Presents a developmental vulnerability/resilience and risk/safety framework within the prevailing socioeconomic context for educating social-work students about intimate-partner violence. The framework uses a multidimensional perspective to understand development among individuals who are violent toward intimate partners, among those toward whom…

A discussion of cooperative learning in social-work education outlines its characteristics, reviews theory and research supporting its use, examines its relevance to social work, and provides case examples for use throughout the social-work curriculum. (Author/MSE)

Outlines a transactional model for addressing the underrepresentation of key areas in advanced clinical courses in human behavior in the social environment (HBSE), looking at social work's understanding of the biological and spiritual aspects of human beings. The transactional model is distinguished from other reductionist or interactionist models…

Presents a cultural framework for viewing alcohol/drug abuse to promote increased awareness among social-work students. The framework helps teachers illustrate the powerful role of culture in shaping behaviors in several cultural/ethnic groups simultaneously, and can be used to discuss cases and clinical problems in the classroom, compare cultures…

Social workers in direct practice rely on critical thinking to apply theories, make informed decisions, and explain their assessments and decisions. This paper defines critical thinking and discusses skills needed for its development, methods and assignments for teaching those skills to undergraduate and graduate students in practice courses, and…

Describes use of logic models to teach critical thinking skills in social work. By breaking down the helping process into parts, logic modeling enables students to approach the clinical experience as a whole and understand causal relationships between parts. Students are exposed to theory-practice connections and made aware of reciprocal…

Describes logic modeling as a tool for teaching evaluation skills in social work practice, research, and policy courses. Because logic models break down an intervention or program into parts, they inform evaluators about the kinds of results and evaluation data available, allowing effective and efficient assessment. Three approaches are…

This article discusses approaches to integrating course content on family reunification, the system of policies, programs, and services designed to reunite children and adolescents in out-of-home care with their families of origin. Suggestions, guidelines, and implications for integrating content on this topic of current popular and professional…

Ways in which social work students can be taught to evaluate counseling outcomes through direct observation are outlined, including monitoring of clients' opportunities as well as their responses to them. Deciding when to use this approach and developing scales for rating clients' responses are discussed. Case examples are provided from student…

It is suggested that social work education shift away from cognitively-based course content on minority groups and adopt a skills-based, affectively oriented approach combining classroom instruction and field experience. Case examples of methods to accomplish this are presented. (MSE)

A rationale and methodology for teaching about the spiritual and religious aspects of human behavior in social work curricula is presented. An approach derived from the field of comparative religious studies is described, and its implications for the personal and professional preparation of the social work educator are discussed. (MSE)

Five steps designed to take anxiety out of statistics for social work students are outlined. First, statistics anxiety is identified as an educational problem. Second, instructional objectives and procedures to achieve them are presented and methods and tools for evaluating the course are explored. Strategies for, and obstacles to, making…

Guidelines for learning and teaching structural equation modeling (SEM) in doctoral-level social work educational programs are offered. Essential ingredients of an introductory course, successful and unsuccessful methods of instruction, practical course organization, and integration of the material into the doctoral curriculum are discussed.…

The University of Southern California has developed a comprehensive model for teaching the increasing numbers of social workers practicing in occupational and industrial settings. The program's rationale, themes and objectives, and application across six courses and a field practicum are described. Also noted is the program's utility for…

A method is outlined for social work students to evaluate their own interviewing techniques. Students focus on their implementation of critical components of the initial interview in role plays, field placements, and class assignments. An interview checklist is included as a tool for operationally defining and monitoring interview components.…