James A. Forte

Teaching Statistics without Sadistics

Abstract Social work students generally dread statistics courses, and social work educators appear to share this apprehension. This article describes five steps in a developmental research project designed to take the sadistics out of statistics. First, statistics anxiety is examined and identified as an educational problem. Second, instructional objectives and procedures to achieve them are identified. Third, methods and tools for evaluating the course are explored. Fourth and fifth, strategies for and obstacles to making widespread use of this approach are considered.

Calling Students To Serve the Homeless: A Project To Promote Altruism and Community Service.

Americans’ participation in community and civic activities has declined over the last several decades. This article describes a project in which social work faculty, practitioners, and students cooperated to develop and implement a local, college-based community service project to house the homeless. The author focuses on the impact of a Service Learning Seminar-a one-credit course that combined academic and community service work-on students’ prosocial attitudes. He discusses the project’s theoretical basis, the research findings, methodological weaknesses, and implications for the future.

Symbolic Interactionism and Social Work: A Forgotten Legacy, Part 1

Social workers have forgotten their interactionist ancestors. This article is the first installment in a 2- part series designed to remedy this amnesia. Part 1 introduces the tradition of applied symbolic interactionism and reports on the historical and exemplary partnerships between social workers and interactionists. Part 1 also reviews the social work use of symbolic interactionism in the areas of human behavior theory and practice with varied size social systems. Part 2 reviews interactionist contributions to social work in varied fields of practice, to social policy and welfare, to research, and to professional education. An appraisal of the social work use of the interactionist legacy and a summary of resources from within and outside North America for revitalizing the partnership are also provided in Part 2.

The Teaching Record: A Framework for Teaching Group Practice

Abstract This article presents an innovative refinement in the use of group process records for educational purposes, reviews the history of Rothmans Committee for the Preparation of Teaching Materials, and discusses the Committees development of a comprehensive framework for teaching records. The teaching record fosters student attentiveness to practice context and complexities, regard for ongoing self-evaluation, and interest in cooperative learning. Teaching records also provide a structure for integrative learning through the identification, elucidation, linkage, and illustration of practice concepts and principles. The five key parts of the teaching record—major teaching themes, overview of group characteristics, group process record, teaching points, and teaching strategies—are described, and excerpts from an illustrative teaching record of a session with nursing home residents are presented.