Beth Archer-Kuhn

• PhD, MSW
• Professor (Associate) at University of Calgary

Immersive learning practices (ILPs) in higher education are multidisciplinary in nature and varied in levels of integration into the student learning process. They appear in a variety of higher education programs such as teacher education, social work, law, and health sciences, and in practices such as service-learning, study away, internships, and...

This paper presents a reliable tool for measuring transformative learning in undergraduate social work education, the Social Work Transformation Survey (SWTS). The SWTS was developed from a qualitative theoretical model and translated into quantitative scales. The study collected data from 248 undergraduate students from eight countries who partici...

This paper presents a reliable tool for measuring transformative learning in undergraduate social work education, the Social Work Transformation Survey (SWTS). The SWTS was developed from a qualitative theoretical model and translated into quantitative scales. The study collected data from 248 undergraduate students from eight countries who partici...

This paper reports on an international research project designed to explore the relevance and impact of creative journaling as a pedagogical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project involved seven social work and social policy educators from eight countries: namely, Canada, India, Israel, Jersey Island, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and...

In this paper, we emphasize the value of an online community of practice (OCoP) for bringing together faculty from across disciplines to share and leverage their diverse expertise and perspectives. We examine the transition of an interdisciplinary community of practice through the pivot into an online environment for engagement, communication, and...

This cross‐sectional survey reports on the experiences and impact of mothers in shared parenting arrangements and their young children ages 0–4 years across three provinces in Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario). The purpose of the study was to explore shared parenting arrangements in the context of domestic violence, and we sought to recruit mothe...

This book is for instructors at all levels of higher education (HE) to help them to get started with implementing inquiry-based learning (IBL) in their courses. It is a guide for getting started that provides an explanation of the 8 principles of IBL-HE and then describes how it can be utilized in a structured, guided and open inquiry way across di...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to add to the research literature and begin to fill the gap in knowledge about shared parenting arrangements for women with young children and who have experienced domestic violence (DV), in three Canadian provinces; Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Method: This paper reports on the qualitative findings from a m...

This paper discusses the experiences during COVID-19 of mothers who have young children, are survivors of domestic violence and who share parenting to highlight the further unsafe situations survivors of violence and their children were placed in during the pandemic. Part of a larger mixed methods study, these participants (n = 19) from three Canad...

COVID-19 strode onto an unsuspecting world in December 2019 and turned it upside-down. Millions of people caught the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-COV-2 and millions died. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. By 30 October 2021, the coronavirus had reached 247,076,814 cases and killed 5,009,470...

In this chapter we present a new model for social work field education: a supervised, self-directed field practicum. The idea for the supervised, self-directed practicum was percolating prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet, it was the pandemic that provided the opportunity to enact this innovative field practicum model for social work students durin...

It is well-documented throughout the available literature that trust, or a leap of faith, plays a key role in facilitating success in student learning. In this study, we attempted a rapid systematic review of relevant databases looking for studies that addressed developing and maintaining trust among students, between students and their professors,...

COVID-19 has required researchers to change methods to better reflect the new realities of social distancing, sheltering in place, and the use of extended quarantines to isolate from the community. The paper illustrates the implications of shifting recruitment strategies midstream with populations that are already normally considered ‘hard-to-reach...

Critical reflection (CR) is regarded as essential for learning in higher education. Many instructors want students to reflect deeply and critically, but lament perceived deficiencies in students’ value and understanding of CR. This qualitative study explored four undergraduate courses across disciplines to appraise how instructors' perceptions of C...

Critical reflection (CR) is regarded as essential for learning in higher education. Many instructors want students to reflect deeply and critically, but lament perceived deficiencies in students’ value and understanding of CR. This qualitative study explored four undergraduate courses across disciplines to appraise how instructors' perceptions of C...

Looking back, the first wave of the pandemic was about to hit us and we could not know the impact then; the pedagogic, the emotional/human/relational, and the collaborative. Immediate modifications required pedagogy and pandemic balancing, prioritizing student safety. These reflections of three academics in leadership roles in the Faculty of Social...

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a student-centered teaching and learning approach that is student led and inquiry driven. While research has explored experiences of IBL from student perspectives, very little is known about instructor experiences in higher education, particularly in the field of social work. Drawing on four faculty experiences, this...

This paper situates inquiry-based learning (IBL) in a post-secondary context while examining possibilities for social work education and practice. Specifically, in what ways has IBL been utilized in higher education, and how might IBL be compatible with social work values that promote social justice? This paper begins with a brief overview of the d...

In a four-year, four cohort study utilising a series of six focus groups, forty Masters of Social Work students preparing to graduate defined their personal and professional experiences of transformation in their respective social work field education settings. Using an inductive thematic analysis, students highlighted four key themes in their tran...

This qualitative constructivist grounded theory study of trust within inquiry-based learning in higher education (IBL-HE) environments examined the experiences of instructors and students through four focus groups and nine individual interviews. As the study purpose is to understand the development and maintenance of trust in IBL-HE classrooms, par...

This seven-cohort mixed methods study examines student engagement in their learning in higher education utilizing inquiry-based learning. The study was conducted in varied settings (on-campus, in community, and study abroad), and across various degree levels (undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral) in social work education. Study results reveal an i...

A group study program in the UK provides the setting for understanding deep learning in social work education through inquiry-based learning (IBL). Thirteen undergraduate and graduate students from a large university in Western Canada participated in a 15-day learning journey complete with a research methods conference and multiple exchanges with a...

Signature Pedagogy in social work education has been well discussed in the American context, yet, less so in Canada. In the United States, field education has been proclaimed as the signature pedagogy for social work in 2008 and reaffirmed in 2015. To date, the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE), has affirmed field education as...

Transformative learning captures the process by which students engage in their learning at holistic levels (emotional, cognitive, spiritual, physical, social, and environmental) and the extent to which they experience a change in perspective, of themselves or society. This four-year, four-cohort study (n = 40) examined the transformative learning e...

Transformative learning captures the process by which students engage in their learning, experience a change in perspective, of themselves or society, and then enact their new understanding. The purpose of this 4-year, four-cohort study was to identify the transformative learning experiences of Master of Social Work students and specific student en...

Parent perspective and experience is largely absent from the research literature in child custody decision-making, making it challenging for social workers to understand the parent experience. Research focuses on outcome studies regarding children’s adjustment and well-being, with little attention to the parent voice. This paper addresses this gap...

This article reports on an exploratory, qualitative, multiple-methods study that included individual interviews and a focus group with child protection services (CPS) workers in a large city in Alberta, Canada. The findings illuminate current CPS worker practices in situations of domestic violence where inclusion and exclusion decisions are made fo...

Bowen’s Family of Origin training is extended to supervisory training in a Western Canada children’s mental health setting with new team leaders. The training focused on worker life experiences and how they bring those experiences to the supervisory relationship to influence work with children, youth and families. Participant vulnerability, inheren...

Phenomenology as a methodology reveals lived experience (van Manen, 2017); as such, it is an excellent methodology to help us understand the parent perceptions and experiences of child custody decision-making. Qualitative researchers have explored the ways in which lived experience is influenced by issues of culture and gender (Kall & Zeiler, 2014)...

In child custody decision-making experiences of domestic violence and high conflict are not the same. Legislative reform has not yet been guided by the parent voice to inform differentiated responses that keep women and children safe. Available literature in child custody decision-making focuses on outcome research regarding children’s adjustment a...

Agencies servicing children, youth, and families have been particularly pressured to demonstrate service effectiveness and accountability by government funders. The human service fields have not fully embraced research evidence into the organizational culture creating a challenge of introducing research evidence into agencies. Gaps in knowledge hav...

In this paper, we discuss a community-university partnership connected with a data analysis project. Challenges affecting this partnership and impactful contextual factors are explored. An example of civic engagement through a partnership between a University’s School of Social Work and a children’s mental health center. An analysis of the partners...

Knowledge is constructed through active and deep learning (Brew, 2003; Fougner, 2012). Inquiry-based learning (IBL) can facilitate active and deep learning, as it is “a self-directed, question-driven search for understanding” that affords students the opportunity to explore a subject and develop central questions through their exploration (Hudspith...