Abstract
Effective social work practice requires strong writing and communication skills; however, social work students often experience difficulties performing academically at expected levels. This article presents findings from a student survey that was collected for two years to assess perceptions of the effectiveness of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) strategies on writing skills and social work knowledge acquisition in an introductory social work class that is taught every semester at a school of social work located in southeastern Florida. Students reported that WAC strategies substantially improved their abilities to write in the discipline and learn course content. Based on our findings, it is recommended that schools of social work infuse WAC throughout their curriculum, a process that requires cross curricular collaboration, intra-departmental support, and faculty commitment to course development and implementation.
Highlights
Effective social work practice requires strong writing and communication skills; social work students often experience difficulties performing academically at expected levels
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs provide pedagogical techniques that are promising for improving writing and critical thinking skills among college students (Bean, 2001)
This paper presents survey findings on the perceived benefit of selected WAC strategies and techniques on students’ writing skills and social work knowledge acquisition
Summary
Effective social work practice requires strong writing and communication skills; social work students often experience difficulties performing academically at expected levels. This article presents findings from a student survey that was collected for two years to assess perceptions of the effectiveness of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) strategies on writing skills and social work knowledge acquisition in an introductory social work class that is taught every semester at a school of social work located in southeastern Florida. Students reported that WAC strategies substantially improved their abilities to write in the discipline and learn course content. Students reported that the process of writing facilitated acquisition of social work knowledge These findings are highly encouraging for educators in our discipline, even though the high expectations for effective writing of this labor-intensive course challenged both students and faculty
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