which students expected a “C.” Simultaneity suggests estimates are biased toward 0. Findings do not appear to be driven primarily by the individual student's expected grade, but by the average expected grade of others in the class. Class‐specific characteristics that generate low expected grades appear to produce higher effort choices—evidence that nominal changes in grades may lead to real changes in effort investment. (JEL I21, J22, J24)     

Enhancing Gerontology Education

Abstract

Co-learning opportunities for elders and students may enhance the ability to make course information “real” for traditional students and provide elders with new relationships that can reduce stereotypical thinking about younger people. A Human Development and Aging course taught at Kansas State University in the Spring of 2003 brought eighteen young adult students and eighteen auditors from a retirement community together to explore their understanding of aging issues. Based on evaluations through focus groups and written surveys, older and younger participants alike experienced changes in their attitudes toward persons of age groups other than their own.     

Control and Alcohol-Problem Recognition Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: This study examined negative control (ie, perceived lack of control over life outcomes) and need for control as predictors of alcohol-problem recognition, evaluations (good/bad), and expectancies (likely/unlikely) among college students. The study also explored the interaction between the need for control and alcohol consumption in alcohol-related outcomes. Participants: Participants were a convenience sample of 500 college students from a rural Midwest university. Data were collected during the 2009–2010 academic year. Methods: Participants completed a survey assessing control and alcohol-problem recognit-ion, evaluations, and expectancies. Results: Negative control demonstrated a significant positive association with alcohol-problem recognition, evaluations, and expectancies after controlling for gender and alcohol consumption. Need for control did not have a main effect. However, the interaction was significant in that the association between need for control and negative evaluation of alcohol problems was strongest among participants with the highest levels of alcohol consumption. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that individuals' differences in sense of control are associated with alcohol-problem recognition, evaluations, and expectancies in young adults.     

The Virtual Community: Computer Conferencing for Teaching and Learning Social Work Practice

SUMMARY

This author describes the use of a web-based conferencing program to augment classroom learning in generalist social work practice courses in a BSW program. This “virtual classroom” allows students to have more or less continual access to the instructor and to each other, greatly expanding opportunities for teaching, learning, and communication.     

Resources Ancillary Services and Classroom Instruction

Abstract

This article is the story of a social work instructor and her deaf-blind student. The chapter includes: (a) an overview of Gallaudet University, focusing on the Social Work Program and the Office of Students with Disabilities program, (b) personal background information about the student and her professor, and (c) perspectives of the educational process by both the student and her instructor. The article concludes with recommendations to both students and instructors for addressing the needs of deaf-blind students in the classroom and university setting.     

Subjective evaluations of alcohol-related consequences among college students: Experience with consequences matters

Objective: Research suggests college students rate some alcohol-related consequences less negatively than others, yet it is unclear how or when these differences in perception develop. The current study compared college students' subjective evaluations of alcohol-related consequences that they had and had not experienced in order to test the hypothesis that students become desensitized to the consequences they experience. Participants: Participants were 269 undergraduate students enrolled at a large, public, Midwestern university. Methods: Participants completed measures of drinking behaviors, consequences experienced, and subjective evaluations of consequences via an online survey. Results: Participants rated the consequences they had personally experienced more positively than those they had not experienced. Similarly, individuals who reported experiencing consequences rated them as significantly more positive than those who had not experienced the same consequences. Conclusions: Experience with consequences is associated with more positive evaluations of those consequences. Therefore, it may be important to consider individuals' experiences with, and evaluations of, alcohol-related consequences in college student drinking interventions.     

Research Knowledge Assessment: A Study of MSW Students’ Acquisition and Retention of Research Knowledge

ABSTRACT

In response to the need for meaningful data about student learning in research courses, we developed and implemented the Research Knowledge Assessment instrument to measure MSW student acquisition, application, and retention of research knowledge over a 3-year period across the research curriculum. Initial findings indicated that students entered the foundation research methods course with little research knowledge, gained some knowledge during the course but not at an acceptable level, and lost 22% of the gain by the beginning of the concentration research course. The greatest knowledge acquisition was in sampling and the least in theory and question development. Knowledge acquisition was associated with not having a BSW and not having adjunct faculty as a research instructor.     

Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections

ABSTRACT

Most research on evaluations of women candidates considers single elections in isolation. Using two Dynamic Process Tracing experiments, this article examines whether voters alter their evaluations of women candidates, as well as their willingness to learn about and vote for them, based on the presence of other women running simultaneously in concurrent contests. We find a consistent pattern in which female candidates are not adversely affected when they are the only woman on a voter’s ballot, but they are disadvantaged when other women appear on the same party’s ballot in other races. This effect is more prominent for women in lower offices: women running for the House of Representatives are more disadvantaged than women running for higher offices are.     

“Beating the Bad Rap:” A Qualitative Study of Social Studies Educators Using Film

Abstract

The film-based practices of four social studies teachers were examined using a qualitative methodology. The research interviewed teachers twice over a 2-month period, collected handouts, and collected audio-recorded teacher logs. Three of the teachers taught social studies primarily, while a fourth teacher was responsible for both English and social studies content. The findings indicate that teachers used film in addition to a wide range of other visual practices. Teachers used film actively rather than passively to facilitate dialogic connections, as well as elicit thinking about their content areas.     

Revisiting the Relation Between Teacher Immediacy and Student Learning in African American College Classrooms

This article represents an early, successful, partial replication and extension of Neuliep's (1995) immediacy study in the African American college classroom. Results show that African American students perceive their African American instructors to be more immediate than their European American instructors. Significant positive correlations between immediacy and cognitive and affective learning measures were found in classes taught by both African American and European American instructors, but the correlations between immediacy and affective learning were significantly greater for the African American instructor sample than for the European American instructor sample.     

Complex Child Custody Evaluations: Evaluating the Alleged Incestuous Parent

SUMMARY

Professionals involved in child custody evaluations are sometimes confronted by the complex issue of one parent accusing the other parent of having sexually assaulted one of the children. There is scant research and theoretical literature to guide the professional in the evaluation of the alleged incestuous parent, or the attorney or judge reviewing such an evaluation. This paper describes the guiding principles of such an evaluation, how to structure the evaluation, methods used for data collection, interpretation of data, and the reasoning processes that lead to an ultimate opinion regarding the allegation. Hypothesis formation and testing is described. The form a recommendation should take given positive assessment findings and negative assessment findings is presented.     

Critiquing a Colleague's Forensic Advisory Report

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a protocol within which to frame a critique or critical review of a colleague's custody evaluation. While we think that the structure and logic of the following protocol may be applied to other forensic evaluations, our focus here is on the specific forensic specialty area of child custody and parenting access evaluations (CCEs).     

Using network analysis to conduct a system-wide program evaluation within a university

ObjectiveTo conduct a system-wide assessment using social network analysis (SNA) to examine how 14 important issues (e.g., consent; racism) are addressed through education, training, and programming at a university.MethodsEvaluators conducted interviews with campus departments responsible for educating/training on the 14 issues. Interviews revealed which programs (n = 52) were offered that addressed the 14 issues, and data on audience characteristics, date of delivery, and which issues were covered in each program were collected. SNA was used to calculate degree and create visualization graphs illustrating patterns of content-coverage across all 52 programs.ResultsThe average degree was 19.38 (SD = 9.70), meaning programs overlapped in topic area with nearly 20 other programs, on average. Most programs (n = 36; 69.2 %) were attended by audiences of 500 people or less. “Diversity and inclusion” represented the topic area with the most programs (n = 23), whereas “suicide” and “bullying/hazing” had the least number of programs (n = 3). Degree was negatively correlated with attendance numbers (r=-.310, p < .001), indicating the more a program overlapped in content with other programs, the smaller the audience.ConclusionsThis study supports the use of network analysis in conducting systemic evaluations of programs offered at a university, complementing the work of ongoing, local-level program evaluations.     

Instructor Active Empathic Listening and Classroom Incivility

Instructor listening skill is an understudied area in instructional communication research. This study looks at teachers’ active empathic listening behavior association with student incivility. Scholars recognize student incivility as a growing problem and have called for research that identifies classroom behaviors that can affect classroom climate. A total of N = 434 undergraduate students were surveyed about their observations of student incivility in their classes, their perceptions of their instructor’s use of active empathic listening and nonverbal involvement, class size, instructor gender, and estimated instructor age. After controlling for nonverbal involvement, instructor age, instructor gender, and class size, results suggest active empathic listening associates negatively with three types of classroom incivility. Both class size and instructor nonverbal immediacy also emerged as predictors of student incivility.     

The urban psychology of Stanley Milgram

Abstract

Although his obedience research will always remain Stanley Milgram's most important work, his involvement with the social psychology of the city occupied a much larger portion of his professional career. This article traces the evolution and intensification of Milgram's interest in cities, starting with his pre-professional years, through his early research at Harvard, culminating in his multifaceted engagement with urban psychology at the Graduate Center of CUNY. There, as head of the social psychology program, he was able to infuse it with an urban emphasis. He created and taught a variety of courses on urban psychology and got his students involved in a potpourri of experiments comparing behavior in cities and towns. Those experiments provided much of the substance for Milgram's seminal article in Science, “The experience of living in cities,” in which he also introduced the theoretical concept of stimulus overload to help account for the city-small town differences he and his students found. This article evaluates the overload concept and concludes with Milgram's overarching legacy for the study of city life.