Samantha Wolfe-Taylor and Curtis Williamson, School of Social Work
Principal Investigator: Samantha Wolfe-Taylor, associate director of the Office of e-Social Work Education and Practice, School of Social Work
Co-Principal Investigator(s): Curtis Williamson, academic advisor, School of Social Work
Project Title: Creating High-impact Learning Opportunities Through Asynchronous e-Simulations
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract: The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare’s Grand Challenge (Berzin et al., 2016) to Harness Technology for Social Good calls for social work educators to reexamine their role in technology-innovated education, tools, and practices. Simulation-based learning offers opportunities for students to practice and demonstrate complex skills while creating space for implementing different types of scaffolding to facilitate effective learning (Chernikova et al., 2020). Educators employ high-impact practices (HIP) in the classroom with the goal of keeping students engaged in the course material and developing skills they can apply in other courses and beyond (Lieberman, 2018). However, social work educators have for the most part been inactive in developing curricula that support student knowledge, training, and decision-making on the adoption of technology for practice, (Wilkerson, Wolfe-Taylor, Deck, Wahler, & Davis, 2020), as well as in the development of online simulated (e-simulated) educational environments. Due to the field of social work education being called upon to harness technology for social good, and due the limited research on e-simulations in social science education, the Indiana University School of Social Work aims to lead the way in developing cost-effective, authentic, technology-mediated, high-impact educational opportunities that prepare students for “the real world.” This curriculum enhancement proposal will identify the need to develop and implement e-simulations for HIP in social work education, provide a plan for designing, implementing, and assessing the success of educational program in a social work mental health and addictions course, and identify how the Curriculum Enhancement Grant funding from the Center for Teaching and Learning can assist in the School of Social Work leading the way in high-impact distance learning initiatives.
