Interprofessional education: an exploration of student and staff perspectives in the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education at the University of Dundee

This case study explores both the student and staff experience of two core modules delivered as part of the interprofessional/interdisciplinary year one learning and teaching for students in community education, teacher education and social work. The case study, drawn from an action research project, demonstrates that students experienced an initial disorientation which was exacerbated by complex subject areas not seen as relevant by the students. By contrast, the focus on human development and psychology in practice was seen to be useful by the student cohort. Both staff and students felt that environmental factors influenced the quality of teaching on these modules. In general, both staff and students rated the quality of teaching, assessment and staff support as relatively high although there was a consensus that more interactive, task orientated approaches were most effective. Finally, there was both a staff and student view to suggest that interprofessional education is perceived as being more useful at a later stage of the students training beyond year one.