Innovative Teaching in Social Work Education: A Collaborative Learning Technique
Abstract
Most Master of Social Work (MSW) students have dissimilar backgrounds, often coming from rural areas and diverse walks of life. These students encounter problems when there is no foundational social work course tailored to prepare them for complex graduate social work content. To enhance their general improvement, we instituted collaborative learning that enabled students to work together in pairs or small groups, beginning in mid-semester. We compared their midterm grades with final grades using paired-sample correlations and found significant increases in their final grades compared with their midterm grades. The collaborative learning significantly increased students’ understanding of new concepts and their grades.