Academics at Griffith university envisioned a complementary learning and supportive relationship could be developed between Bachelor of Information Technology (BAIT) students and Master of Social Work (MSW) students. Discussions between discipline specific staff highlighted that each discipline had strengths and expertise that could assist…

Social work programs are grappling with changing students' attitudes about working with older adults. Our study aimed to understand whether adding a guest speaker working in the field into weekly content would influence students' attitudes about working with older adults. We conducted an exploratory study using a cross-sectional design with a pre…

The focus of this teaching note is on the use of graphic novels in social work classrooms. The article first discusses the unique learning needs of today's digital native learners. It then provides justification for why these books are effective in reaching students who are well versed in image data because of heavy reliance on and use of the…

Social work education has increasingly integrated simulated learning, yet there is a scarcity of quantitative syntheses on its effects. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of simulated learning in social work education based on outcomes from using either live standardized clients (SCs) or virtual clients (VCs). The…

Social work education is an academic discipline that prepares students to support individual, family, and community wellbeing, and to advance policies for social equity. Despite the increasing use of online education for social work, many social work faculty believe that online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs do not adequately prepare…

Social workers need to possess professional skills and personal qualities, often referred to as "soft skills," along with disciplinary knowledge, to be successful and to deliver high-quality client services. This study reports on the importance US social work faculty place on soft skills, the extent to which these faculty incorporate…

The use of virtual reality (VR) in social work (SW) and pre-service teacher education has become a promising tool for skills development for students. A review of existing scholarship was conducted to provide an overview of the current landscape of VR in SW and pre-service teacher education. This analysis focused on the use of VR in fields that…

Cognitive dissonance is an important element in adult learning in that it challenges previously held ideas in favor of new knowledge. In-class simulations and game-based learning are used as innovative and effective pedagogical tools in challenging adult learners and enhancing the students' ability to think critically about larger societal needs.…

Contract grading provides graduate-level students with greater control and autonomy within the learning process. The contract grading approach requires students to take greater responsibility for achieving course learning outcomes as well as allowing learners to adjust the style and focus of assignments to meet their own unique needs and desires.…

Suicide is a major public health issue in the United States and schools of social work have an important role to play in educating future social workers in suicide prevention. This article describes the results of a survey of BSW and MSW practice instructors (N = 259) exploring the strategies used to teach suicide content, including resources used…

Social work educators prepare students for practice mostly through field education as the signature pedagogy. However, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted this standard process. It forced quick decision making to various adaptations of, and innovations in, teaching and learning practice readiness for social work. As countries gradually normalize,…

Despite the growing importance of teaching about diversity and its connection to intersectionality, privilege, and oppression in social work education, few studies have examined whether teaching interventions could enhance students' knowledge of oppression. Thus, this study assessed the extent to which students assimilated content related to…

Transformative participatory approaches in education are positioned to challenge traditional models where instructors bear all responsibility for knowledge creation and learners are passive recipients of knowledge. The promotion of participatory learning and critical pedagogy is essential to helping professionals seeking to understand oppressive…

The use of ill-structured case examples as an instructional strategy to teach ethical lessons is well-supported in the literature, however, case examples often lack an emotional or affective component. Given the importance of crafting cases for learners, more research is needed to better understand how to construct and present case examples to…

Drawing from original and best practice research, this article proposes a model for teaching social work students how to practice with refugees using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a guide. Social workers globally must be prepared across the social work curriculum with best practice research and recommendations that keep pace with the…