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Research Practicum Description |
Soc WL 582-583, two-quarter sequence to be completed by end of second year,
6 cr. total—Credit/No Credit
The research practicum provides students with supervised hands-on, practical experience with a member of the Social Welfare Faculty or Graduate Faculty member in a related discipline in an ongoing research project. Practica based in projects located outside the school must be coordinated and approved by the Program Director. Typical activities include data analysis, interpretation of results, and research report writing. Practica involve activities such as subject recruitment and screening, instrument development, and data collection.
The PhD Program Director assistants students each year to seek out practicum opportunities with Social Welfare faculty. Many students identify projects on their own, which is acceptable as long as the Program Director is notified and approves of the arrangement. The practicum mentor must have Graduate Faculty status (exceptions are possible by petition if a research scientist/faculty member has an appropriate project).
In selecting a project and formulating learning objectives, students are encouraged to use the Guidelines for Research and Teaching Competencies and the Social Justice Learning Objectives of the PhD Program to assess their level of research skill in several areas. Match of substantive interests is one criterion; however, students may consider projects outside their core interests if methods and analysis opportunities offer a good match. Students' self-assessments of research strengths and weaknesses can be augmented with input from PhD course instructors and advisors.
The primary objective of the practicum is to strengthen a student’s ability to synthesize various phases and components of social welfare research prior to undertaking dissertation research. The key to this is the ability to articulate linkages between the research questions, the data gathered to address these questions, the techniques selected for manipulating and analyzing the data, and the interpretation of findings and implications in terms relevant to the original research questions. While the research practicum may not expose students to the specific population or problem of greatest interest to them, the skills and competencies mastered should help prepare students methodologically to carry out their dissertation research.
Registration for the practicum involves meeting with the faculty mentor to prepare the Registration Form (SOC WL 582-583). The form serves as the course contract and syllabus, and typically includes the days and hours the student will devote to the practicum, research skills to be mastered, research tasks to be performed, research training to be supplied by the preceptor, and a brief outline of the proposed final written product. The learning contract must include a minimum of three learning objectives, which should in general link to the Guidelines for Research Competencies, and at least one of which must clearly reflect the Social Justice Learning Objectives. The contract (Soc WL 582-583 form) must be prepared by both the faculty supervisor and student and submitted to the PhD Program Assistant Director for approval at least 2 weeks before the start of the first quarter in which the practicum takes place.
The Director must approve the form before the student can register for the course.
The student sends the completed form as an email attachment to the faculty supervisor. The supervisor then forwards the form to the Program Assistant Director indicating approval of the plan. The Assistant Director obtains the Program Director signature approval and then emails the student with the codes for registration. The student must keep the email and use the same EC code for registering the second quarter (along with a new SLN).
(A detailed step-by-step outline for planning and conducting the research practicum is attached to the registration form.)
The practicum is based upon a mentorship model. The configuration of experience and therefore of supervisory responsibility will be negotiated between the student and instructor, elucidated in the learning contract, and approved by the PhD Program Director.
At the end of the practicum, the student and mentor should meet together to evaluate the practicum experience. The student fills out an evaluation of the practicum and submits it to the Program Director.
Soc WL 584, to be completed by end of second year, 3 cr.—Credit/No Credit
Many PhD students assume teaching or administrative positions in higher education after graduation, and teaching skills are important to virtually all leadership roles related to effective presentation, communication, supervision, evaluation, training, and mentoring activities. One component of the doctoral program's teaching preparation is this one-quarter educational practicum (typically undertaken in the second year) for the purpose of working closely with a faculty member to observe teaching methods and acquire hands-on teaching experience. Students often find that additional practica beyond the one-quarter requirement are helpful in preparing them for teaching roles.
Each spring, the PhD Program Director assists students in finding teaching practicum opportunities for the coming school year. Many students search out opportunities, which is also acceptable as long as the Program Director approves the arrangement. The practicum mentor should have Graduate Faculty status. However, in some cases students have learning opportunities with experienced teachers who are not Graduate Faculty; in such cases a member of the SSW Social Welfare Faculty could serve as the faculty of record for registration. This requires approval of the PhD Program Director.
The primary goal of the teaching practicum is to provide students with teaching experience within a classroom setting. The students receive instruction and feedback from faculty supervisors who are responsible for the courses in which the practica take place. Students’ practica will vary in the extent to which emphasis is placed on instructional time, course development (e.g., preparation of syllabus, assignments, and bibliography), assignment grading, and other curriculum review and planning issues and tasks.
Several areas of learning are important for students preparing to teach social work content. In planning the teaching practicum, the student and faculty mentor should identify several specific skills for development over the course of the quarter. These should be discussed in the Learning Contract and in the Summarizing Paper. The skills focused on in a specific Teaching Practicum should be derived from the Guidelines for Research and Teaching Competencies and the Social Justice Learning Objectives.
The following aspects of teaching are important for all students and thus reflect common objectives for all practica:
Registration for the practicum involves meeting with the faculty mentor to prepare the Registration Form. The form serves as the course contract and syllabus, and typically includes the days and hours the student will devote to the practicum, skills to be mastered, tasks to be performed, and training to be supplied by the preceptor. The learning contract must include a minimum of three learning objectives, which should in general link to the Guidelines for Teaching Competencies, and at least one of which must clearly reflect the Social Justice Learning Objectives. The contract (Soc Wl 584 form) must be approved by both the faculty supervisor and student and submitted to the PhD Program Office for approval at least 2 weeks before the start of the quarter in which the practicum takes place. The Director must approve the form before the student can register for the course.
The student sends the completed form as an email attachment to the faculty supervisor. The supervisor then forwards the form via email to the Program Assistant Director indicating approval of the plan. The Assistant Director obtains the Program Director signature approval and then emails the student with the codes for registration.
(A detailed step-by-step outline for planning and conducting the research practicum is attached to the registration form.)
At the end of the practicum, the student and mentor should meet together to evaluate the practicum experience. The student fills out an evaluation of the practicum and submits it to the Program Director.
Doctoral students are strongly encouraged to use services sponsored by the Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) and other teaching training efforts offered through the University and School (e.g., orientation for new TAs and auxiliary faculty). In addition, the PhD Program Office maintains notebooks on teaching resources (e.g., the UW TA Training Manual and a notebook on Teaching Resources).
As an extracurricular opportunity for teaching preparation, students are encouraged to approach Social Work faculty to request permission to sit in on BASW and MSW classes as informal observers. Faculty are usually quite willing to provide such opportunities. Each year, students should identify courses of interest to them as future teachers and seek out faculty members who practice particular teaching methods that they are interested in. The students then contact the faculty members describing the students' interests in the course/method and asking permission to observe a session (or more if appropriate).
Teaching opportunities as Teaching Assistants and Independent Instructors are allocated in accordance with the SSW Joint policy Statement on Doctoral Student Preparation and Teaching Opportunities.
Soc WL 515 is an elective that can be taken one or two quarters, 3 credits per quarter, can be taken at any time: Credit/No Credit
The primary goal of the service practicum is to provide doctoral students with service experience that advances their preparation for working in partnership with community institutions as a scholar. Most doctoral students will come to their studies with good experience working in community settings, in the roles of clinician, service provider, or organizer. The service practicum offers an opportunity to work in similar settings, but in the role of research or scholarly collaborator. Students undertaking a service practicum will develop specific skills for working as a scholar in community settings through ongoing reflection and consultation with a faculty mentor. Students’ practica will vary in content and expectations, making it essential for students to work closely with a faculty member to select and design a service practicum experience that contributes to their learning and development and does not simply replicate professional experience.
The primary objective of the practicum is to strengthen students’ ability to bring their emerging scholarly skills and vision to their work with community partners. Service practica will be established in situations in which the students’ presence is of service to community partners and advances the students’ development as scholars, researchers, and academics. Students will have faculty guidance in making the transition from the perspective of direct service provisions to the perspective of scholarly collaborator and explore ways in which they can be of service to the community, the field, and their academic institution.
The following aspects of service activities are important for all students and thus reflect common objectives for all practica:
Registration for the practicum involves meeting with the faculty mentor to prepare the Registration Form (SOC WL 515). The form serves as the course contract and syllabus, and typically includes the days and hours the student will devote to the practicum, skills to be mastered and tasks to be performed. Because the service practicum is by definition a collaborative undertaking, it is understood that these objectives may need to be adjusted during the period of the practicum, in response to changes in the goals of the community partners. Such changes should be documented and included in the final summary of the practicum experiences (see below).
The learning contract must include a minimum of three learning goals. Goals should in general link to the Guidelines for Research Competencies appropriate for community-based research, and at least one goal must be derived from the Social Justice Learning Objectives matrix.The contract (Soc WL 515 form) must be prepared by both the faculty supervisor and student and submitted to the PhD Program Assistant Director for approval at least 2 weeks before the start of the first quarter in which the practicum takes place. The Director must approve the form before the student can register for the course.
The student sends the completed form as an email attachment to the faculty supervisor. The supervisor then forwards the form to the Program Assistant Director indicating in the forwarding email that she/he approves the plan. The Assistant Director prints out the form and forwards it to the Program Director for approval, and then emails the student with the codes for registration.
(A detailed step-by-step outline for planning and conducting the service practicum is attached to the registration form.)
At the end of the practicum, the student and mentor should meet together to evaluate the practicum experience. The student fills out an evaluation of the practicum and submits it to the Program Director.
