Using guided case-based learning to foster social work students’ child welfare assessment skills

Opio-Göres, Mary (2023): Using guided case-based learning to foster social work students’ child welfare assessment skills: effects of adaptable computer-supported scripts and metacognitive-reflection prompts. Dissertation, LMU München: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik

Abstract

Preparing students for child protection practice is a challenge in social work education. Exploring ways of equipping them with relevant skills and knowledge for assessment is an ongoing endeavour. One target of social work education is to enable students engage in high- quality assessment processes, learning how to evaluate different sources of information systematically and critically. A variety of instructional approaches have been employed to teach about the assessment of child welfare cases, including case-based learning. In this approach, so-called "cases" are used to introduce students to a wide range of scenarios, most likely to be encountered in a real-world. Digital technologies broaden the range of opportunities to realize case-based learning (CBL). With digital means, it is possible to present cases in different formats like videos for example. Guiding students through their learning processes with scaffolds such as computer- supported scripts (CSS) is also possible. By breaking down complex tasks into smaller ones and showing how certain steps can be undertaken, CSS make learning about complex topics manageable. For example, students can be sequentially guided to conduct a risk assessment, reconstruct a case, or define a problem when learning about child welfare practices. However, there is a fine line between providing the right amount and too much guidance. On the one hand, scaffolds should help students perform the necessary learning activities at a higher level. On the other hand, too much guidance may have a negative impact on students’ autonomy, self-regulation, and motivation. Considering these insights, a question arises as to how computer-supported scripts can be designed to provide necessary guidance while maintaining balance that they are not too rigid. Providing students with the possibility of choosing when and how they want to be supported can be a way of making scripts flexible. This way scripts are said to be “adaptable”. Nonetheless, not all students might have the skills to make adjustments effectively so additional support might be warranted. Metacognitive reflectionprompts can be used to stipulate students’ engagement in learning activities such as planning which might lead to better adaptation decisions. Building on research about supporting learning process form various disciplines, this doctoral thesis had three aims: 1) to examine if offering guidance in digital case-based learning environments could help social work students acquire knowledge crucial to assessing child welfare cases, 2) to examine the effects of computer-supported scripts and metacognitive prompts on knowledge acquisition, and 3) to understand how students experience and reflect about learning in such environments. With a mixed method approach, two interconnected studies were conducted. The overall goal was to gain detailed insights into how instructional support can be used effectively to teach about child welfare assessment. A 2*2 quasi- experimental study with a control group was conducted. Data was collected from (N = 104) social work students on five different university campuses in Bavaria. In study 1, the 1) type of computer-supported scripts (adaptable vs. strict scripts) as well as 2) type of metacognitive reflection prompts (generic vs. specific) were manipulated. In the control condition, neither prompts nor computer-supported scripts were provided. All participants were randomly assigned to one of the experimental (Guided Case-Based Learning) or a control group (Unguided Case-based Learning). In an online learning environment, students were asked, to assess four child welfare case vignettes with or without guidance. Building on the work of Förtsch et al. (2018) three distinct types of knowledge acquisition were assessed: conceptual knowledge, strategic knowledge, and reasoning knowledge. In the post-tests, students in guided case-based learning (GCBL) environments acquired higher conceptual knowledge scores than those in unguided case-based learning (UGCBL) environments /control group. Effects of guidance on the acquisition of strategic knowledge and reasoning were marginal. There was minimal difference between students learning with an adaptable or strict CSS. Learning with the former was but not less effective than learningwith the latter. Generic prompts and adaptable scripts were found to be single-handedly effective at fostering conceptual knowledge in the post-test, but not when combined. Interestingly the intensive use of the opportunity to adapt the script was associated with conceptual knowledge acquisition. This indicated that effects of adaptable CSS might even be increased if students are effectively supported in using this option. Taking the complexity of child welfare assessments and the short duration of the study, it can be concluded that GCBL is a promising way of equipping students with knowledge crucial to the assessment of child welfare cases. In this area, further research is needed to understand how scaffolds can facilitate the congruent use of conceptual knowledge, strategic knowledge, and reasoning during child welfare assessments. In study 2, a qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2019) was conducted. Responses from N = 70 to a reflection exercise about learning in a guided case-based learning environment were analysed. Based on overarching themes, participants acknowledged the complexity of conducting child welfare assessment. They attributed perceived difficulty to a variety of factors such as limited experience in the field of child welfare assessment. Dealing with uncertainty and the ambiguous nature of information in child were also revealed to be a challenge. According to some students, the GCBL environment helped them identify areas of focus during assessments. Others, however, perceived the step-by-step breakdown of the assessment exercise as an interference with their problem-solving. This study suggests that clear instruction, opportunities for interaction, and avenues for feedback can enhance GCBL environments or students' learning experiences. Specifically, this dissertation proposes that CBL can be an effective method of teaching child welfare assessment, particularly when guidance is provided. Besides supporting the knowledge acquisition process, scaffolds like CSS and metacognitive prompts can be used to foster students’ confidence in areas perceived to be challenging. An example of these is the ability to deal with uncertainty. Research is however needed to examine suitable means of achieving this.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Keywords: Child welfare, assessment, social work, case-based learning, adaptable computer-supported scripts, metacognitive reflection prompts
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften ; 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 360 Gesellschaftliche Probleme, Sozialdienste
• Fakultäten: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 12. Juli 2023
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Dorner, Birgit