TEACHING CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK SKILLS PRIMARILY ONLINE: AN EVALUATION

Abstract

This article describes an evaluation of the first skills-based clinical course taught in a Council on Social Work Education-accredited, entirely online, MSW program. Students in the online course answered retrospective pretest and posttest questions regarding change in their clinical skills. Researchers compared online students' responses to a standardized course evaluation with student responses on the face-to-face version of the same course. Online students reported significant increase in skills, and their final assignment and course evaluation scores were comparable to students in the face-to-face course, with the exception of instructor availability and facilitation of learning. Implications for teaching skills-based practice classes online are discussed.