Standardized Clients in the Classroom: A Novel Instructional Technique for Social Work Educators

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to test the effectiveness and acceptability of using standardized clients (SCs) to provide social work students with opportunities to practice assessment skills prior to contact with real clients. Method: Effectiveness was examined utilizing a 3-year non-equivalent control group design in the same master of social work mental health course. In Year 1, the no-intervention control group, SCs were not included in classroom instruction. In Years 2 and 3, instruction included SCs in the classroom. For pretest and posttest, each student independently conducted a 30-minute videotaped assessment and treatment planning interview with an SC. Videotape raters were blind to pretest/posttest, experimental/control status. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance and post hoc tests showed that the three groups were similar at entry into the program (pretest). These hypotheses were partially supported: Students exposed to SCs (Years 2 and 3) improved over the baseline usual role-play Year 1 students. Conclusions: Standardized clients can provide unique experiential learning opportunities that would be difficult to achieve in any other way. SCs provided an opportunity to control the content of case presentations, oversee the interaction of students with a range of client types, and evaluate students’ skill acquisition.