Integrating Substance Abuse Content into Social Work Courses: Effects of Intensive Faculty Training

Abstract

An evaluation was conducted in a graduate school of social work to assess the integration of substance abuse content into basic and advanced courses by instructors with and without specialized substance abuse training. Students in these courses completed questionnaires that asked about the amount, type, and usefulness of substance abuse content presented during the semester. Instructors with and without specialized substance abuse training completed questionnaires that examined their perceptions of the amount, type, and usefulness of the substance abuse content they had taught. Results showed that (1) faculty with specialized substance abuse training were more likely than faculty without such training to integrate substance abuse content; (2) courses taught by trained faculty received higher ratings from students on the quality of the content; (3) both groups of faculty (trained and untrained) perceived that more substance abuse content had been taught than their students perceived; and (4) neither faculty nor students perceived that too much substance abuse content had been taught. This approach could be useful to social work programs and other disciplines interested in measuring the effects of changes in course content.