Bachelor Of Social Work Program Research Articles

Undergrad and Over 30: Perceptions of Mature Students in a Canadian Bachelor of Social Work Program

ABSTRACTThis study sought to respond to the increased number of mature students in social work education and the understudied topic of their experiences. The research deployed semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore the benefits, challenges, and needs of mature students (N = 19) over the age of 30 in a Canadian Bachelor of Social Work program. Participant responses revealed multiple, intersecting factors that impacted their experiences. Pertinent themes included the decision to return to school, enhanced engagement, and motivation in the pursuit of their degrees as well as their personal challenges, strategies, and perceptions of ageism within the classroom and curriculum. The study found that mature students would benefit from the development of institutional resources specific to their needs including flexible scheduling, assistance with technology, and clearer guidelines for group activities.

Centering Racial Equity in a BSW Program: What We’ve Learned in Five Years

ABSTRACT In response to the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump and calls for antiracist action from activists and communities of color, our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program embarked on a process of curriculum revision. In this article, we describe our efforts to center critical and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) scholarship and to better align our curriculum with the experiences of students of color. While we have drawn from feminist and critical race theories, we have also borrowed concepts from literatures not typically associated with antiracism work, such as policy implementation and leadership/management. We present our ongoing work as a case study of, and methodology for, systematic social work curriculum change to promote racial equity and justice.

Identity coherence and differentiated life trajectories among social work students

ABSTRACT This research aims to describe the identity coherence and differentiated life trajectories of social work students according to their age of enrollment. This article reports analyses of a cross-sectional study with repeated measures surveying students enrolled in the first two years of the Bachelor of Social Work program between 2001 and 2019 at the University of Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada). Analyses of the responses of the 431 younger students (18 to 24 years old) and 125 older students (25 and over) showed that both groups of students had a similar profile in terms of their personal experiences, training, values and personal interests that led them to enroll in social work. Additionally, these students considered several alternative help-related professional disciplines at the time of their enrollment. Older students (25 years and over) seemed to be more certain of their choice to enroll in this academic program. These choices were based on previous professional experiences that they had integrated in their life experiences. These findings contrasted with younger students (24 years old and under) who seemed to be certain about their choice of program. In fact, their choice of social work seemed to be positioned as the obvious continuity of their pre-university studies.

Using Self-Evaluations to Explore HBCU Social Work Statistics Students Perceptions of Academic Preparation and Performance

Evaluation is an essential component in social work education. Student evaluations are a useful method to assess student and instructor performance. The study aimed to examine the perceptions of social work students’ views on their preparation and performance in a social work statistics course. The study consisted of 113 social work students admitted to the Bachelor of Social Work program at a small HBCU located in a rural community. In this study, a quantitative, descriptive research design was used along with a self-administered student evaluation, and SPSS to describe and analyze social work students’ perceptions of their performance and preparation. The results concluded the majority of students (72%) did not meet with their instructor to seek assistance outside of the classroom setting. Approximately, 80% of the students also reported not attending academic tutoring services, however, 58% indicated the need for improvement in their grades. To conclude, the findings of the study demonstrated that student evaluations can be used as an effective method to provide essential feedback to instructors.

Evolution over time in choosing a career as a social worker

ABSTRACT This research aims to understand the evolution over time of the choice of a career in social work and to identify the parameters that influenced the representation of social work. We conducted a cross-sectional study with repeated measures surveying students enrolled in the first two years of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program between 2001 and 2019 at the University of Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada). Analysis of the responses of 431 students aged 18 to 24 showed that most respondents were female. Gender-based comparative analyses suggested that male students entering in social work studies were older than female students. In addition, almost 66% indicated having a personal life experience which led them to social work. Overall, the main function of social work perceived by respondents was help (57.8%). However, comparative analyses showed this proportion significantly decreased between 2001 and 2010 (64.4%) to 2011–2019 (51.4%). This observed trend might be associated with the decrease in political or ‘social justice’ motivations of students in social work observed over the past decades in several countries around the world. This article is based on the first study conducted in Québec that attempts to describe the profile of students enrolled in a BSW program.

Implementing Observations in BSW Social Work Field Placements

The 2015 Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards require assessments of students' competence to involve observation in real or simulated practice situations. This educational case study provides the reader with real-world strategies for making observation of practice a reality in everyday bachelor of social work (BSW) field educational placements. The case study provides a blueprint for infusing an observational culture of learning, beginning in the freshman year and ending in earnest in the senior year of the BSW program. Specific implementation strategies are provided, allowing the reader to replicate this model in any BSW program, large or small.

Research Note—Program Evaluation: Enhancing Academic Quality and Program Integrity During Rapid Off-Campus Growth

By creating a program evaluation model that assesses multiple components from several perspectives, a social work division is able to determine the quality, effectiveness, and integrity of its offerings and support its mission to develop social work students for practice. This task is critical in supporting an off-campus program’s ability to navigate change and uncertainty in higher education. This research note discusses how a small, bachelor of social work program with a dual-delivery system (traditional and community-site) used the Council on Social Work Education reaccreditation process to adapt its program evaluation to ensure academic quality and program integrity during a period of rapid growth.

An experience based model for practice learning

Social work education in Australia is responding to the changing social, political and economic contexts in which social work is practised. The Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of Newcastle, Australia, aims to educate competent social workers able to deal effectively with the changing challenges of the work environment. This is achieved through an experience based model of social work education. This paper, presented at the 2nd international conference of the Journal of Practice Teaching in Health and Social Work in London in April 2003, provides an overview of some social work education issues in Australia. The experience based learning model employed at the University of Newcastle is described and discussed in relation to social work field education.

Enhancing student engagement through practice experience in social work education: the Social Work Studio

It can sometimes be difficult to engage students in ‘real life experiences’ within the classroom. In one Bachelor of Social Work program, the development of a Social Work Studio (the Studio) has provided students with opportunities to engage in simulated social work practice in a safe and supportive environment. This article reports on a small exploratory study of students' responses to a survey that sought their views and reactions to the development of this Studio initiative. Findings were analysed from a sociocultural perspective. They indicate that students' responses to the development of the Studio reflect their emerging constructions of the cultural world of social work.

Baccalaureate Social Work Education: A Developmental Perspective

This article explores the components of the social work education curriculum and follows the process of socialization by focusing on the student's perspective, using comparative data collected from interviews with professors and field instructors as the context for interpreting the findings. This is a longitudinal case study of a 3-year bachelor of social work program in an Israeli academic college. A developmental perspective on the process of professional education indicates that students begin their studies with an abundance of motivation, natural skills, and values. By the second year, they had enhanced their skills and reliance on use of self and knowledge. In their third year, they were both positively and negatively charged, with a stronger belief and confidence in their use of self and skills, but less sure of their knowledge and value base. Field instructors rely mainly on skills, but also on a firm value base and use of self, while professors use value, knowledge, and skills in similar proportions. The authors' discussion of these findings highlights implications for undergraduate social work education.

Preparing Social Workers to be Lifelong Learners

A constant concern for educators is how best to train the students. With the knowledge explosion and increasing complexity of the social problems, we have to look for ways to strengthen social work students' ability for continual development. Enhancing their lifelong learning competence would help them to face the future demands. To achieve this, the University of Hong Kong Department of Social Work and Social Administration ventured to use the problem-based learning (PBL) approach in some Year two practice courses of the Bachelor of Social Work program. This paper reports on the findings and shares some reflection on the experience.

Evaluating the Impact of a Hartford Gero-Rich Project on a Bachelor of Social Work Program

In response to the greater need for professionally educated Bachelor of Social Work social workers to work with older adults, a multipronged approach was developed and implemented to infuse gerontology content into the undergraduate social work curriculum at a large state university in Texas. Efforts were made to help ensure that curricular and organizational changes would be sustained for the long term. These initiatives were funded by and were part of the national Hartford Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work Education Program. A quasiexperimental evaluation was conducted involving four cohorts of social work students. Findings demonstrate success in changing students' 1) career aspirations, 2) perceptions of faculty's knowledge of issues concerning older adults, 3) perceptions of their own knowledge of issues concerning older adults, and 4) perceptions of older adults.

An experience based model for practice learning

Social work education in Australia is responding to the changing social, political and economic contexts in which social work is practised. The Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of Newcastle, Australia, aims to educate competent social workers able to deal effectively with the changing challenges of the work environment. This is achieved through an experience based model of social work education. This paper, presented at the 2nd international conference of the Journal of Practice Teaching in Health and Social Work in London in April 2003, provides an overview of some social work education issues in Australia. The experience based learning model employed at the University of Newcastle is described and discussed in relation to social work field education.

Potential Employers' Views of the Ideal Undergraduate Social Work Curriculum

Abstract Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) curriculum design is generally considered a collaborative process involving educators, students, practitioners, and employers. The social agency contributes in critical economic, pedagogical, and political ways. The literature is ambiguous, however, regarding compatibility of educators' and practitioners' views on curricula, homogeneity of perceived training needs, and societal changes necessitating curriculum revision. In this study, 77 agency personnel reported their views of 56 BSW curriculum items. The development of communication competence, the mastery of content on socialization and the small group, and the cultivation of basic social work values were commonly viewed as essential. BSW program directors, graduates, and potential employers generally had compatible views. Practice conditions—especially service position (direct or indirect), field of practice, and client age group—influenced curriculum priorities. Changes in educational priorities across a decade ...

BSW Program Administration: Directors' Perceptions of Their Power to Manage

Abstract A national survey of 299 bachelor of social work (BSW) program directors was conducted to identify management functions of director positions and perceptions of power to influence these functions. Sources of personal, structural, and institutional power were found to be important predictors of power for middle managers in academic settings. Findings indicated that BSW directors have varying perceptions of power to direct their programs and manage resources associated with departmental administration in higher education. This study supports the complexity of academic management and emphasizes the need to broaden social work education to help provide a foundation for administration in academic settings.

Empathy and the Anthropological Imagination

The experience reported here does not come from teaching within a social work program as such, but rather from teaching in a joint sociology-anthropology program with a student constituency that is largely oriented to social work. My small institution delivers undergraduate degree programs to some 1200 students in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It has no professional schools, yet many students, including the majority of those in a special work-study program at the university, see themselves headed toward social work careers. That special program welcomes about 100 freshmen each fall and is thus the single biggest Arts program on campus. For Nova Scotians, one route to social work lies in taking a Bachelor of Social Work program, and students can transfer into such a program after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree. Many go that route, since the university which offers the only B. S. W. program in the province is 300 miles away and Cape Breton is an economically depressed region.