Course Description
Practicum offering doctoral students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor. Purposes of the teaching practicum are to provide students with teaching experience in a classroom setting and to provide instruction and feedback from faculty mentors who are responsible for the courses in which the practica take place.
Athena Title
Social Work Ed Practicum
Non-Traditional Format
This course is a teaching practicum. 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.
Prerequisite
SOWK 8227
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory)
Course Objectives
There are multiple goals associated with effective instruction that are important for students preparing to teach social work content. In planning the teaching practicum, the student and faculty mentor should identify several specific goals for development over the course of the semester. These should be derived from the specific objectives outlined below. At the conclusion of this practicum experience, students should be able to demonstrate the following at beginning levels: 1. The student will have an awareness of ethical issues in the classroom and will understand their ethical responsibilities as an instructor. 2. The student will develop different learning approaches that go beyond the traditional lecture format to include skills such as leading discussions, working in small groups, introducing collaborative learning projects, and developing active learning. 3. The student will develop competence in a wide range of skills that support his or her teaching (for example, developing course syllabi, choosing texts/readings, grading, and creating exams). 4. The student will develop an awareness of privilege, oppression, diversity, advocacy, and social justice-related issues in the classroom. 5. The student will become more aware of his/her own presence in the classroom, what image is being projected, including how formal or informal the instructor wants to be, his/her use of self-disclosure and humor, and what impact these qualities can have on learning. 6. The student will be able, at the end of the semester, to evaluate his or her strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. This can include a range of activities, for example, self-reflection, evaluating the level of thinking that students are applying to course content, relying on feedback from faculty mentors, and engaging in peer consultation to develop helpful methods of receiving evaluative feedback. Based on this evaluation, the student will establish goals for improving his/her teaching skills.
Topical Outline
- Teaching and learning style/philosophy/approach - Course development (preparation of syllabus, choosing texts/reading, assignments, bibliography, lesson plans, grading, and creating exams) - Curriculum review - Privilege, oppression, diversity, advocacy, and social justice- related issues in the classroom - Self-evaluation and reflection