TY - JOUR
T1 - A new methodology for assessing social work practice
T2 - The adaptation of the objective structured clinical evaluation (SW-OSCE)
AU - Lu, Yuhwa Eva
AU - Ain, Eileen
AU - Chamorro, Charissa
AU - Chang, Chiung Yun
AU - Feng, Joyce Yen
AU - Fong, Rowena
AU - Garcia, Betty
AU - Hawkins, Robert Leibson
AU - Yu, Muriel
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - The Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) methodology was originally developed to assess medical students. OSCE is a carefully scripted, standardized, simulated interview, in which students' interactional skills are observed and assessed. Here it is examined for its potential use in assessing social work practice skills. The development of the Social Work OSCE (SW-OSCE) and the Clinical Competence-based Behavioural Checklist (CCBC) are described. Findings from a pilot study assessing MSW students' clinical skills with explicit observable criteria of the CCBC are presented. A quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods data analysis was applied. The CCBC had high internal reliability, for both the overall sample and for the different case scenarios, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.888 to 0.965. The validity of the instrument was also examined: qualitative content analysis of the taped interviews indicated that clinical skills and cultural empathy are not synonymous. The racial/ethnic match between the student and the 'client' did not predict better rapport or more cultural empathy. Examination grades are not necessarily consistent with actual performance in either clinical competence or cultural empathy or vice versa. Nevertheless, the results provide some support for the use of the SW-OSCE as a tool for assessing performance in social work practice. They also indicate its potential for evaluating the outcomes of educational programmes.
AB - The Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) methodology was originally developed to assess medical students. OSCE is a carefully scripted, standardized, simulated interview, in which students' interactional skills are observed and assessed. Here it is examined for its potential use in assessing social work practice skills. The development of the Social Work OSCE (SW-OSCE) and the Clinical Competence-based Behavioural Checklist (CCBC) are described. Findings from a pilot study assessing MSW students' clinical skills with explicit observable criteria of the CCBC are presented. A quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods data analysis was applied. The CCBC had high internal reliability, for both the overall sample and for the different case scenarios, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.888 to 0.965. The validity of the instrument was also examined: qualitative content analysis of the taped interviews indicated that clinical skills and cultural empathy are not synonymous. The racial/ethnic match between the student and the 'client' did not predict better rapport or more cultural empathy. Examination grades are not necessarily consistent with actual performance in either clinical competence or cultural empathy or vice versa. Nevertheless, the results provide some support for the use of the SW-OSCE as a tool for assessing performance in social work practice. They also indicate its potential for evaluating the outcomes of educational programmes.
KW - Assessment of social work students
KW - Cultural empathy
KW - Objective structured clinical evaluation
KW - Outcomes of social work education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79551704632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/02615479.2011.540385
DO - 10.1080/02615479.2011.540385
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79551704632
SN - 0261-5479
VL - 30
SP - 170
EP - 185
JO - Social Work Education
JF - Social Work Education
IS - 2
ER -