This paper presents the first phase of a qualitative study of students' use of a Learning Management System (LMS). A group of students at Kingston University with experience of two different systems were afforded the opportunity to study the relationship between the interface to an LMS and the usability of the system.A 'Grounded Theory' methodology (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)

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The development and assessment of core skills, including communication skills, are essential pre-requisites before social work students are judged ready for practice placement. This paper presents qualitative data from the first year of a three-year study of an undergraduate module taught jointly to undergraduate and postgraduate students on two qualifying programmes at a university in England.The study considers the impact of video recording in a 'skills laboratory' on social work students' skills development, and compares this with other feedback mechanisms at the pre-placement 'Readiness for Direct Practice' threshold for the different student groups. Responses from 88 students to two questions on factors they identified as the most helpful/least useful for core skills development were collected, using the same questionnaire at three stages of the module. These were analysed using a grounded theory approach. A separate, quantitative analysis showed that assessment outcomes for undergraduate and postgraduate students were not statistically different. In contrast, this qualitative analysis showed that while there was common value for students from self-observation using video, there were key differences in learning preferences between undergraduates and postgraduates in relation to feedback. While undergraduates valued peer support in groupwork, postgraduates preferred feedback from authoritative, independent and credible sources.

Assessing and researching social work students' skills prior to first placement presents challenges, but also the opportunity for comparison with students' perceptions of their abilities/skills at an important professional development stage. This paper reports on initial quantitative results from a three-year study of students' self-confidence in core skills/microskills at the profession's 'readiness for direct practice' threshold in England. A combined cohort of postgraduate and undergraduate social work students (n = 95) at one university completed a three-stage integrated self/module evaluation questionnaire during a common module. Using a Self-Assessed Skills Inventory, (SASI), a self-efficacy scale based on Likert-scale responses to 28 statements was developed and validated for internal consistency. Linear analysis of self-efficacy values, assessment outcome, programme level and prior work experience for a non-biased sample (n = 66) at the final stage shows results are independent of both programme level and prior experience. However, a correlation established between self-efficacy and marks for an assessed interview is shown to be strongly positive and significantly predictive for undergraduates, but weaker and negative for postgraduates. Considering relevant literature, the study's limitations and implications for other social work programmes, this study establishes direct criterion-related validity between a self-efficacy scale and formal assessment.