Promoting Teaching Excellence in

Social Work Education through

Mentorship: The Three Year
Evaluation Results of the TEAM
Program

Shane R. Brady, PhD, Assistant Professor,

University of Oklahoma
srbrady@ou.edu
2015 Society of Social Work Research, Annual Conference,
New Orleans, LA
 Teaching Mentorship
Literature
 Little formal mentorship that is teaching
specific is being done in social work
education, especially at RI schools.
 Mentorship occurs more at community
college and teaching first schools.
 Adjunct faculty given little in terms of
support at most schools.
 Mentorship occurs most often at an
informal level.
Figure 1: Supportive Mentorship for Teaching Excellence Logic Model
Goal: To improve the teaching effectiveness of new instructors at the University of Michigan
School of Social Work.
Objectives
•Identify the instructional needs of new instructors at U of M Social Work.
•Locate resources and supports for new instructors.
•Develop a beginning structure for the new instructor mentorship program.
•Create formal assessment protocols to assess the success and needs of mentorship program.
Outcomes
Outputs
Increased effectiveness of first
Program Inputs Activities
Peer Mentorship year instructors
Experienced Need Assessment Structure
Diffusion of teaching methods
Instructors
Evaluation Compiled that improves teaching across
Protocol Resource List for the SSW
Technological
Support New Instructors
Organizational Increased transparency in
Meetings Regular Meeting teaching.
C-Tools
Infrastructure Schedule
Resource Increased social capital among
Identification Ongoing instructors at the SSW
University Support
System Assessment and
Assessment Tracking System Increased effectiveness of first
year instructors

Contextual Factors/Barriers
Push Back from experienced instructors Lack of resources
Lack of problem acknowledgement Support for continuation of project
Lack of commitment to teaching excellence Lack of participation
 2011-2014 TEAM Outcomes
 Needs Assessment Conducted
 Beginning Program Structure Implemented
 Online Resource Site Developed
 Teaching Evaluations Indicate all but One
new instructor was eligible for Re-Hire
 Orientation Process Improved
 Overall teaching effectiveness improved
significantly during TEAM program
 Evaluation Design
 Quasi-Experimental Design with
Comparison Group
 Mixed-Methods
 Sample size N=28
 Data collection of student evals, focus
groups, questionnaires, meeting notes, and
participant observation used in analysis.
 T-tests, descriptive statistics, and thematic
analysis used for data sources
 Analysis
 Comparison group of prior year instructors
was similar to TEAM group in terms of
gender, race, age, teaching experience, and
education.
 Assumptions made were conservative,
including unequal variances and alpha set at
.05, much lower than the .20 standard for
pilot programs in education (Drake &Johnson-Reid, 2008)
Student Eval. Changes
T-Test Results Course
Satisfaction
T-Test Results Instructor
Satisfaction
Student Learning
 Qualitative Analysis
 Focus group data was coded using guidance
from Creswell, 1998.
 Thematic analysis
 Other data sources used for triangulation
purposes included; participant observation,
qualitative questionnaires, and meeting
notes.
 Lessons Learned
 New instructor needs vary based on previous
teaching experience, knowledge of technology,
and whether they are doctoral students or
community professionals.
 Doctoral students need more assistance with direct
teaching in the classroom, handling student
conflict, meeting curriculum objectives
 Adjuncts from practice settings typically need
more assistance with technology, navigating the
university, and accessing materials and texts.
 Lessons Learned con.
 Faculty buy in is complicated, but needed
for long-term success.
 Administrative buy-in and funding is
needed for stability and success.
 Flexibility of program structure is important
 Ways to promote community building are
needed.
 Next Steps
 Create sustainable structure
 Recruit more faculty mentors to program
 Attain sustainable internal funding
 Finalize assessment protocol
 Continue to build online modules and
support.
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