Although social work, as a profession, has increasingly emphasized the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP), social work students do not consistently learn to infuse EBP as a process in their daily practice, contributing to low EBP uptake in the field. Communicating evidence to clients is an ethical imperative for informed consent and a…

Using data from a large full-time social work program, we examine variation within and across three measures of MSW student competency: field instructor ratings, classroom instructor ratings, and student self-assessments through foundation and advanced years. The use of multiple student-level measures with identical wording and parallel response…

In a curriculum mapping project, the mapping process of an MSW program is documented and linked with the Council on Social Works Education's 2015 "Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards" competencies. It starts with the background of creating a mapping process for sequencing and integrating a series of assessment tasks with…

Centering social justice into social work practice is vital to the profession, but both "what" and "how" to accomplish this task are pedagogical challenges in social work education. This teaching note introduces an elective course open to both Master of Social Work and doctoral students to develop holistic competence for…

Racism has a long history in the United States. For generations, people of color have been systematically oppressed, whereas White people have benefitted from unearned privilege. Despite major advances in civil rights, the ongoing presence and legacy of racism and White privilege result in pervasive inequities. Social work education prepares…

Within the last decade, there has been a significant shift in the field of social work toward competency-based education. This article details the use of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Adapted for Social Work Performance Rating Scale. We used the measure to evaluate specific practice competencies among students (n = 33)…

MSW [master of social work] field education in China has been adopting Western models. However, this adaptation cannot address all educational and professional training needs in China. This study used an exploratory qualitative study design and interviewed 54 MSW students regarding their field experiences at a university in Shanghai. Results…

Many social work students feel anxious when taking a statistics course. Their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors after learning statistics are less known. However, such information could help instructors support students' ongoing development of statistical knowledge. With a sample of MSW students (N = 101) in one program, this study examined…

Although the new Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) represent a shift from measuring learning outcomes to core competencies, results from assessments conducted prior to this shift continue to provide useful information for program-level assessment and can serve as a baseline as programs redesign assessments for reaffirmation.…

The understanding of the factors impacting MSW students' interests and motivation to learn child welfare competencies, and how they affect learning transfer of the subject is important for the development of a knowledgeable, competent, and committed workforce that serves children and families in the United States. Practitioners need to attain…

Objectives: Accreditation standards and challenges in group work education require competency-based approaches in teaching social work with groups. The Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups developed Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups, which serve as foundation competencies for professional practice. However, there…

Objectives: To evaluate an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) adapted for social work in a lab course and examine the degree to which it predicts competence in the practicum. Method: 125 Masters students participated in a one-scenario OSCE and wrote responses to standardized reflection questions. OSCE performance and reflections were…