Tsang, S.K.M.
Department of Social Work and Social Administration
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The Hong Kong University Master of Social Work programme is designed to be a soda/b sensitive and responsive programme to train competent and continuously developing professional social workers who can make contributions both to the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region HKSAR) and internationally. The values, knowledge and skills conveyed in the programme should enable social workers so trained to deliver social services to individuals, groups and the community in an appropriate, competent, ethical and humane manner, and be committed to self- directed 4/è -long learning to maintain the high standards achieved upon graduation. In view of rapid changes in modern societies and the increasing complexity involved in helping people to survive psychosocial challenges, there should be corresponding adjustments in professional training to keep up the necessary performance standard. This paper reports on the efforts made by a team of enthusiastic social work teachers over the summer of /999 to change an established Master of Social Work programme into problem-based learning mode and includes some initial feedback from the staff and students concerned Certain useful strategies as well as some points for improvement will also be discussed
INTRODUCTION
On 6 September 1999, over 50 new recruits of the University of Hong Kong (HKIJ) Master of
Social Work (MSW) programme gathered in the largest classroom of the Department of Social
Work and Social Administration (SWSA) to attend a formal orientation to their programme. It was the first time they met their fellow classmates and the teaching staff. Aside from the routine logistics, much of the time on that occasion was spent in introducing students to a new mode of teaching that the programme had adopted for use from that term onwards. The new teaching mode was Problem-based learning (PBL), an increasingly popular teaching method for training professionals, particularly in the human services field.
The HKU MSW programme was 25 years old in 1999 and it has been one of the most established and well-received social work training programmes in South East Asia. The decision for a complete curriculum reform was neither impulsive nor ungrounded, although it did take a certain amount of courage. Social work is a profession, the general purpose of which is to facilitate individual, family and societal development, to address social problems and to promote general well-being (Social Workers Registration Board, 1998). Social workers are particularly
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concerned about the interplay of problems among persons, social resources and systems. Over the past few decades, massive socio-economic and political changes over the world, particularly in the fields of information technology, have brought about remarkable changes in people’s living on a global scale (Jarman-Rhode, McFall, Kolar and Strom, 1997; Savin-Baden, 1997).
Social workers must acquire new knowledge and skills if they are to remain effective helpers and problem-solvers for people in need. The search for a best-fit model for social work education is a constant challenge for any responsible training institution.
As expected in most attempts at innovation, the curriculum reform team predicted much initial reservation, if not resistance, from students and colleagues. To smooth the launching of the new teaching mode, the team devised different methods to regularly collect quantitative and qualitative comments from staff and students. By the end of the first 3-month term we had obtained some ideas on how well the new teaching mode had been received.
Student Comments on the Programme Structure
1. Going “PBL” means I will not be doing any courses under that famous Professor in Social
Work? Why am I the first one to try this mode of teaching?
2. At the beginning of the course, I was very nervous about making presentations in English.
But my group mates have been very supportive as I struggled through my presentations. Now
my spoken English has improved tremendously!
3. Case learning feels “real”! I don’t have to “imagine” how theory is translated into practice.
PBL is “the” approach for adult learners like me.
4. Case A’s coverage on an area/skill was not enough. Can we organise self-study workshops to
further our knowledge in. that area?
Student Comments on the Learning Process
1. The materials obtained from books and web-sites are very different. It is not sufficient to
search knowledge from only one source. I need to do a more thorough search!
2. Presentation makes me feel stressed but I really know the stuff I am presenting.
3. Discussion is the gist of our learning. Our views are so mixed and sharing amongst us is
always very stimulating. But we do not have enough time for discussion in the tutorials. Time
management is always a problem. Sometimes we continue over lunchtime, or the ICQ.
4. My tutor should try to talk even less in our discussion. Although it is good for our
understanding, since it is PBL, we can try to learn more by ourselves.
5. Casework and counselling attracted me into social work and I plan to be a caseworker after
graduation. Through the PBL cases, I realise that micro intervention is not enough. I am
getting very interested in community work and social policy. I am now reading extensively in
these areas. Other classmates have other reading interests and we are comfortable with our
differences.
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Student Comments on the Social Environment
1. Classmate B is very organised and disciplined in time management. We are all learning this
from him.
2. I love my group members. We can be life-long friends.
3. I tried to involve a less contributive member. I have to work-through my frustrations towards
her. This is an unpleasant but probably useful lesson for me to learn.
4. I have never been so close to my lecturers. I was scared before. Now I like it.
5. Overall, our tutor is a very kind and helpful teacher. Her facilitation and general performance
are very good.
PBL Tutors’ Comments on the Programme Structure
1. There are still some gaps in the curriculum. How best could they be covered in an integrated
manner?
2. Some cases might be too complicated and students might be confused by too many learning
objectives. Some case assignments are not very realistic or useful.
3. Student participation in tutorials is not a problem. They are sometimes too active in the
debate and time management becomes a problem. The three-hour tutorials often took four hours or more to end. Students manage English presentations very well!
4. Many students use multi-media presentation in a matter-of-fact manner. Mastery of information technology and hi-tech equipment seems easy for them.
PBL Tutors’ Comments on the Learning Process
1. I am impressed by the breadth and depth of the literature search they made. Some of their
presentations are very up-to-date and provide useful references for me!
2. Some presentations are so obviously unsatisfactory to me and the students that the presenter
volunteered to repeat the presentation in the following tutorial. The improvement was very
noticeable.
3. How to help the less confident and less efficient students? Should it be my job or the group’s?
4. The students are so inquisitive that I have to spend extra time in course planning to feel more
secure. But I think I have been enriched in the process.
PBL Tutors’ Comments on the Staff-Student Relationship
1. I know each of the students in my group. Students really make full use of me as their personal
tutor (each student is allocated a staff member as his or her personal tutor for consultation on
personal or programme issues. This is a long-established but often under-utilised scheme of
the Department because some students are not comfortable with such a close relationship with
their teachers) and come for at least one session to have some personal chat with me. The
relationship is intensive, and time-consuming. But I feel a genuine concern for them.
2. I am more comfortable to admit my limitations to them and encourage them to seek advice
from other colleagues. It was more difficult to do so when I was facing a big crowd in lectures.
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According to many reports on the process of implementing the PBL mode in professional training, students’ feelings of confusion and anxiety were the norm rather than the exception, particularly for the first batch of pioneers (or guinea pigs, as they tend to call themselves) during the first year. Woods (1994) literally described the PBL process as a “roller-coaster experience in which significant swings in mood and confidence were reported. While the above comments by the MSW students and staff seem sketchy and perhaps not representative nor generalizable, they can be considered not particularly negative and even exciting, thought provoking and encouraging. Currently, we are at the point where we need to think about the MSW programme design for the new academic year starting in September 2000. Critical reflections on what helped and what needs to be improved are essential.
THE WIND IS BLOWING
Early Breezes
Social workers are professionals who have to constantly equip themselves to accommodate changes and challenges so that the same qualities can be developed in the people they serve. As early as 1974, the Hong Kong University Department of Social Work developed the Master of
Social Work programme to match professional requirements in Hong Kong, North America,
Australia and the U.K. The programme utilised the maturity and life-experience of interested adult-learners and polished these attributes through professional training to ensure graduates were committed and effective social workers. Since its inception, the programme has enjoyed a high reputation in South East Asia, and students are employed in significant front line and administrative social service positions both locally and internationally. The programme is offered in 2-year full-time and 3-year part-time modes (HKU Department of Social Work and Social
Administration, 1999). It attracts students with different first degrees (ranging from science, social science, law and arts degrees), work experience, as well as family and age background.
The constructive chemistry amongst very different students sharing a common interest and commitment for a helping profession cannot be underestimated.
Education Reform in Hong Kong
Education in Hong Kong has long been criticised regarding its structure, examination system, curriculum content and pedagogical approach (HKSAR Education Commission, 1999). Teachers from kindergarten onwards hurry their students through never-ending syllabi. Parents cannot escape the obligation to co-operate with the school to torture their children into first memorising and then regurgitating the “information” (not “knowledge”) in examinations because “success in studies” is culturally considered a promise for life-long success (MacKinnon, 1999).
Unfortunately, graduates from such training face tremendous difficulties in tertiary education and career performance, particularly in view of the massive economic and social changes in society as well as developments in information technology and its impact on peoples’ living on a global scale (HKSAR Education Commission, 1999; Jarman-Rhode, McFall, Kolar and Strom, 1997;
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Savin-Baden, 1997). Evidence of Hong Kong young peoples’ over-reliance on a surface approach to learning, passivity in class, inadequate creativity and lack of motivation and skills to learn has become so threatening that education reform blueprints covering life-long learning have been drafted and distributed widely for consultation since 1998.
In the case of social work education, there are similar demands to update training to meet society’s needs. In July 1998, the Advisory Committee on Social Work Training and Manpower
Planning (ACSWTMP) and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service jointly published a research report on “Employers’ feedback on practice among local social work graduates”. Albeit there are some limitations in its methodology, the report sharply pointed out crucial areas for improvement. To ensure effective discharge of professional duties, both social work new graduates as well as experienced practitioners require continuous input in practice intervention and evaluation, professional communications, and consideration of social problems from both micro and macro levels. The demand was reinforced in the summer of 1999 by the Social
Welfare Department (SWD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) when it listed skills in leadership and team building, planning and resource management, customer focus, professionalism, staff management and development, communication, analysis and decision making, and personal effectiveness as “core social work competencies”. The need for modern social workers to be, and remain, efficient problem-analysts, problem-solvers and effective resource managers amidst societal changes has thus become very apparent.
The Decision
As the frontrunner of social work education in Hong Kong, with 50 years of experience by 1999, the Hong Kong University Department of Social Work and Social Administration is certainly not ignorant of the changing professional requirements. Over the years of running the MSW and other social work programmes, and upon extensive consultation of the professional training literature, the Department came up with the following observations:
1. For current and future professionals, mastery of up-to-date learning and problem-solving
strategies is more important than mastery of knowledge;
2. Students, especially post-graduate students, are active, competent and motivated learners
capable of making optimal use of self-directed learning;
3. Students have the right and duty to work with teachers to design their own learning targets, and work efficiently towards such targets;
4. Students and teaching staff can work cooperatively to devise the most appropriate learning
package so those students are equipped to meet contemporary demands on social work
professionals;
5. Loosely structured cases create optimal learning platforms that can simultaneously meet the
demands of a professional training curriculum, entertain the specific interests of students, and
be ready for field application;
6. Integration amongst students, and between students and staff in PBL groups offers the most
natural teaching and learning experience to integrate theory and practice, for example, in
learning about group processes, and team building skills;
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7. Multi-format coursework and self-reflective journals are important adjuncts to written
examinations in appraising adult learning (Branda, 1990; Vernon and Blake, 1993).
Since the MSW programme is conducted in a self-contained manner by the Department, and has been well received by mature students dedicated to careers in social work, it was selected as the most strategic starting point for trying out curriculum refinement. In April 1999, problem-based learning was selected as the new pedagogical mode. As an instructional format, PBL is characterised by small group teaching, student self-directed study around carefully structured cases covering key curriculum objectives, and a faculty role as facilitator and tutor (Branda,
1990). Since its inception at the School of Medicine at McMaster University during the 1960s, it has become an increasingly popular approach amongst international professional training programmes. It holds the promise of being able to rectify some problems commonly identified in conventional education, like the passive involvement of students, content overload, poor retention of concepts, poor reasoning skills, and boredom with the spoon-feeding process
(Marchais, 1991; Norman and Schmidt, 1992). It allows for full use of the course format and process to optimise mastery of basic subject knowledge and the acquisition of relevant values and skills as well as skills in presentation, resource management and information technology.
The skills acquired in training are also readily transferable to the actual discharge of professional duties upon graduation. Students who are trained in PBL learn how to assume the initiative to search and use instead of memorise and regurgitate knowledge. However, some literature also supports the contrary view that there is not enough evidence supporting PBL to claim it as the best training mode for most professional training (Berkson, 1993; Brandon and Majumdar, 1997;
Schmidt, Dauphinee and Patel, 1987). Its application in counselling and social work training, particularly in the Asian context, has not been clearly documented. Therefore, careful planning and systematic evaluation of its application to an established programme with necessary staff expertise should broach new horizons to enlighten social service training.
The Efforts
In April 1999, some 10 staff who were interested in developing and experiencing different means of teaching and learning formed themselves into the new MSW PBL programme team. The team quickly organised themselves into 4 sub-committees. The management sub-committee took care of manpower and resource deployment. The curriculum sub-committee mapped out core components in the MSW first year courses and devised formats and schedules for case writing.
The assessment sub-committee adapted available and devised new methods of student and staff evaluation to capture all the targeted skills to be developed in the learning programme and process. Last but not the least, the research sub-committee compiled a battery of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect feedback from staff and students at different junctures and from different angles so that the full experience of implementing PBL in the MSW1 programme could be documented and accounted for. By June 1999, it was decided that virtually the entire first year of the MSW course, with the exception of the Social Work Research Course, would be redesigned and offered in PBL mode as an integrated whole. Cases in ascending order of complexity would be used to help the students progress from basic and core teaching components in the foundation year(s) to areas of concentration and advanced practice in the final year. Through this process, modern learning and problem-solving strategies, presentation skills
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and team working habits would naturally be cultivated in the students (Stewart, 1998). The experience of running PBL in the first year will inform the team to what extent the Year 2 programme should be reformed. Figure 1 presents the overall structure of the new MSW curriculum:
In the process of making this courageous switch, the programme team made full use of all available resources for reference. There was a very thorough literature review of the development, implementation and evaluation of the application of PBL in different programmes in different parts of the world (Barrows, 1986; Biggs, 1999; Branda, 1990; Hmelo and Ferrari,
1997; Savin-Blake, 1997; and Vernon and Blake, 1993). The team noticed that PBL was seldom run in post-graduate training and certainly not involving a mixed mode of full-time and part-time students. It was also more widely adopted and sustained in medical and paramedical professional programmes (like Dentistry and Speech and Hearing Sciences) rather than social work and counselling training (Jarman-Rhode et. al, 1997; Stewart, 1998). Problems typically encountered in the initial phase, and which for some lasted until graduation, included confusion, anxiety and even resistance from students and staff; lack of a firm grasp of or even adequate coverage of the core elements of the profession; unstable and sometimes unsuitable roles of staff; and lack of demonstrated superiority over students trained through more conventional modes.
Basic and core components:
Covered through PBL cases discussed in PBL Tutorials, Social Work Forums, assignments and exams
Basic areas:
1) Values PBL and IT skills
2) Social Work Research
(Remains as the only taught course)
Supervised Practice
Concentrations and Advanced Practice:
Covered by 4 Electives in two concentrations
1. Social Work Practice
Core Areas: a) Social Science Theories for Social Work
(Sociology and Psychology) b) Human Behaviour and Social Environment c) Theory and Practice of Social Work) d) d) Social Policy and Administration a) Social policy and administration
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More Supervised Practice
Dissertation
Figure 1: HKU MSW programme curriculum structure (1999)
The literature search proved very useful for the MSW programme team and enabled it to take action to avoid at least some of the potential pitfalls in the reform. An open attitude was maintained in the team so that differences in ideas were turned into creative energy, and team spirit and work pattern were cultivated in the intensive but productive planning meetings. The team was also very ready to tap into the PBL knowledge and experience available from colleagues in other disciplines in Hong Kong. Members of the team attended the HKU PBL interest group conducted y the Centre of Advancement of University Teaching. They benefited from the sharing and stimulation by colleagues who had recent experience of using PBL with local University students, alleged to be passive in learning and expression in class. Overseas speakers like Dr. Liz Farmer of Flanders University, Australia, were also invited to ‘train the trainers’ in PBL curriculum planning and case writing.
The most innovative (or “PBL”) spirit demonstrated by the team was that it tried its best to tap opinion from the consumers. MSW graduates were invited to comment on the pros and cons of the previous more conventional mode of teaching to shed light on what should be done in the new teaching mode. The team also consulted third-year medical students (who were in the first cohort to be taught using the PBL approach) regarding the dos and don’ts in starting to use PBL.
They also participated as students in a “mock tutorial” used to train our staff as PBL tutors. They were also invited to the orientation party held in early September to share their experience and to reassure the new MSW students about the excitement awaiting them. Their sharing turned out to be the most effective psychological preparation for the new students in helping them to venture into this unfamiliar mode of learning.
The “mock tutorial” was a useful and reassuring experience for the staff team. It convinced them
(all experienced social workers and teachers) that a rigid distinction between the “staff tutor” and
“facilitator” role (Maudsley, 1999) is not necessary. Given their training and experience as social workers and teachers, handling group dynamics is actually part of their day to day. Professional skill. Once the case material is properly prepared with appropriate structure and sufficient suspense to motivate students to learn, participation should be spontaneous and forthcoming.
According to the literature, proper orientation to the students is critical in enlisting their psychological readiness to enjoy the PBL mode of learning and to absorb their resistance and anxiety. A warm and informative orientation party was therefore held right before the term started to let the students meet each other and the faculty, and to quench their curiosity as to what to expect in the programme. The fact that the staff prepared many of the dishes probably also contributed to the sense of welcome! Aside from briefings by the programme co-ordinator, the existing MSW students and the medical students, each student was given an MSW handbook
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which detailed the programme structure, content, teaching mode, resources available in the
Department and the University, and expectation on the students. It turned out to be a useful guide for the students in cases of uncertainty, and a contract to fall back on in cases of controversy. In addition to the orientation party, a library orientation visit and hands-on IT sessions were arranged for every student to get them started on their self-directed learning journey.
In preparing assessment strategies for student and staff performance in the PBL mode, the assessment sub-committee noted that mainstream evaluation formats not only failed to capture the unique merits of the PBL approach (like cultivation of team spirit and co-operation amongst students; self-initiated search and use instead of regurgitation of information in examinations).
They might even negatively interpret some phenomena conducive to active student learning (like tutors apparent passivity, and responding to questions with more questions). The sub-committee consequently tailor-made a comprehensive assessment scheme for the programme. Students are required to write personal journals on a regular basis to reflect on their own efforts and gains as they learn through the cases. About half of the coursework marks are awarded for their performance in writing academic papers on different subjects within the curriculum. Another substantial portion of the grades are awarded on their written responses to a take-home examination set in the format of a PBL case. Although the usefulness of these new assessment schemes have yet to be demonstrated after their actual implementation at the end of the academic year, initial responses from the students have been very positive. They are convinced that the scheme echoes the spirit advocated in the PBL mode and should be equally reflective of the quality of the learning process and product.
In addition to the more formal or standard ways to document student and staff performance, the research sub-committee was also charged with the duty to answer questions on how suitable and cost-effective the PBL mode is in training post-graduates as professional social workers.
Research questions on learning process include: What are the MSW students’ conceptions of learning, learning process and learning approaches before, during and after training? How does the PBL process bring about conceptual changes as compared to more conventional modes of teaching? How effective or efficient is the PBL mode in doing this? In terms of the tutor’s role, research concerns centred around students’ perception of the role of tutors in the PBL mode compared to lecturers in the conventional mode, and how best could the teachers’ role be performed to facilitate student learning. As all MSW1 students are admitted into the PBL curriculum, comparison group design is not feasible. Changes in students’ perceptions and performance will be the main indices of movement. Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to address the research questions. Quantitative instruments included the Study
Process Questionnaire (SPQ by Biggs, 1987) and the Tutor Evaluation Questionnaire (Dolmans and Wolfhagen, 1994). The phenomenographical approach developed by Marton in 1994 will be used to perform qualitative comparisons using term papers on identical topics from the present and the previous year’s students.
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Challenges and Plans
The switching of the established H KU MSW programme Year 1 curriculum into a PBL mode was accomplished over the summer of 1999, and the programme sailed generally along its predicted course for the first term. While initial resistance and criticism from students and colleagues have not been as blatant as expected, the programme team is fully aware that it is too early to sit back, relax, and claim that the changeover is complete and successful. The team will continue to collect comments from all relevant sources, and follow-up the student’s performance until sometime after their graduation to see if PBL really outshines other approaches in producing competent, ethical and dedicated social workers. To make best use of the HKU MSW programme to train social workers, and perhaps social work educators, the team plans to add the following strategies:
1. Improve student recruitment by expanding the promotion network, but sharpening the
recruitment criteria. To inform all interested students about this programme, recruitment
publicity should reach potential local and overseas candidates as early as possible. The publicity materials should also introduce PBL as a teaching and learning mode so those students who are genuinely interested in self-initiated learning and teamwork do not miss the chance.
2. Design selection interviews in a PBL style to let students have a taste of the approach. Aside
from screening students’ academic records, language skills and numerical processing skills,
selection should also consider students’ potential in the mastery of information technology and
group working skills so that they can benefit more readily from the PBL approach to social
work training.
3. Carefully process and appropriately incorporate comments from students, staff and consultants
on the programme structure, case writing and assessment schemes. The programme team will
continue to devise innovative means to handle students’ queries about how broad and how deep
to go about achieving the learning objectives for each case and for the whole curriculum.
Improvements in case organisation and presentation, choice and sequencing of learning
objectives, as well as variations in case assignment format and workload can all be more
constructively manipulated. Explorations of the combined usefulness of information and
communication technology (like Web-CT teaching) and the problem-based learning approach
(Wong, Ho and Chui, 1999) should also be furthered. If the Department or the University
could deploy the necessary resources to enable some experienced MSW PBL tutors to
concentrate on case writing and programme development and research, the creation of an
empirical-based and theory-driven indigenous model of social work education could be
imminent.
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4. Launch individualised educational advancement plans for the students, especially ,for those
identified as not performing adequately at the post-graduate level, or who are beginners in social sciences (some MSW1 students held first degrees in science, law or arts etc. and have interest
but little knowledge of social sciences). Two counsellors of the HKU Personal Development
and Counselling Centre utilised their experience in running remedial reading and learning clinics
for university students to develop an “On-site Learning Clinic Project” for trial for some
Speech
and Hearing Science students trained in a PBL mode. The project includes a group-
administered assessment of students’ reading and learning characteristics, an individual feedback
and guidance session conducted by either of the counsellors a week after the group screening,
and a follow-up individual evaluation and feedback session after the student has followed the
advice for some time. This project will make screening results and remedies immediately
available to each student. These two counsellors have made an initial commitment to extend
the service to the MSW1 students in September 2000, and it will be most exciting to observe the
effectiveness of these enrichment attempts.
5. Continue to build up and share experience of adopting PBL in social work training, particularly
in the Hong Kong context where diverse cultural demands must be entertained in training and
service delivery. The programme team organised their experience in preparing and
implementing the curriculum reform into three presentations (Ho and Wong, 1999; Tsang and
Pearson, 1999; Wong, Ho and Chui, 1999) in the it Asia Pacific Conference on Problem Based
Learning, held in Hong Kong in December 1999. The mass of quantitative and qualitative data
collected by the research team will also generate issues for discussions in local and international
forums on education development. The Head of the Department of Social Work and Social
Administration has been invited to present the experience of MSW programme reform in the
January 2000 Social Science Faculty Board Meeting. More members of the Department have
been recruited to formulate PBL cases and to consider adopting the PBL approach, in frill or in
part, into the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programme. It seems the experience should
enable the programme reform team to remain active members in breaking new ground for
social work education in Hong Kong.
CONCLUSION
The deliberation involved in the decision to switch an established MSW programme from conventional teaching to PBL mode provoked the staff concerned to reflect even more thoroughly on issues of learning and teaching, and to work together for further refinement of the programme to optimise its training effectiveness. The process is challenging and demanding, but
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it is also rewarding in deepening the relationship amongst the staff members, and making it possible to expand their views and practices as university teachers instead of taking their respective styles for granted. While the benefits of the PBL approach for the students has yet to be demonstrated in the months and years to come, the stimulation for the staff during this process of change has been substantial and constructive.
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