Social Work Commons^™

Practice Matters: Screening And Monitoring Hyperlipidemia, M. Laurie Branstetter Dnp, Maria E. Main, Tonya Bragg-Underwood Dnp

Eve Main

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide Faith Community Nurses with current information on hyperlipidemia, a chronic disease responsible for the leading cause of death worldwide. Current guidelines for cholesterol screening and a risk calculator resource for estimating cardiovascular risk are provided. Myths and truths are presented for review with patients. Suggestions and resources for lifestyle modifications and patient education are included. Faith Community Nurses are at the center of community health and actively involved with improving health outcomes related to chronic disease.

Youth Perceptions Of A School-Based Mentoring Program, Samantha Weiss, Jeanette Harder, Christiana Bratiotis, Emily Nguyen

Jeanette Harder

Academic mentoring programs promote high school completion for at-risk youth. The purpose of this study was to hear the voice of youth in order to inform program services and develop best practices for meeting their academic needs. Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted 14 focus groups to examine high school students’ perceptions and experiences in the Avenue Scholars Foundation program. This study supported previous findings: students’ comments reflected on the importance of the relationships built in the program, the knowledge they gained, and their experiences regarding higher education and careers. The students shared that these experiences were increasingly meaningful …

Freirian Reflections On Social Justice Education: A Practitioner’S Perspective, D. Scott Tharp

D. Scott Tharp

This paper integrates Freirian ideas into reflections from one social justice educators’ practice within higher education. While the author originally learned about Freire in a limited fashion related to systems of oppression, dialogical approaches to education and the importance of praxis, Freire become reduced to a method for practice. Through an expanded reading of Freire’s broader works beyond Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “new” concepts related to class suicide, authority and freedom, political clarity, and epistemological circling complicate and illuminate a more robust reflection upon his own social justice education practice. These Freireian concepts bring additional value to social justice education …

Quasi-Experiment Examining Cafeteria-Style Grading In Social Work Education, Brandon Youker, Lyza Ingraham

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

Cafeteria-style grading system is an individualized student assessment method whereby students choose their assignments from an expansive and diverse pool of assignments. In this study, students are non-randomly assigned to two sections of the same social work course. The first section received cafeteria-style assignments and grading system (i.e., experimental group) while the comparison section received the traditional method of grading. Students in both sections video record a demonstration exercise; the recordings are reviewed and scored by experts from a panel of social work professors. Preliminary results show an effect on student attendance but no effect on GPA or student performance.