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ABSTRACT
The use of pop culture sources in social work education enhances the learning of MSW students in the human behavior, policy and diversity courses. Pop culture sources can enhance learning because of the potential for a quicker recall of content, revealing hidden talents and sophisticated understanding of the concepts, and making the assignments more enjoyable for students. However, the impact of utilizing pop culture sources among MSW students in research courses remains unknown. It is imperative that contemporary teaching modalities be implemented in research courses because MSW students have mixed feelings about taking research classes and conducting research of their own. The purpose of this article is to report findings of the implementation of a pop culture source-analyzing song lyrics-in an introductory MSW research class at one university in the USA. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from (N = 17) MSW students. Findings lend support to utilizing the song lyrics exercise, as students reported enhanced self-efficacy and knowledge of the research process. Future research should assess the impact of this activity with larger samples.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
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Derrick Kranke
Derrick Kranke, PhD, is a Health Science Specialist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and conducts qualitative research on the subjective experience of stigma and empowerment among military-connected populations. He also teaches part-time at the USC School of Social Work. He received the national award from SAGE/CSWE for innovator of the year in research instruction for his use of song lyrics to teach qualitative research to MSW students.