An Evaluation of the Social Work Practicum Program Effectiveness As Perceived By Social Work Students at Al-Quds University

The main purposes of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the social work practicum program as perceived by social work students at Al-Quds University, and to identify the practicum components (such as aims, contents, student, institution, and supervisor) that would best predict the intended practicum outcomes for the trained students. The sample in this study consisted of 182 students who responded to a 46-items questionnaire corresponding to the practicum aims, practicum content, student, supervisor, placement institution, and practicum outcomes. The analysis revealed that the overall effectiveness of the practicum program was high (M= 3.78; SD=.53). The program aims part received particularly a very high evaluation and the program placement part received a medium evaluation. Evaluation of the rest of program components (content, student, supervisor, and practicum outcomes) fell in between. These results were not related to differences in respondents’ background and educational variables. Correlations among the program components were generally positively moderate. The supervisor component alone predicted 31.6% of the variation in the program outcomes among trained students. The addition of the program content, student, and placement institution to the supervisor component increased the explained variation in the program outcomes to 47.5%. The study recommends: first, to re-organize the practicum program to achieve a better quality; second, to take the peculiarities of the Palestinian society into consideration in this revision; and third, to provide a detailed practicum manual to supervisors, students, and placement institutions so that their roles can be clear on the program objectives, processes, and outcomes.