Preparing social work students for the licensure exam: An online intervention
Editor’s Note: Stephen Cummings is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa, where he works primarily distance education. In this blog post, Stephen shares how he converted an onground licensure prep review course into an online course with live sessions to increase accessibility of the content for students. You’ll also find a link to his published work about the course in the post. You can find Stephen on Twitter at @spcummings.
Over the past several years, I have been providing an online study session to help MSW students prepare for the Masters-level licensing exam. The online intervention came out of a practical necessity.
A brief history: In the spring of 2013, several students approached my school’s faculty with a concern. Iowa, our jurisdiction, allows students to sit for the graduate level licensure exam during their final semester. As long as a student is in good standing (meaning they are not on academic probation and are taking the requisite course work for graduation), that student can be granted permission to sit for the exam prior to graduation day. This arrangement is intended to help close the gap between graduation and full employment, specifically in an environment where licensure is required. The students asked if the school could provide assistance is exam preparation.
The motivation for this request was understandable. This opportunity to take the licensing exam early comes at both a financial and emotional cost. Financially, processing the request to take the exam is not inexpensive. Students have to navigate and pay for multiple steps. Fees for requesting permission from the State, then scheduling the exam date, cost hundreds of dollars. The emotional cost is less quantifiable and more subjective, but the feedback from students over the years shares a common theme – finishing and graduating from the MSW program is exhausting, but the licensing exam is comparably stressful. In my first year as a clinical faculty, I had spent considerable time talking with students about the exam. In my faculty role, I continue to maintain my license, so questions about the exam are expected.
With the school’s support, I obtained access to the Association of Social Work Board’s group practice exam, and arranged a regular time to meet with students. The practice exam allows for an accredited institution to use web-based materials to review with students. The content is not complicated; a set of multiple-choice questions were provided, simulating the actual exam. Each item includes the correct answer and a brief rationale for each answer. We gathered for several sessions and talked through the items. I would make every effort to apply my practice background to the questions, answers and rationales to provide more context for the students.
While the first series of sessions were strictly face-to-face and in-person, we needed to reach more students. We have several MSW program centers throughout the state, and expecting students to travel to one site to join an in-person session was simply not possible or fair. I moved the sessions to an entirely online environment, and scheduled several one-hour evening sessions in order to allow more opportunity for students to attend. Also, I streamlined several steps to help make participation easier:
- I set up a non-credit, non-graded course in our learning management system (LMS), one that was not connected to another credit-based course. I used this course to schedule of five live online sessions.
- I created several modules to provide information relevant to the exam including a module devoted the steps needed to apply for licensure, one focused on the content of the exam, and one providing information on resources to help prepare for the exam.
- Students who were in their final semester in good standing were automatically enrolled in the course.
- While the sessions did not provide credit towards graduation, the sessions were free to access, as long as students could attend live for any of the five one-hour sessions.
- Each of the live sessions followed a set format: A review the question and of the four possible answers. Then, a poll was opened within the Zoom platform; students were given 60 seconds to respond anonymously. Results of the poll are reviewed and students provided discussion on their rationale. Then, the answer is revealed, followed by further discussion.
Sometimes, questions are evident; other times, particularly when the questions center around ethical dilemmas, follow-up discussion would engage the group for several minutes. Regardless of the difficulty of the question, we could anticipate completing at least 10 test items during each session.
After completing these sessions, a student gave me some concerning feedback: “After going through these questions with you, I feel even more anxious.” Other students echoed similar concerns. While I assumed holding review sessions would be helpful, exposure to the content may have been counter-intuitive. To seek further insight into this, a formal pre- and post-test was arranged. Results of this study are published here; in summary, the sessions did help with preparing for the exam. However, a number of students reported very high levels of anxiety both pre- and post-test.
Going forward, we plan to incorporate additional content on how best to address this concern include the possibility of weaving anxiety-reducing techniques throughout the modules, or adding a session focused entirely on anxiety-reduction techniques.
How does your social work program prepare students for the licensure exam, especially for students in online courses or programs? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
References:
Coohey, C. & Cummings, S.P. (2019) Evaluation of an Online Group Intervention to Improve Test-Taking Self-Efficacy and Reduce Licensure Test Anxiety, Journal of Social Work Education, 55:2, 376-388, DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2018.1520668
How to Cite this Blog Post:
Cummings, S. (2019, July 24). Preparing social work students for the licensure exam: An online intervention [Blog Post]. Retrieved from: https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2019/07/24/preparing-social-work-students-for-the-licensure-exam:-an-online-intervention/.
