Most research courses that I have taken focus on teaching about the process of research (see graphic) - and expect what I refer to as "research as a second language" to be picked up along the way....I have decided to take a different approach with my own teaching approach...in great part to attempt to reduce student anxiety by acknowledging that research is a second language from the start.
The importance of demystification and translation in teaching social work research
Elspeth Slayter, Ph.D., M.S.W., School of Social Work, Salem State University
This essay addresses my evolving pedagogical philosophy for teaching research methods to graduate level social work students, particularly first-generation graduate students with some work experience. Over the past two years, I have observed my students entering class with emotions that range from anxiety to disdain with respect to their need to take this required course. Since my own experience as a somewhat recalcitrant graduate social work research student a decade ago, I have valued the importance of a humorous, supportive and down-to-earth teaching approach in research courses. While my students do not always share my humor, they do respond to my efforts to “demystify” what research consists of, how it is created and what it really means. Key in this effort is a constant “translation” process which makes the language of research into more accessible and familiar terms that students can embrace while developing basic skills in both the interpretation and creation of research. As the semester unfolds, my efforts to help students translate between their worlds of work and the language of research result in the end product of “demystification.”
Engagement: “Start where the client is:” Across the country, social work instructors all face the challenge of teaching applied research to an often resistant and fearful audience (Green, Bretzin, Leininger, and Stauffer (2001 ). Much of my work involves taking a supportive, “cheerleading/coaching” approach at the start of the semester, especially during the first class. Beginning with my first contact with students (in the classroom or on a coffee break) I am mindful of the social work adage “start where the client is.” Specifically, my first step involves assessing both my students’ feelings about the course (as an engagement tool) and their knowledge level (in order to pitch my lecture to the right level). Generally, students indicate that they are “anxious,” “fearful” or “upset” about the course. Moving into my second step, I use these responses to frame my next steps by talking about the measurement of feelings in research (e.g. “how do you measure anxiety? Here’s how several researchers have ‘operationalized’ this concept. Now that’s a big word, let’s break it down. See, you get this stuff!”). Key to this process is the use of humor to quell anxiety, bust stereotypes and begin to help students to build their competency in research methods. Often, my third step involves a group conversation involving working with each student in front of the class to think about the ways in which research impacts their lives, even if they do not conceptualize it as such. As the anxious shoulders drop and the furrowed brows relax a bit, I move into my fourth step, the provision of a detailed narrative of the syllabus and course requirements, focusing on how each topic relates to social work practice. Finally, I spend a significant amount of time in the first two weeks helping students to identify areas of passion – both positive (“what do you love about social work practice?”) and negative (“what bothers you most about your field of practice?”).
Translation: Making it real (and keeping it real): Much of the pedagogical literature on teaching this course to social work students supports the use of applied projects that “make research real” (Jackson & Sedehi, 1998; Sells, and Smith, 1997) . The primary way in which I prepare to “make research real” for my students involves both the conduct of actual short-term (e.g. 30-minute ethnographic observations, assessments of clinical scales used in agency settings) and semester-long research projects (e.g. research proposal development and/or implementation) which are focused on students’ experiences in their field placements. These assignments are key to the process of “translation” and they allow students to understand “the language of research” in their own terms. I also find that students do better on these tasks if they are not functioning on their own, which supports my belief in the power of cooperative learning (Garrett, 1998 ). Further, the use of short-term projects allows me to “prime the pump” for class discussions. Throughout the semester, my students generally comment that while “it was a pain” to conduct short-term projects each week, they felt that they had engaged with the material in a more in-depth manner, and that they achieved more mastery of the concepts taught. I often include small, group collaborative exercises in each class which allows for the development of confidence and the ability to compare notes. Each class session ends with each group talking about their goals and work plan for the coming week, allowing students to share ideas and problem-solving strategies.
Demystification: A process that unfolds slowly: While much of the remainder of the semester involves the recycling of the techniques described above, I am always careful to conduct regular “temperature checks” related to how students are feeling. Often, this involves asking students to reflect on what they have learned since the start of the semester. Alternately, this can involve something as simple as supporting students in the process of navigating course materials, discussions and assignments by using humor in asking questions such as “OK, so on a scale of 1-5, how clear was that? Clear as mud? Clear as the blue sky? Or somewhere in between? You may feel anxious about understanding this now, but remember how you were able to finally understand the difference between independent and dependent variables? You can do this.” I have also begun to institute the use of non-graded self-assessment techniques (both in class and via WebCT) to gauge mastery of basic concepts and areas in which additional instructional support might be needed. Finally, while research may not have been completely demystified by in my course, I end the semester with an informal wrap-up assessment targeted at showing students just what it is they have learned.
i. Green, R., Bretzin, A., Leininger, C. and Stauffer, R. (2001) Research learning attributes of graduate students in social work, psychology and business. Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 37, Issue 2
ii. Jackson, A. and Sedehi, J. (1998) Homevisiting: Teaching direct practice skills through a research project. Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 34 Issue 2. and Sells, S. and Smith, T. (1997) Teaching ethnographic research methods in social work: A model course. Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 33, Issue 1.
iii. Garrett, K. (1998) Cooperative learning in social work research courses: Helping students help one another. Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 34, Issue 2.
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