Browsing by Subject "Social work pedagogy"

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    Master Social Work Students’ Explicit and Implicit Articulation of Theory
    (2022-05-31) McCarthy, Katherine M.; Bragg, Natasha W.M.; Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn
    Theories that explain Human Behavior and the Social Environment are integral to social workers' conceptualization of their role and practice. Scaffolding the capacity to recognize, apply, and evaluate theory, however, is not easy. Learning how to comprehend and accurately apply theory can be a real struggle for graduate students enrolled in a Masters of Social Work (MSW) program. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize patterns of how MSW students think about theory in the learning process. This qualitative analysis of 120 anonymous student responses to a case by students in an online MSW program explores the variety of theories students are explicitly identifying. The qualitative analysis offers insights into online Masters level social work students' ways of thinking and learning about theory. Bloom's taxonomy was applied to differentiate MSW students' use of theory. This study also demonstrates that students are not only applying theory explicitly, but often do so implicitly, perhaps without realizing so. By exploring how students construct their understanding of theory and how they vary between implicit theory usage and explicit theory articulation, HBSE educators can identify how to best prepare these students for their future careers.
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    Student and Faculty Perceptions on Feedback in a Graduate Social Work Distance Education Program
    (Taylor and Francis, 2022-09-04) McCarthy, Katherine M.; Wilkerson, David; Ashirifi, Gifty
    Online social work educators are responsible for fostering high quality academic growth experiences for their students. Feedback instructors provide to students aims to further this goal. The purpose of this study is to understand how social work instructors and students in an entirely online MSW program value instructional feedback. Open-ended survey questions were used to gather instructor and student perspectives. Qualitative analyses revealed similar themes. Faculty felt the main purpose of feedback was to facilitate learning, improve effectiveness of learning, enhance student social work capability, and foster engagement and connection. MSW students felt the main importance of feedback was that it fostered student development, assessed student progress, facilitated interaction and communication with instructor, and clarified misunderstanding. Contrary to the traditional role of feedback in on-the-ground programs, both MSW faculty and students felt that feedback in the online modality not only increased content comprehension but also influenced the student and instructor relationship. This study highlights the need to train faculty to deliver feedback that is consonant with distance education students' desire to experience connection and support as a part of their online education.