Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 4:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Social Work Education

Faculty Perception of the Effectiveness of Web-based Instruction in Social Work Education

Faculty Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Web-based Instruction in Social Work Education: Results from a National Survey

PURPOSE: Internet technologies are impacting social work education in many ways. While there is a growing body of research in this area, most research has tended to emphasize student outcomes for individual courses rather than for a total academic program. Many studies examine one technology and then compare it to face-to-face learning (Macy, Rooney, Hollister & Freddolino, 2001). This paper will present findings from a national survey that examined how faculty with experience in Web-based instruction perceived the effectiveness of this technology across the social work curriculum.

METHOD: An online survey was administered to faculty who had been identified as having experience using Web-based instruction in BSW and MSW programs. The survey asked faculty for their perceptions of the effectiveness of Web-based instruction, as compared with face-to-face instruction, in response to 49 statements of educational standards from CSWE’s Educational and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) for the foundation curriculum.

RESULTS: Paired t-tests were run on the 49 statements (indicators) from the CSWE standards, comparing the mean scores for perceived effectiveness of Web-based instruction with scores for face-to-face instruction. Faculty perceived that face-to-face instruction was more effective than Web-based instruction for all curriculum areas. Policy received the highest scores on effectiveness of Web-based instruction, with practice and field receiving the lowest scores using technology for instruction.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE or POLICY: As an increasing number of social work courses are being put online and new social work programs are being offered entirely through Web-based instruction, educators and researchers need to continue to explore ways to increase the effectiveness of Web-based tools in social work education.

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