Didactic Solutions for Improving Student Participation: A Design-based Research Project in Social Work Statistics Education

Abstract

This design-based research project addresses the aim of developing student-centered interventions to increase the proportion of students who successfully complete a mandatory statistics seminar in a Social Work Bachelor’s program (participation or with grade). Initial research phases involved a quantitative survey, an expert workshop, and focus groups, which made clear that students approach the seminar with anxiety and consider its practical relevance to be low. Based on these findings, four initial didactic materials—including Lernund Studienfähigkeitstest (LSF) text, video on practical relevance, data set for evaluation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) prompts were implemented over four semesters and evaluated by students using Mentimeter. Based on the initial results and the continuing low success rate, the prompts were subsequently replaced by a podcast and the course was supplemented by an optional individual session (to support participation/exam preparation) at the end of the course. These updated interventions were also evaluated to ensure a positive impact. Overall, the interventions have increased initial participation, satisfaction, and perceived relevance. While these formative evaluations indicate a positive trend in student engagement, final data on successful course completion rates are pending and will be analyzed in future cycles to avoid over-claiming outcomes. The study contributes to the understanding of how tailored didactic interventions can reduce statistics anxiety in social work education.