What Can Be Done To Reduce Anxiety in Social Work Students Who Take Research Courses?

Introduction

Social work is an academic discipline in which professionals are required to provide basic needs in society through research integration and evidence-based practice. To perform their role and fulfill their duties, social workers must utilize quantitative and qualitative research methods while integrating the principles of logic and scientific inquiries. In this regard, Social work students need to have a wide range of information regarding carrying out research. Research courses have been recently added to the curriculum for social work students (Rubin & Babbie, 2016). Although essential, research shows that these courses evoke anxiety among social work students, affecting their professional growth and development. Among the most notable effects of anxiety are poor learning and student engagement, affecting their academic performance. Therefore curriculum developers need to consistently assess the curriculum and incorporate competencies that would reduce anxiety in students, especially in this field.

Problem Description

This study addresses the problem of students’ anxiety about taking social work research courses. Anxiety refers to an emotional body response to dangerous, stressful, or unfamiliar situations (Shek et al., 2022). It is characterized by individuals demonstrating a sense of distress, uneasiness, or fear. According to Baird, Anxiety among social work students is common, especially while engaging in research-related works such as conducting research design, literature reviews, data analysis, and providing results and recommendations (Baird, 2016). Students develop anxiety while conducting research due to unfamiliarity with the required research design for the given project. Anxiety while carrying out data analysis can be stormed by factors such as the incapacity to interpret data representations and fear of performing wrong calculations, among other factors. Fear of losing the high stakes in research-given assignments also causes anxiety among the students due to the possibility of losing marks and failing final examinations.

It is vital to address the anxiety related to research courses due to its adverse outcomes to find the best solutions to handle it. For instance, Baird notes that anxiety prevents students from fully understanding the research skills, hence becoming hard to apply them effectively (Baird. 2016). Poor application of research skills would limit their capacity to engage in research activities and acquires meaningful results. Either, it would limit their ability to perform evidence-based practices in their career profession in the future. Having noted that anxiety exists and has high impacts, this research study aims at answering the question, “What can be done to reduce anxiety in social work students who take research courses?” The research would provide the necessary interventions that can be applied in order to address the issue among the learners as well as how to promote positive learning to the students who would join the course later. By handling this question, the research shall have contributed to reducing the issues caused by anxiety among students in this field.

Single Subject design approach shall be adopted to achieve this aim. The reason for selecting this design is that it provides room for a broad understanding of the research problem through analyzing data collected from Research Course Anxiety Scale (RCSS). The Research Competence Scale for Students (RCSS) that shall be used shall be completed from weeks two to seven, feeding the final results for week 2 when the intervention had not been administered and week 7 when they were administered.

Literature Review

Causes of Anxiety among the Social Work Students.

According to Dalky and Gharaibeh (2019), anxiety is a form of psychological distress prevalent among most college students undertaking various academic disciplines, including social work education. The possible cause of anxiety among social work students undertaking research courses includes the unique nature that research work follows, which is technical in nature. It requires performing data analysis which demands a high level of accuracy in computation. According to Mello (2021), Research design and its application is an aspect that any researcher needs to fully understand to avoid mistakes in the following parts of the research (2021). Therefore, a research design is another technical part that students must be careful about while selecting a correct research project.

Students’ unfamiliarity with these areas may sometimes cause anxiety. According to research, Social work students express anxiety while on research-related activities due to the unfamiliarity with undertaking specific procedures and expectations during data collection (Logie et al., 2015). Mello notes that the research process also overwhelms students (Mello, 2021). As identified, the research process requires high efficiency in each step. A learner should start with the formulation of research questions to the conclusion and recommendation. It is important to apply critical thinking and methodological understanding throughout this process to avoid poor results. Lack of confidence in this process may significantly contribute to anxiety among students undertaking research courses. Therefore, technical aspects of research is among the primary cause of anxiety for social work students undertaking research courses.

Large Stakes in research assignments and assessments also contribute to high anxiety levels among the students undertaking research courses. This is because the large states contribute to the final grade, which would determine whether the student would fail to excel in the given course. The fear of failure, determination to perform well, and the perceived results of failing to score good grades in assignments and assessments increase anxiety among students; social work students are not exceptional (Rubin & Babbie, 2016).

Interventions to reduce Anxiety among Social work students undertaking Research Work.

Several researches have been carried out in order to address the issue of anxiety among social work students. These researches have helped formulate interventions and strategies that could curb the issue and ensure a flawless learning experience among students undertaking research courses. Among the strategy is ensuring step-by-step guidance to students while navigating research topics. According to Aithal (2017), scholarly research requires a step-by-step guide to ensure the right results are acquired. Clear mentorship helps students to navigate through research tasks more effectively. This increases confidence and therefore reduces anxiety among the students.

Integrating experimental opportunities for learning has also demonstrated good results in curbing anxiety among students. This involves the creation of opportunities in which the students are required to apply the classroom instructions in real-world settings to enhance understanding. Examples of this are involving students in school-related research projects and field placements. This builds confidence in the students, hence curbing anxiety levels among social work students (Kourgiantakis et al., 2020). According to Akbari and Sahibzada (2020), students’ confidence is vital in the learning process because it builds up their concentration and assists in connecting ideas which facilitates learning. Another strategy is the application of self-stress management methods. These include encouraging students to practice self-reflection and mindfulness, which would curb anxiety. Either, engaging in regular exercises improves their well-being and hence contributes to curbing anxiety among the students (O’Neill et al., 2019).

It is important to note that although several types of research have been carried out on anxiety in social work and different interventions recommended, several gaps are identified that need further exploration to understand the phenomenon. For instance, the earlier research was limited to several specific interventions which could not be applicable in many geographical locations. Either, the long-term anxiety outcomes were not measured whether the intervention reduced them. This research aims to add more insights to existing research and handle these identified gaps through mixed-methods, single-subject design for exploring the issue in question. This study would provide a wide scope of understanding of the importance of applying several interventions to cope with the issue of anxiety among social work students undertaking research courses.

Research Methodology

The Research Design employed in this project is a mixed method, single-subject design approach. This design suits the research because it gives room for a comprehensive examination of the research problem and employs quantitative and qualitative methodology to provide the results. The characteristics and nature of the research question, the available resource, and the kind of intervention application determine the specific type of single-subject design to be used. In our research study, we shall employ an A-B design. This is because our design will only have two phases; the baseline (‘A’ phase), which would be the fellow social work students who had done at least one research course, no interventions performed; and the second treatment (“B”), where intervention had been applied from the start of week three. If there are changes, then it means the treatment/ intervention tested would have an effect.

Sample

According to Gustafsson single-case study refers to concentrating on one participant to gain the expected details (Gustafsson, 2017). Since I possessed all the required criteria, I participated in the study. Some of the qualifications for participation included taking social work and having completed at least one research course. My knowledge and understanding of the anxiety issue would help in noting the cause of it and interventions required for the research course students.

Measure

A well-defined Research Courses Anxiety Scale (RCSS) was the primary instrument for this study, detailed in terms of psychometric properties, structure, and the purpose it would serve. It is a self-report questionnaire with questions framed to assess anxiety among the students. The designed items in this questionnaire targeted to measure several causes of anxiety, such as fear of high stakes in research works and anxiety of wrong computations and interpretations, among others. The filling was done using a Likert scale to rate their anxiety levels for each designed item.

Procedure

The participant (me) completed a survey to gather demographic information. I then filled the RCSS instrument with accurate information regarding my attitude towards the research course; I filled on a Likert scale multiple times throughout the course. Additionally, open-headed questions were used to gather the participants’ causes of anxiety and the potential interventions they perceive; these were written down, so I filled them in based on my opinion. This provided more insights regarding social work students’ views regarding the causes of anxiety in relation to the research course and interventions.

Data analysis

A total number of 10 items were contained in the RCSS instrument. These included the anticipation of research toughness, possible failure in research, difficulty in conducting substantive research, difficulty in conducting research analysis, difficulty in analyzing results, students’ general research anxiety, and overwhelming students’ occupations. The results were then analyzed in a table, showing the scales for each item. This was measured after ^seventh week after interventions were fully administered. The results were then given.

Ethical considerations.

Several ethical considerations were employed throughout the process. The participant’s personal information was kept confidential and anonymous. Either permission from the Research and Ethics committee in the University faculty was acquired. All the regulations and research guidelines provided by the institution were followed in the letter.

Results

Qualitative findings demonstrated that students’ anxiety levels were caused by anticipation of research toughness and possible failure, difficulty conducting substantive research, students’ general research anxiety, and overwhelming students’ personal occupations. The anticipations of research toughness and possible failure were caused by the fear of failure and determination to perform well. This is because the high stakes in the research courses would directly impact their performance on the final exam. The students reported that their unfamiliarity with research processes caused difficulty in conducting substantive research. The student’s general research anxiety was caused by their fearfear of the high demand for accuracy in computation and following steps, whereby a certain mistake would lead to erroneous results. Overwhelming student occupation was caused by other courses the social work student would be undertaking besides the research course.

The student (me) also responded to interventions that could control or reduce anxiety in the open-ended questions. The students reported that the most substantial ways to overcome anxiety included self-evaluation and control, well-guided research procedures which are inclusive of real-world situations, and Instilling ways that increase their confidence in the course. Either, the students reported that multiple courses they are required to undertake per session contribute to their anxiety in taking research courses. Therefore, they suggested that the curriculum be reviewed to give room for extra time while undertaking research courses.

Table 1. Table showing Altitude towards research (Components) with scales before intervention were added and after the intervention were added.

Discussion

Based on the results, it is evidenced that anxiety affects social work students taking research courses. This affects their overall development in research courses. Among the significant course of anxiety is an anticipation of failure at the end of the course. Research shows that fearfear of failure leads to anxiety among students (Zheng & Cheng, 2018). This is because there are other consequences that may occur once the student fails the exam. Having that research assessments and assignments have high stakes, many students tend to fear failure through attaining lower marks in these assignments (Zarrin et al., 2020). However, fear of lack of clear guidance on research topics does not affect the students. Either,

General anxiety in research courses may have been steered by different aspects. For instance, negative perceptions and low self-esteem has been found to course anxiety among students. According to research by Nguyen and others (2019), low self-esteem causes anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among students. Due to these effects of anxiety among the social work students undertaking research courses, it is crucial to find recommendations that would curb the incidences.

Fostering a supportive environment that encourages students to take research courses would reduce anxiety among them. This includes nurturing a research atmosphere in school by allowing the research students to be practically involved in research-related works. They can freely express their concerns regarding the course, such as the time and period allocated. Encouraging physical activity would also improve mood, reduce stress and fatigue, therefore reducing anxiety. Since research projects seem overwhelming, it is also essential for educators to break down tasks into smaller steps for better understanding. According to Johnson and Christensen (2019), students focusing on a specific step at a time enhances understanding.

Conclusion

Social work students need to have a wide range of information regarding carrying out research, making it compulsory for them to carry out research courses. However, research shows that most social work students have anxiety while taking research courses. Some of the students’ anxiety courses include unfamiliarity with research works, the anticipation of toughness in research courses, and the possibility of failure due to high stakes in assignments and assessments. As shown in the study, anxiety among the students have negative impacts on the development of the students. Therefore, educators need to provide interventions to the students undertaking research-based courses. Some of these include Fostering a supportive environment, free expression of their concerns, and dividing the research project into smaller steps to aid their understanding. Through the application of these recommendations, anxiety in social work students who take research courses would be significantly reduced.

Reference

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Baird, S. L. (2016). Conceptualizing anxiety among social work students: Implications for social work education. Social Work Education, 35(6), 719-732.

Gustafsson, J. (2017). Single case studies vs. multiple case studies: A comparative study.

Huntington-Klein, N. (2021). The effect: An introduction to research design and causality. CRC Press.

Kourgiantakis, T., Sewell, K. M., Hu, R., Logan, J., & Bogo, M. (2020). Simulation in social work education: A scoping review. Research on Social Work Practice, 30(4), 433-450.

Logie, C. H., Bogo, M., & Katz, E. (2015). I didn’t feel equipped”: Social work students’ reflections on a simulated client “coming out. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(2), 315-328.

Mello, P. A. (2021). Qualitative comparative analysis: An introduction to research design and application. Georgetown University Press.

O’Neill, M., Yoder Slater, G., & Batt, D. (2019). Social work student self-care and academic stress. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(1), 141-152.

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Zarrin, S. A., Gracia, E., & Paixão, M. P. (2020). Prediction of academic procrastination by fear of failure and self-regulation. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 20(3), 34-43.

Zheng, Y., & Cheng, L. (2018). How does anxiety influence language performance? From the perspectives of foreign language classroom anxiety and cognitive test anxiety. Language Testing in Asia, 8(1), 1-19.