Stephanie Brzuzy

Using Cooperative Learning Strategies in Social Work Education.

Cooperative learning strategies employ formally structured groups of students working together to maximize their own and other students’ learning. This educational approach changes the classroom environment from one in which students are passive recipients of the instructor’s knowledge, to one in which they are active participants in their own education. Cooperative learning strategies have received little attention in the social work education literature, despite proven educational benefits elsewhere. This article defines cooperative learning, reviews the educational theory and research that support it, demonstrates its relevance to social work education, and provides case examples for use throughout the social work curriculum.

Conducting Qualitative Interviews With Women Survivors of Trauma

Because victimization and trauma are significant parts of womens lives, it is important for qualitative interviewers to explore and chronicle those events without raising the womens anxiety unnecessarily or revictimizing the women. This article discusses concerns related to interviewing women survivors of trauma and presents guidelines for interviewing them.

Using Structured Controversy to Teach Diversity Content and Cultural Competence

Abstract Structured controversy is one type of cooperative learning strategy. It involves students in researching positions on topics and then debating each other. A unique aspect of this strategy is that students then reverse sides and argue the other position. This paper discusses the use of the structured controversy process to teach diversity content in the classroom. It addresses the advantages and barriers to using structured controversy, and identifies ways in which structured controversy can be used in the social work curriculum to teach cultural competence. The article also reports on an evaluation of the structured controversy process that was used in BSW and MSW classrooms. The findings from this evaluation suggest that structured controversy is an extremely useful technique for teaching diversity and cultural competence. The vast majority of students reported increased knowledge about and sensitivity to the concerns of people from diverse backgrounds.

Gender and Congressional Voting: A Legislative Analysis

This analysis of six separate votes on family leave legislation spanning three congresses and 15 key votes in the first session of the 103rd Congress found that gender plays a role in voting patterns. The social policy implications of these differences are discussed in this article.

The Vulnerability of American Indian Women in the New Welfare State

This article focuses on the unequal impact of PRWORA and TANF programs on American Indian women and their children in Arizona, despite exemptions from time limits on high-unemployment reservations. It discusses whether gaming, a controversial form of economic development in tribal communities, is a potential benefit to American Indian women and presents implications for social work practice and advocacy.