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Evaluating the Outcomes of Social Work Education (OSWE) . Aims of the symposium . Disseminate the lessons of the OSWE project about the methods and research designs Disseminate the findings from the projects in England and Scotland Discuss a range of effective methodologies
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Aims of the symposium • Disseminate the lessons of the OSWE project about the methods and research designs • Disseminate the findings from the projects in England and Scotland • Discuss a range of effective methodologies • Address the challenges of implementing pedagogic research in social work education • Consider the future of outcomes based research
Symposium programme 10.30 Introduction and overview of OSWE project 11.15 Coffee 11.30 Parallel session A 12.10 Parallel session B 12.50 Lunch 13.45 Parallel session C 14.30 Workshops (x 3) 15.15 Tea 15.25 Plenary
Aims of OSWE project • To test the feasibility of outcome measures and research designs in evaluating Social Work Education • To generate high quality evidence about the effectiveness of methods of SWE • To build capacity and capability amongst academics, including service users • To use opportunities to compare and contrast practice between programmes
What do we mean by outcomes? • Change over time • Before – after designs (preferably with comparison group) • Something measurable
Collaborative capacity & capability building model • Peer learning through Action Learning Sets • Support, advice and mentoring, F2F, e-mail and and by phone (e.g. reviewing draft tools) • Site consultations • Proformas • Blackboard site www.ole.bris.ac.uk • Active engagement of a range of stakeholders
Outcome 1 (affective or attitudinal) I am interested in methods of evaluating the outcomes of SWE: • Strongly disagree • Disagree • Don’t know • Agree • Strongly agree
Outcome 2 (declarative knowledge) What is a randomised controlled trial? • Participants are allocated to ‘control’ and ‘comparison’ groups and T1 and T2 scores are compared. • Allocated randomly to one or more ‘experimental’ groups and a control group; T1 vs. T2 scores compared. • Frustrated researcher tells uncontrolled, randomised participants to get a grip.
Outcome 3 (self-efficacy) I am confident that I can design a methodologically sound evaluation of the outcomes of a SWE course. • Strongly disagree • Disagree • Don’t know • Agree • Strongly agree
Outcome 4(motivational/behavioural) I am determined to evaluate my course or module next year. • Strongly disagree • Disagree • Don’t know • Agree • Strongly agree
Outcome 5(procedural/knowledge organisation) I can analyse the challenges involved in evaluating the outcomes of social work education, understanding the relationships between the various elements …and I can demonstrate how to do it.
General lessons from the OSWE project(1: planning the work) • Support and time is needed to formulate an appropriate, specific research question • Selecting and/or adapting appropriate methods for measuring change can be challenging • Identifying resources for the research essential • Getting ethical approval from the HEI
General lessons (2: engaging others) • Getting support from colleagues/Head of Dept • Establishing the involvement of service users/carers • Student engagement needs to be negotiated and carefully planned (opt-out/in, timing, status, promoting learning)
General lessons (3) • The roles of teacher and researcher may be complementary or may conflict • Need to plan access to expertise/learning to analyse and interpret data • Finding comparison sites is challenging • Giving feedback to others in HEI about findings (and the implications for the curriculum) and about and methodologies.
Progress: On measures Video Self-efficacy Vignettes Concept mapping In working with users and carers Some way to go: In employing rigorous research designs Building the evidence base for SWE Overall
Thank you To our sponsors: SCIE, SWAP and IRISS Contacts: j.s.w.carpenter@bristol.ac.uk h.c.burgess@bristol.ac.uk Resources: Carpenter J. (2005) Evaluating the Outcomes of Social Work Education, SCIE/SIESWE http://www.iriss.ac.uk/node/88 Burgess, H. and Carpenter, J. (2008) Building capacity and capability for evaluating the outcomes of social work education: creating a culture change. Social Work Education, 27, 8, pp 898 – 912.