Enhance Teaching and Learning

This goal builds on items identified as priorities during data collection. The IUSSW aims to implement a curriculum focused on developing effective social work practitioners employing evidence-based practices to meet pressing needs of client vulnerability and community justice. Another critical area of need is coordinating all of the School’s online courses. Online or hybrid courses across all campuses and programs must reflect a consistent scope of content and quality. An intentional coordinated effort will track them, help to standardize the courses with a consistent look and interface, and ensure they meet online course quality standards.

High-impact pedagogical practices and required course structures will be identified and integrated within curricular design, both for enactment in the classroom and through consistency in the online learning management system. The School will provide faculty responsible for developing or updating these courses with resources (e.g., e-learning, instructional design, time) to do so in ways that honor both face-to-face and online educational methods. It is important that the infrastructure for curriculum development and maintenance remains amenable to regular updates and flexibility for faculty influence.

Doing these things effectively requires clearly articulating the attitudes, knowledge, and skills students are required to master at educationally appropriate levels. It also requires ensuring curricular content builds on itself in a way that honors effective pedagogy and the needs of diverse learners and the social work profession. We will explore program enhancements for students to further improve their developing social work practice, skills, values, and knowledge in ways that simulate real life through relevant facilities, spaces, and course-embedded experiences. The IUSSW will improve mechanisms to manage syllabi, ensure core curriculum consistency, and effectively use our learning management system to maximize students’ learning. For example, identified lead faculty experts will develop and continually revise model syllabi and Canvas sites to ensure consistency in course content, provide support to faculty teaching the course, and ensure consistency of required course components while also allowing for individual faculty personalization.

With this goal, educational assessment activities of the IUSSW will also be enhanced to ensure we are maintaining a quality curriculum that results in desired outcomes for our students. To support expanded and integrated data-driven assessment activities, the Office of Educational Assessment will undertake some reconceptualization, beginning with the development of a permanent, inclusive, cross-curriculum and cross-campus Assessment Advisory Committee. In conjunction with the School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and curriculum committees, the Assessment Advisory Committee will conduct an initial review of all current assessment activities and generate a report with recommendations to strengthen and coordinate the School’s assessment processes and procedures to meet the needs of the university, the goals of our School, and the requirements of CSWE accreditation.