Resources
Requested
Stipend
1 AY: $1,400.00
Stipend Summer: $400.00
Audio
Software: $100.00
Equipment:
$30.00
Materials:
$213.00
Student
Assistant: $857.00
I would like to enlist the talents of a student
with tech skills to work with me to digitize student
video demonstrations of interviewing skills. The
student assistant will also work with me to transfer
video clips to PowerPoint presentations. Additionally,
a faculty member teaching Theatre classes has agreed
to identify student actors to role-play with social
work students in simulating client interview sessions.
Total: $3,000.00
Project
Info
Start
Date: June 15, 2003
End Date: June 15, 2004
Milestones: If
funded, I would like to purchase equipment prior
to July 1, 2003 so that I can use the summer to develop
multimedia PowerPoint presentations to be ready for
the fall 2003 semester. This will allow me to familiarize
myself with the equipment during the summer months.
During the summer months I can devote ample time
and attention to the equipment set-up and can begin
revamping my course material prior to the semester's
start. I anticipate having a minimum of 15-20 PowerPoint
presentations ready for use prior to the semester
getting underway. I will also use the summer to put
the course on Angel. This will complete Phase One
of the project.
Throughout
the fall 2003 semester I will continue to add video
clips produced by students and develop additional
PowerPoint presentations. I will set up Angel bulletin
boards and chat rooms for students to respond to
the video clips viewed outside of class. In collaboration
with the theatre department, student actors will
be paid for “training” and “acting” in role-play
scenarios with social work majors enrolled in SWK
309. These video segments will be edited and digitized
by student assistants for classroom presentations.
This constitutes Phase Two of the project.
After
the semester ends I will evaluate the video taped
interviews submitted by students (an end of the semester
assignment) and, with students' permission, will
selectively add clips to enhance classroom presentations
for the fall 2004 semester. I will complete this
last phase by June 15, 2004.
How
would you use the equipment/software after the
Project?
I
will continue to use the equipment to develop additional/ongoing
multimedia Power Point presentations for SWK 309
in subsequent semesters and I anticipate applying
the technology to develop media presentations for
SWK 203 (Human Behavior Across the LifeSpan). I teach
SWK 203 in the spring of each academic year. I have
acquired numerous VHS film clips that depict issues/problems
related to life span stages for use in SWK 203. Using
a student assistant to capture and compress the video
I will transfer video segments into PowerPoint presentations
from my existing library. This will allow students
to view the clips outside of the classroom meeting
times and to respond to posted discussion questions
through Angel. I also envision use of the equipment
in other social work courses (particularly SWK 201
Introduction to Human Services) to introduce nonmajors
to the types of interview skills essential for social
work practice. Currently students are introduced
to practice skills through lectures and text readings;
the use of video would impart a more dynamic appreciation
of social workers demonstrating their skills as helping
professionals.
Deliverables
Angel/Course-Related: The
video segments in the PowerPoint presentations will
be available to students through Angel. Students
will be expected to view and analyze video clips
outside of the classroom meetings and submit responses
to posted questions. Students can play and replay
video segments in order to maximize their understanding
of the various skills and to better judge when and
for what reasons each skill is used to facilitate
the interview process.
Multimedia
CD: The
experience of reading descriptions about a range
of skills and then seeing these same skills “played
out” by professional social workers and peers will
provide students with visual cues and representations
not possible to achieve through text descriptions
alone. Observing both effective and ineffective
use of interview skills will provide students with
a beginning framework from which to develop their
own personal interview style and to better appreciate
the importance of interview skills for social work
practice. In classroom role-plays students experience
a shyness and discomfort when asked to demonstrate
skills they have been instructed in. Through my
use of the video and audio editing software, students
will no longer have to imagine how the skills described
in print translate to practice; they will directly
observe the application of the skills and can model
their own interview behavior after the examples
presented. The multimedia CD's will make it possible
to consolidate video clips highlighting particular
skills without the awkwardness of switching between
the materials on various VHS tapes and other CD's.
Power Point presentations will also be included
in the CD's.
Enhancement
to Professional Practices: I
have used only Corel Presentations on a limited
basis in the past. The move to multimedia PowerPoint
presentations will add a dimension of realism
to instructing students in the techniques associated
with the science of interviewing. When students
submit videos of their interview behavior/skills,
I can use narration to insert commentary behind
the action at specific points in the interview.
I can comment on both nonverbal and verbal
behaviors and offer points for consideration.
This will be valuable feedback for students
who are then able to review/replay the process
of the interview and consider the suggestions
that are targeted to detailed moments in the
interview. The classroom role-playing doesn't
allow for such comprehensive responses to students'
interviewing as the action can't be stopped
and restarted at will.
Paper
or Article: Journal of Baccalaureate Social
Work
Professional
Presentation: I anticipate presenting
this model for teaching interview skills at the
premiere social work professional conference held
annually (Baccalaureate Program Director's Meeting,
BPD). I will submit a proposal for presenting at
the fall 2004 conference scheduled for Detroit,
Michigan.
Primary
Objective
I
have been teaching SWK 309, Practice with Individuals,
Families and Groups since I became a full time member
of the faculty in 1995. I would like to deliver this
course in an entirely new manner by putting it on Angel
and by introducing students to video segments of client
interview sessions.
Attending
workshops and professional conferences over the past
few years has stimulated my interest in using technology
to allow students to directly observe the interview
skills needed for professional social work practice.
If given opportunities to directly observe the interview
skills being taught, students' grasp of the mechanics
of using the skills in practice will be deepened. Reading
about the skills and then viewing their application
to client interviews will reinforce students' learning
by providing both the cognitive and visual comprehensions
of skill development.
Requiring
students to provide video footage of “client” interviews
will establish the expectation that students demonstrate
this learning in anticipation of their work with clients
in the field internships that follow this course. As
a result of watching and studying video footage of
social workers interviewing clients and requiring students
to produce a video demonstration of interview skills,
students moving into the field to begin their work
with clients will already have captured some of the
learning that typically unfolds at a later point in
the field practicum settings.
With
student permission I will isolate examples of desirable/less
desirable interview behaviors (verbal and nonverbal)
for presentation and analysis in future classes.
Assessment
I
will ask students to complete a survey describing their
experiences with the new classroom technology. I will
specifically ask for feedback about the narration commentary
I plan to offer on their video demonstrations. I will
also solicit student feedback regarding the value of
the video clips in the PowerPoint presentations as
a means of deepening students' understanding and readiness
to demonstrate these skills on tape. I will present
the multimedia CD's to members of my department for
their assessment/commentary regarding the potential
impact of the technology for enhancing student learning.
It is also possible to survey field supervisors to
report on students' preparedness in the area of interview
skills (as compared with students who received classroom
instruction without the technological innovations).
