Search

Background: Good communication is central to effective social work practice, helping to develop constructive working relationships and improve the outcomes of people in receipt of social work services. There is strong consensus that the teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students is an essential component of social work qualifying courses. However, the variation in communication skills training and its components is significant. There is a sizeable body of evidence relating to communication skills training therefore a review of the findings helps to clarify what we know about this important topic in social work education. We conducted this systematic review to determine whether communication skills training for social work students works and which types of communication skills training, if any, were more effective and lead to the most positive outcomes. Objectives: This systematic review aimed to critically evaluate all studies which have investigated the effectiveness of communication skills training programmes for social work students. The research question which the review posed is: 'What is the effectiveness of communication skills training for improving the communicative abilities of social work students?' It was intended that the review would provide a robust evaluation of communication skills training for social work students and help explain variations in practice to support educators and policy-makers to make evidence-based decisions in social work education, practice and policy. Search Methods: We conducted a search for published and unpublished studies using a comprehensive search strategy that included multiple electronic databases, research registers, grey literature sources, and reference lists of prior reviews and relevant studies. Selection Criteria: Study selection was based on the following characteristics: Participants were social work students on generic (as opposed to client specific) qualifying courses; Interventions included any form of communication skills training; eligible studies were required to have an appropriate comparator such as no intervention or an alternative intervention; and outcomes included changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours. Study selection was not restricted by geography, language, publication date or publication type. Data Collection and Analysis: The search strategy was developed using the terms featuring in existing knowledge and practice reviews and in consultation with social work researchers, academics and the review advisory panel, to ensure that a broad range of terminology was included. One reviewer conducted the database searches, removing duplicates and irrelevant records, after which each record was screened by title and abstract by both reviewers to ensure robustness. Any studies deemed to be potentially eligible were retrieved in full text and screened by both reviewers. Main Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall, findings indicate that communication skills training including empathy can be learnt, and that the systematic training of social work students results in some identifiable improvements in their communication skills. However, the evidence is dated, methodological rigour is weak, risk of bias is moderate to high/serious or incomplete, and extreme heterogeneity exists between the primary studies and the interventions they evaluated. As a result, data from the included studies were incomplete, inconsistent, and lacked validity, limiting the findings of this review, whilst identifying that further research is required. Authors’ Conclusions: This review aimed to examine effects of communication skills training on a range of outcomes in social work education. With the exception of skill acquisition, there was insufficient evidence available to offer firm conclusions on other outcomes. For social work educators, our understanding of how communication skills and empathy are taught and learnt remain limited, due to a lack of empirical research and comprehensive discussion. Despite the limitations and variations in educational culture, the findings are still useful, and suggest that communication skills training is likely to be beneficial. One important implication for practice appears to be that the teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education should provide opportunities for students to practice skills in a simulated (or real) environment. For researchers, it is clear that further rigorous research is required. This should include using validated research measures, using research designs which include appropriate counterfactuals, alongside more careful and consistent reporting. The development of the theoretical underpinnings of the interventions used for the teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education is another area that researchers should address.

Universities in China's transition to online education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have spawned several research studies. However, studies exploring college students' technological skills, relationships with their peers and instructors, and collaborative learning experiences during the pandemic are scarce. Three aspects were explored in this mixed study: (1) changes in students' engagement in class and the main factors involved; (2) students' feelings and reactions during online learning; and (3) how students related to their peers and instructors. Data were collected through a qualitative survey supplemented by quantitative data about students' attitudes to online learning using the SAROL scale. This paper argues that online learning may not produce the desired results due to lack of interaction with instructors, no campus socialization or well-trained technology skills, and appropriate content for online courses and group work. The findings further revealed that online learning offers college students new ways to learn independently, collaborate and build relationships with their peers. It encourages them to reconsider ways to improve their technology skills, learning methods, communication skills and reconceptualize their responsibilities as team members.

Undergraduate and master’s programs—thesis- or non-thesis-based—provide students with opportunities to develop research skills that vary depending on their degree requirements. However, there is a lack of clarity and consistency regarding the definition of a research skill and the components that are taught, practiced, and assessed. In response to this ambiguity, an environmental scan and a literature search were conducted to inform the creation of a comprehensive list of research skills that can be applied across programs and disciplines. Although published studies directly comparing research skills in thesis and non-thesis programs were limited, the specific skills reported in each program type were similar. This viewpoint article identifies the following seven research skills that were most frequently reported across both thesis and non-thesis programs: critical appraisal, information synthesis, decision making, problem solving, data collection, data analysis, and communication. When contextualized appropriately, these skills can be useful for a student during their academic program and are transferable across a range of future career pathways. Broadening the definition of “research skills” can inform curricular updates and program development, independent of their program type, to ensure that students are presented with explicit opportunities to develop the skills needed to succeed in their educational and occupational endeavours.

BACKGROUND: Nursing students in the clinical setting experience a high level of stress. The understanding of people involved in nursing education, from coping strategies of nursing students with clinical stress, is highly important for any kind of planning in this field. OBJECTIVE: To explore the coping strategies of Iranian nursing students with stress in a clinical setting. METHODS: This qualitative content analysis study was carried out with twenty nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling at the Razi nursing and midwifery school in Kerman, in Iran during a ten-month period in 2016. Data were collected using semi-structured face to face interviews, and analyzed through Graneheim and Lundman's qualitative content analysis method. RESULTS: "Seeking well-being" as the main theme and three categories of "Active confrontation with stress", "mastering the mind and body" and "avoidance" were obtained from data analysis. CONCLUSION: The exploration of nursing students' experiences of coping with clinical stressors, increases students' awareness of their coping strategy. The academic authorities in recognizing the coping strategies of students with stress in clinical setting, can provide necessary training on effective coping strategies for students.

The aim of this study is twofold. First, we validate a scale to assess the quality of the university experienced by students (UnivQual). Three main dimensions are envisioned: (i) ‘curriculum’, which refers to the quality of the learning methods and the coordination efforts throughout the whole study period; (ii) ‘skills development’, referring to the skills that students might acquire and (iii) ‘services and facilities’ of the university. Second, we analyse the role of the aforementioned dimensions and their impact on student satisfaction. Results reveal that the ‘curriculum’ dimension is the main antecedent of student satisfaction, whereas ‘services and facilities’ do not play a significant role, although they are necessary to provide good service. The empirical application considers a survey of 2557 undergraduate students who finished their degrees in 2013 at universities located in the region of Catalonia (Spain). The paper ends with recommendations for university managers and public administration authorities.

Nurse educators are facing the challenge of creating new ways of teaching and facilitating enhanced learning experiences in clinical practice environments that are inherently complex, highly demanding, and unpredictable. The literature consistently reports the negative effects of excess stress and unsupportive relationships on wellbeing, self-efficacy, self-esteem, learning, persistence, and success. However, understanding contributing factors of stress, such as the student's experiences of uncaring and oppressive interactions, is clearly not adequate. The transformation of nursing education requires a paradigm shift that embraces collegiality, collaboration, caring, and competence for students and the faculty. This paper reviews the literature on stress and its effects on nursing students. Grounded in theory related to stress and human caring, this paper focuses on the clinical environment and faculty-student relationships as major sources of students' stress and offers strategies for mitigating stress while fostering learning and professional socialization of future nurses.

Remote Laboratories have become part of current teaching and learning, particularly in engineering. Their potential to aid students beyond their hands-on lab classes has been a matter of discussion in literature. Teachers and researchers are aware that the thorough analysis of both strengths and shortcomings of remote labs in didactical implementations may not only lead to the improvement of these resources but also of the pedagogical implications in engineering classes. The present study was carried out in a Higher Education Institution in Brazil in two different courses during three consecutive semesters where a remote lab (VISIR) addressing electric and electronic topics was implemented, yielding 471 students' academic results and opinions. These students' results (while using VISIR) cross-analysed with the course characteristics, reveal some factors teachers may tackle to foster student learning and motivation. The conclusions point to the need for VISIR interface modernization and showed it is more useful in basic courses than in more advanced ones, when dealing with classic lab experiments. Results also show that teachers' involvement plus their ability to brief students on VISIR's usefulness have a significant influence not only on students' performance but also on their perception of learning and satisfaction with the tool. In the analysed cases, the students with more learning needs seemed to be the ones who could benefit more from VISIR.

The paper outlines the potential for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to positively impact student success. This will be approached from a student life-cycle perspective, taking an integrated view of the student experience and identifying where AI can be most beneficial. Current usages of AI in education will be considered, in addition to those being experimented with and those still being considered. The paper will view the adoption of AI in education from a comprehensive perspective, considering technological, social, political, economic, cultural and ethical factors, providing a frame for understanding of the benefits and constraints of the most intelligent of information technology in the educational realm. AI has started to emerge in educational institutions in the form of chat bots that are being used to provide student services as well as providing learning supports. Automated paper grading has started to be used, while academic advising and assessment are being trialed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate social science doctoral students’ perceptions and attitudes toward written feedback about their academic writing and towards those who provide it. The study culminates in an explanatory model to describe the relationships between students’ perceptions and attitudes, their revision decisions, and other relevant factors in their written feedback practices. The investigation used a mixed methods approach involving 276 participants from two large mountain west public universities. The main purpose of the qualitative phase was to develop a background for a questionnaire and provisional model to be used in the quantitative phase. Structural Equation Modeling analysis during the quantitative phase provided an eight-factor model that shows the relationships of different factors regarding feedback practices as they relate to doctoral students.