Abstract
The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Social Work student body is predominantly enrolled online which can be isolating for students, poses challenges to academics for student engagement and is a student retention challenge for the School. This chapter reports on the evaluation of a strategy referred to as ‘student dinners’ and explores the potential of this initiative to address these challenges.
The student dinners are offered in association with field education liaison visits and they supplement the face-to-face contact online students experience through residential schools and liaison contacts. The student dinners are sometimes lunches or drinks and snacks, at other times an evening meal.
The evaluation of the student dinners initiative began some years after their inception. De-identified emailed responses from students addressed the open queries in relation to what was useful, and not useful about the dinners and invited suggestions from students about this initiative. The evaluation draws on themes from the student feedback and from literature about online education. The students reported benefits including: the opportunity to meet staff and other students, improved motivation to continue their studies, reduced isolation, a contribution to their developing social work identity and a contribution to developing a community of practice.
The student dinners are offered in association with field education liaison visits and they supplement the face-to-face contact online students experience through residential schools and liaison contacts. The student dinners are sometimes lunches or drinks and snacks, at other times an evening meal.
The evaluation of the student dinners initiative began some years after their inception. De-identified emailed responses from students addressed the open queries in relation to what was useful, and not useful about the dinners and invited suggestions from students about this initiative. The evaluation draws on themes from the student feedback and from literature about online education. The students reported benefits including: the opportunity to meet staff and other students, improved motivation to continue their studies, reduced isolation, a contribution to their developing social work identity and a contribution to developing a community of practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Social work |
| Subtitle of host publication | Innovations and insights |
| Editors | Manohar Pawar, Wendy Bowles, Bell Karen |
| Place of Publication | North Melbourne, Vic |
| Publisher | Australian Scholarly Publishing |
| Chapter | 11 |
| Pages | 159-174 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781925801286 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Aug 2018 |