Accessing & Evaluating Evidence in Social Work Practice – 15 points
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to simulate the initial steps in the evidence based practice process. Students discuss a practice need, search for evidence, and critically appraise the evidence they find. The assignment is broken down into three phases, which will each be due on different dates (see syllabus). Each phase will be submitted via Blackboard.
A grading rubric for this assignment is located on page 11 of the syllabus.
Assignment Requirements
Phase 1: Describe a practice problem (4 points)
Phase 1 portion due January 31st by 11:59PM
Write a 1 to 2-page paper that describes a question to answer practice needs. NOTE: this is step 1 in the evidence-based practice process that is described in chapter 2.
The paper should include:
• A description of the practice need and why it is of interest to the student (2 points)
• Formulation of a question to answer the practice need (2 points)
Phase 2: Locate evidence to inform practice (6 points)
Article submission due February 14th by 11:59PM (must be submitted for approval)
Phase 2 portion due March 7th by 11:59PM
• Locate at least three (3) empirical sources (research studies) that address the practice need and provide evidence that can inform social work practice. These should be from peer reviewed journals and must include empirical (research) evidence. These articles must be approved by your instructor. (3 points)
• Write an annotated bibliography (at least 150 words for each of the articles). The description should include (1) the question the research is investigating, (2) how the research was conducted, and (3) the primary findings from the research. (3 points)
Phase 3: Synthesize evidence and identify next steps (5 points)
Phase 3 portion due March 28th by 11:59PM
• Combine your work from Phases 1 & 2 into a paper, incorporating any changes recommended by the instructor. Write a critical analysis of the evidence that was found and make recommendations for practice.
o This paper should have the following headings:
? Practice need and a rationale for choosing it
? A description of the evidence found
? A conclusion about which evidence would be most useful for informing practice