ABSTRACT
The preceding chapter on learning to learn has demonstrated the importance of engaging students as active learners in both social policy and social work. To achieve this, educators must develop a range of approaches to promote learning, which are reviewed in this chapter. We begin with the lecture (which, despite its limitations, has retained a central place in higher education), looking specifically at strategies for enhancing interaction. We move on to seminars, group work and project work, and outline the central facets of problem-based learning. Experiential learning features strongly in education for social work, and may also play a part in social policy programmes: the use of role-play, simulations and observational tasks are reviewed. Educators in both social policy and social work are concerned to develop students’ ability to critically analyse theory; case studies illustrating two ways of approaching this using interactive methods are outlined. Finally, there is discussion of how student learning can be supported over the whole programme through the tutorial and the wider process of personal development planning. Overall, the focus in this chapter is on enhancing the quality of the learning experience through interaction.
