Increasing the Capacity for Quantitative Teaching in Social Work Undergraduate Courses

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The proposed project would develop the capacity of social work academics across the country to teach quantitative research through a programme of 1-day introductory training sessions, two 3-day advanced courses which would be supplemented by follow-up participation in a small group focussed on putting learning into practice and production of online teaching resources to share and support learning for academics across the project. The proposal is intended to complement a parallel Curriculum Innovation project, but can stand alone. In phase 1 and 2 (2012-13) the RDI will focus on teaching and developing online resources for 3 pioneer Universities committed to developing the teaching of quantitative skills across undergraduate degrees in social work (Bath, Bedfordshire and Queen's Belfast). The aim is to provide specialist teaching in each year and simultaneously increase the use of quantitative data across all elements of the course. The project will therefore develop brief introductory workshops for all staff, and more advanced teaching and ongoing mentoring for lecturers taking the lead on quantitative teaching. In addition, an online web resource will be prepared for academics. During phase 1 this web-based facility will be developed in collaboration with the pioneer areas to bring together a variety of resources for academics, including teaching aides, assignments, key texts and interactive lesson plans or group activities. Phase 3 (2013-14) will involve the roll-out of teaching through three Introductory 1-day courses for up to 30 academics each and two advanced courses for up to 12 academics each. In addition, participants in the advanced courses will work in small groups facilitated by one of the co-applicants and focussed on putting learning into practice across the curriculum. Finally, in Phase 4 the web resources will be finally revised and made available to the whole of the social work academic community and the evaluation will be completed. The project will be primarily evaluated by comparing the knowledge and views of students and staff prior to the implementation of the changes, after the first year and then at the end of the RDI. The entire project offers exceptional value-for-money for the ESRC, as the commitment of staff and Universities allows the provision of training and resources at a fraction of their genuine cost. In addition, the Goldberg Centre undertakes to maintain and update the website on a regular basis until 2018 or beyond.