Building a Predominantly Web-Based Course from Face-to-Face and Interactive Video Pilots: Administrative Skills for Social Work Practice

SUMMARY

This paper describes the design, development, pilot, and revision of a predominantly web-based macro social work practice course on administrative skills required for all MSW students at Michigan State University, a Research I, land grant university. The course was intentionally developed in stages, first in a face-to-face (F2F) and interactive video (ITV) setting and then predominantly online after content revision and update. The course uses streamed videotaped lectures as a central teaching format, with extensive use of discussion boards and other interactive tools. The contributions made by the F2F and ITV iteration will be highlighted, along with lessons learned from multiple online replications.     

Engaging Students in a Virtual Classroom: The Use of Bulletin Boards in Teaching and Learning for Chinese Learners

ABSTRACT

Chinese learners, being influenced by Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC), exhibit unique perceptions and behaviors in a web-based learning environment, such as passivity in expressing opinions and uncertainty about their learning without a teacher's assurance. Findings in this paper reflect such influences in a web-based social policy course for Chinese students which made extensive use of bulletin board discussion. In addition, their involvement in it is associated with how they feel about teachers' concern about their learning and whether expectations and assignments are clear. The paper recommends ways to improve web-based teaching and to facilitate Chinese learners in this new learning environment.     

MEDIA AND HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT: CAN VIDEO GAME PLAYING MAKE YOU SMARTER?

According to the literature, video game playing can improve such cognitive skills as problem solving, abstract reasoning, and spatial logic. I test this hypothesis using the data from the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The endogeneity of video game playing is addressed by using panel data methods and controlling for an extensive list of child and family characteristics. To address the measurement error in video game playing, I instrument children's weekday time use with their weekend time use. After taking into account the endogeneity and measurement error, video game playing is found to positively affect children's problem solving ability. The effect of video game playing on problem solving ability is comparable to the effect of educational activities. (JEL I2, J13, J24)     

Souls on Ice: Incorporating Emotion in Web-Based Education

SUMMARY

Emotions have been neglected in education and online education, in favor of a heavy emphasis on cognition and rationality. This article explores the significance of emotion in learning and how recent research is identifying some pathways and dynamics in the way emotions impact on learning and on web-based learning. Online learners have not been considered as “emotional beings” and web-based education has not addressed this dimension in any significant way. A constructivist, emotionally-oriented (CEO) model of web-based education is introduced which emphasizes safety, challenge, and new thinking, and offers several strategies to enhance the emotional experience of learners.     

Lyme Disease: A Case Report

Abstract

Using a needs-assessment technique called story-boarding to determine characteristics of health promotion and wellness among university students is discussed. Storyboarding allows students to work together as they generate ideas and eliminates the territorial defensiveness that often occurs when new ideas are suggested. Sixteen graduate students in a health education teaching methods course demonstrated the use of the technique to identify characteristics of wellness for university students. In addition, they identified content areas and outlined key programs, services, personal habits, and skills useful for enhancing university students' wellness.     

Infusing Web-Based Content Centers into an M.S.W. Curriculum: A Faculty and Student Development Project

ABSTRACT

Web-based content centers are collections of scholarly digital resources that can be used to support learning in a variety of contexts. Through a recent pilot project, faculty created web-based content centers to support key curriculum areas of an M.S.W. program. Additionally the project aimed at developing technology skills of faculty designers and student users of course support materials. Positive student learning outcomes and increased faculty use of technology resulted. Project outcomes also included the building of virtual learning communities.     

Case Management for Community Practice

This article concerns an approach to supervision for statutory youth casework. The model involves caseworkers recording a video of their meetings with their clients and sending it to an external supervisor. The supervisor selects video clips. They then hold an online meeting where they review the clips, and the supervisor gives feedback based on a standardized model. The caseworker then uses the feedback in their future practice and the cycle is repeated. 16 statutory youth caseworkers and 6 supervisors from three municipalities in Denmark participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences with the video supervision and feedback model. The interviews focused on facilitating and inhibiting factors with regard to the use of the model. A thematic analysis was conducted. Communication regarding the law, giving clients space to find their voice, and paying heed to how each relationship was progressing were emphasized as central focus points. Advice had to be concrete and achievable and come from supervisors with statutory experience. Participants highlighted the significance of viewing practice directly via video footage. Film clips used for feedback needed to be short and well chosen. The technology, logistics and infrastructure, including management support, were important. Findings were used to develop the model.     

Abstracts

This paper describes a design for a course which aims to develop advanced practice skills in supervision and consultation for qualified social workers. The course model is based on an understanding of reflective learning developed chiefly by Donald Schon and recently discussed in this journal by Nick Gould. Some of the processes, risks and dilemmas for course members, course tutors and seconding agencies that are inherent in the course are explored through examples of reflection-in-action drawn from recent courses. Implications for the use of this approach with social workers' managers operating within a hierarchical organisational structure are explored.

The experiential element of the course, based on course members' work as consultant and consultee with another course member, will be developed more fully in a subsequent paper.

The potential usefulness of the course is discussed in relation to developing advanced practice in professional supervision, accrediting experienced practice teachers and, in an adapted form, enabling social work practitioners to develop a range of advanced practice skills.     

Coming out of the Therapy Closet: Women’s Disclosure of Same-sex Attraction in Counselling

“Coming out” is a process that same-sex attracted people undergo if they choose to acknowledge it to others. Minimal research exists examining the coming-out experience for same-sex attracted women in counselling settings. This qualitative study addressed the gaps in existing research by exploring counsellors’ perceptions of factors influencing same-sex attracted female clients to disclose their sexual orientation to a counsellor. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 counsellors from diverse clinical backgrounds. In their view, the main factors influencing disclosure were the perceived lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) friendliness of a service or counsellor; the presence of LGBQ symbols within services; using gender-neutral language; and the level of a client’s self-acceptance of their sexual orientation. These findings suggest that the utilisation of culturally affirming models by counsellors working with same-sex attracted female clients can create a safe environment for disclosure of sexual orientation.     

Efficacy of a Web-Based,Tailored, Alcohol Prevention/Intervention Program for College Students: Initial Findings

Abstract

Objective: Reduce college student at-risk drinking (ARD) using a Web-based brief motivational alcohol prevention/intervention called Michigan Prevention and Alcohol Safety for Students (M-PASS). Participants: Participants included 1,137 randomly sampled first-year college students, including 59% female, 80% white, and averaged age 18.1 years. Methods: Intervention group participants (n = 616) attended 4 online M-PASS sessions, receiving feedback tailored to individual drinking patterns and concepts from 4 behavior change theories. Control group participants (n = 521) completed a mid-phase survey, and both groups were surveyed at baseline and posttest. Results: Evidence of M-PASS's efficacy was found. The intervention was associated with advanced stage of change, lower tolerance of drinking and drink/driving, fewer reasons to drink, and use of more strategies to avoid ARD. Preliminary evidence of behavioral change was also found. Efficacy was greater for women than men. Conclusions: Web-based programs may be useful in reducing alcohol-related risk among college students. Further evaluation is needed.     

Teaching Students the Task Force Approach: A Policy-Practice Course

Abstract

In contemporary society, task forces are commonly used to deal with community-based social problems. Task forces develop, change, and implement policies at all levels of government, and within all types of organizations, including the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Unfortunately, social work educators have not been involved in teaching the policy-practice skills of working on a task force. This article discusses existing literature on task forces. Gersick's (1988) model of task group development is used to structure the teaching of the task force approach. An advanced policy course on homelessness is used as an illustration, and a recommendation is made for adjusting educational requirements to cross-reference courses in the social work curriculum that teach substantive topics and, at the same time, use innovative methods to teach group skills.     

Counselling problem drinkers and social work education in Scotland

The high incidence of alcohol related problems in Scotland and in the caseloads of Scottish social workers is noted. Exploration is made of the movement away from the disease concept of alcohol misuse and institutional treatment to an emphasis on counselling in the community. Social work education has neglected these developments. Barriers to successful individual counselling interventions are examined. These include deficiencies in course content, fieldwork, placements, organisational contexts and the attitudes of students, social workers, social work educators and fieldwork supervisors.

An examination is made of some models of alcohol related problems. Developing the ability of social work students and social workers to intervene successfully with individual problem drinkers includes highlighting the significance of much existing knowledge and skills, while considering some additional and specialised knowledge, accompanied by the provision of appropriate support and supervision.     

Implementing Web-Based Learning: Evaluation Results from a Mental Health Course

SUMMARY

This paper reports on the evaluation results of a web-enhanced mental health course. The instructional design of the course was based on the principles of constructivist and collaborative learning environments. Students strongly supported the use of web-based learning in this course and found that the online environment enhanced their learning. The benefits and disadvantages of web-based learning and the implications for future course development are discussed. Issues in implementing web-based learning in social work education are also identified.     

Family problem solving: A case study

Abstract

Working with the families of young offenders may often be the best method of helping those young offenders to change. Sometimes, however, social workers and others who work with young offenders are reluctant to work with family groups because they may feel that they lack skills in family counselling. This article presents a case study which illustrates a family counselling intervention. The case study uses Family Problem Solving, a method which involves the adaptation of mainstream social work skills to work with families. It is anticipated that the article might be of interest to social workers who work with families but who feel apprehensive about counselling family groups.     

A Child Welfare Course for Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Students: Pedagogical and Technical Challenges

SUMMARY

This chapter describes the development of a Web-based undergraduate child welfare course for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners. Rather than simply incorporate an Aboriginal perspective into Eurocentric pedagogies and course structures, the authors disrupt the dominance of Western ways of knowing in education by designing the course to situate Western knowledge as a way of knowing rather than the way of knowing and the frame from which all other perspectives are understood. In this research the authors describe the differences between Aboriginal and European thought and reveal how Web-based courses can be designed in ways that do not perpetuate Eurocentrism.     

Evaluation of a Web-Based Malaria Risk Reduction Game for Study Abroad Students

Abstract

Objective: Compare feedback strategies in 3 versions of an educational game. Participants: Study abroad students (N = 482) participated by playing the game and completing pregame/postgame surveys January–March 2010. Methods: This study employed an experimental design. Primary outcome measures were knowledge gain, player satisfaction, and risk perception. Results: One-third had previously traveled to a malaria-risk region, and two thirds planned to do so. Baseline malaria knowledge was low. Postgame knowledge and risk perception were significantly higher than pregame, irrespective of past travel status. The group that automatically received explanatory feedback following game decisions scored higher for mean knowledge gain, without differences in player satisfaction. Conclusions: The challenges of designing a feedback strategy to support Web-based learning make these results highly relevant to health educators developing interactive multimedia interventions. The increasing number of students traveling to higher-risk destinations demands attention. Both malaria-naive and malaria-experienced students would benefit from this approach to travel health education.

[An appendix to the article is featured as an online supplement at the publisher's Web site.]     

Paraphrase II

SUMMARY

Paraphrase -A multimedia listening skills training program is presented and discussed. Major elements of the program include a definition of paraphrasing, some of its advantages and disadvantages, techniques of paraphrasing, and an example of how such a multimedia program might be used to deal with a problem of interpersonal conflict in an organization. Graphics, text, video images and audio were used in the design of the program.     

Twelve-month-old infants’ physiological responses to music are affected by others’ positive and negative reactions

Infants show remarkable skills for processing music in the first year of life. Such skills are believed to foster social and communicative development, yet little is known about how infants’ own preferences for music develop and whether social information plays a role. Here, we investigate whether the reactions of another person influence infants’ responses to music. Specifically, 12-month-olds (N = 33) saw an actor react positively or negatively after listening to clips of instrumental music. Arousal (measured via pupil dilation) and attention (measured via looking time) were assessed when infants later heard the clips without the actor visible. Results showed greater pupil dilation when listening to music clips that had previously been reacted to negatively than those that had been reacted to positively (Exp. 1). This effect was not replicated when a similar, rather than identical, clip from the piece of music was used in the test phase (Exp. 2, N = 35 12-month-olds). There were no effects of the actor's positive or negative reaction on looking time. Together, our findings suggest that infants are sensitive to others’ positive and negative reactions not only for concrete objects, such as food or toys, but also for more abstract stimuli including music.     

Constructing and Implementing a Web-Based Graduate Social Policy Course

Abstract

This article reports on the construction and implementation of a Web-based graduate social policy course. In developing the online teaching strategy, the framework of a constructivist model of computer-mediated instruction was used to conceptualize the design of the course. The author used formative and summative approaches in pilot testing this course in cyberspace, with the intent of teaching it online later as a regularly scheduled semester course. The author contends that careful planning and critical thinking are paramount in computer-mediated instruction, if this method of delivering courses in higher education is to be successful and meaningful.     

Inequality in digital skills and the adoption of online safety behaviors

ABSTRACT

Cyber-safety behaviors are important in preventing the loss of an individual's digital assets and ensuring the safety of important daily online activities. Individuals’ cyber-safety is also critical for national cybersecurity. The issue is highly relevant for Israel, a country that relies on the digital capabilities of its workers for its major technology industries and is also often a target of cyberwarfare and cybercrime attacks. The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of cyber-safety behavior. We investigate the role of age, gender and education in the use of safety-related digital skills and antivirus software. Using a 2014 survey of a national sample of Internet users in Israel (N?=?1850), we found that age, gender, education and quality of access are associated with the level of users’ digital security skills. In addition, these skills and the frequency of conducting financial activities online are the main determinants of antivirus behaviors. Our results expand the understanding of cyber-safety by showing that social and digital disparities are reproduced in the use of measures to prevent online threats, putting the digitally disadvantaged at greater risk of becoming victims of online threats.