Teaching evidence-based social work in foundation practice courses: learning from pedagogical choices of allied fields

J Evid Based Soc Work. 2012;9(3):241-59. doi: 10.1080/15433714.2010.525417.

Abstract

The field of social work is attuned to the need to incorporate evidence-based practice education into masters-level curriculum. One question remaining is how to integrate evidence-based practice in the foundation practice courses. Integration of evidence-based practice across the foundation-level curriculum coincides with the Council on Social Work Education's mandate that student's engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. Through a discussion of definitions, criticisms, and pedagogy across the allied fields of medicine, nursing, and social work the authors address the current status of evidence-based practice curriculum in foundation-level education. The authors incorporate the lessons learned from allied fields and a Masters of Social Work student's analyses of their experience of evidence-based practice learning to propose an adult-learner model to improve evidence-based practice pedagogy in Social Work.

MeSH terms

  • Curriculum
  • Decision Making
  • Education, Graduate / organization & administration*
  • Education, Medical / organization & administration
  • Education, Nursing / organization & administration
  • Evidence-Based Medicine / education
  • Humans
  • Motivation
  • Professional Competence*
  • Social Work / education*