Spring 2021 SOWK 487 Class 16 Weekly Email
Email sent on to SOWK 487
Tonight is the last night of class. I look forward to seeing all of you in a couple of hours.
Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Week 16 is the final week of class. We will be reviewing evaluations within group work. The readings for the week include Gant (2017), who helps to describe further what evaluations are for groups. This class session serves as a primer for the second-year BASW program that dives further into research methods. The majority of research methods that look into group work follow a qualitative design method. Preston et al. (2017) help explain some of the methodologies within qualitative research. Finally, Macgowan (2017) explains a specific type of group research design related to intervention research.
The agenda for this week is as follows:
- Evaluation designs for groups
- Difference between program evaluation and clinical evaluation
- What is a qualitative design methodology
- Intervention research
Reference
Gant, L. M. (2017). Chapter 29 - Evaluation and research design. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky Handbook of Social Work with Groups (pp. 527-534). The Guilford Press.
Macgowan, M. J. (2017). Chapter 32 - Intervention research in social work with groups. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky Handbook of Social Work with Groups (pp. 565-585). The Guilford Press.
Preston, S., Hughes, J., & Woodford, M. R. (2017). Chapter 31 - Qualitative research. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky Handbook of Social Work with Groups (pp. 549-564). The Guilford Press.
Unit Resources
You need to read Garvin et al. (2017) Chapters 29, 31-32
The presentation slides can be viewed through Notist on my website, where you can download them and follow along during class. SOWK 487 Week 16 - Group Work Research and Evaluation
View SOWK 487 Week 16 - Group Work Research and Evaluation.
Unit Assignments
A-01: Synchronous Class Engagement
Attend Class
A-02: Asynchronous Class Engagement
Meta: Points 5 points (1.25% of final grade); Deadline Friday 05/07/2021; Completion at Course Evaluations on My Heritage
Purpose: Students can give anonymous feedback to the course instructor.
Task: Students should go to Course Evaluations and complete their evaluation.
Criterion for Success: It is assumed that all students have completed this assignment.
A-04: Research Paper to Inform Group Practice
Meta: Points 100 pts (25% of final grade); Deadline Friday 04/23/21 04/30/21 at 11:55 PM; Completion Submit an individual paper via My Heritage Assignments which is connected to Chalk and Wire
Purpose: The Research Paper to Inform Group Practice is used as a Key Assignment for SOWK 487. Research regarding what makes services effective is constantly being conducted. However, social workers in generalist practice don’t always utilize the research to enhance the services they provide. The purpose of this assignment is to learn to apply knowledge gained by reading peer-reviewed journal articles and other quality sources of information.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2015) describes nine different competency areas for social work students. This assignment is designed to offer students the opportunity to demonstrate competency in subsections of two of these areas of competency. The first one is competency four, which states “Engage In Practice-informed Research and Research-informed Practice” (p. 8). Specifically, it will look at and evaluate the student’s ability to “use and translate research evidence to inform and improve practice, policy, and service delivery” (p. 8). The assignment will also be used to review the student’s ability to “Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities” (p. 9), which is the eighth competency described by the CSWE. The distinct practice behavior in examining interventions students will be assessed according to their ability to “apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with clients and constituencies” (p. 9).
Task: Working individually, students will complete a research paper regarding a facilitated treatment group. It is helpful for the student to select a group that they might be interested in providing in the future. The group can be on almost any topic. For instance, you may choose to research chemical dependency, sex offender treatment, sexual abuse recovery, grief and loss, parenting children with special needs, homeless teens, etc. The final paper will be 1,500 to 1,750 words in length. It should be written using APA format and strong academic and professional writing skills. A title page, abstract, written article, and reference page are all to be included. The paper will include a minimum of four sources that provide guidance for facilitating your group topic. At least two articles must be from peer-reviewed sources.
The final paper should include the following information:
- Discussion, synthesis, and analysis of the findings of the research
- Examination how the research findings relate to each other, it is helpful to look for themes in the articles and base your paper around those themes
- Use of examples about how the information provided should be applied to practice with groups
- Understanding of how to apply the information to the knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with clients and constituencies
Criterion for Success: This paper will be graded according to the Research and Intervention Practice Behavior Rubric and the APA Research Paper Rubric. The competencies will be assessed through the Practice Behaviors Rubric.
To Do Lists
- A-01: Synchronous Class Engagement Attend class
- A-02: Asynchronous Class Engagement Complete Course Evaluations
- A-04: Research Paper to Inform Group Practice Submit final paper via chalk and wire (assignments in My Heritage) due by Friday 04/30/21 at 11:55 PM.
- Read Garvin et al. (2017) Chapters 29, 31-32
