Course Coordinator:Katrina Andrews (kandrews1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton BayUniSC CabooltureUniSC Fraser CoastUniSC Gympie |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
Group work in the human services industry is a powerful medium for personal empowerment, social change and collaborative teamwork. This course brings together theoretical underpinnings of group work with an emphasis on work within the human services, and the reality of working with complex group phenomena. It will provide you with a growth promoting experience of learning about facilitating, and participating in, groups through the use of interpersonal processes, experiential and reflective learning techniques, process-focused facilitation and self as instrument.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Online learning activities comply with UDL principles and encourage online student collaboration | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On campus tutorials aimed to practice the knowledge and skills in an experiential and collaborative setting for deep learning.(Week 11 tutorial via zoom to demonstrate group telehealth principles) | 2hrs | Week 3 | 11 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Online learning activities comply with UDL principles and encourage online student collaboration | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Online tutorials aimed to practice the knowledge and skills in an experiential and collaborative setting for deep learning during which skills practice in break out rooms will occur in order to practice skills | 2hrs | Week 3 | 11 times |
Group theory
Group practice
Group dynamics
Ethics for groups
Groups for diverse populations
Counselling groups
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Understand and identify basic theoretical frameworks in the group work context. | Knowledgeable |
| 2 | Introduce, Conduct, and Process a single group activity that aims to generate discussion and to focus the group | Knowledgeable |
| 3 | Identify and Discuss the interpersonal processes adopted by group members and group leaders according to group work theory |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Ethical |
| 4 | Demonstrate beginning academic writing skills in the reflective essay genre, using APA 7th ed. conventions | Knowledgeable |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
SCS276 and COU276
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Students will practice their group presentations in class from Week 3 onwards, with the direction, guidance and feedback from the tutor. This guidance and feedback will be provided from tutor during tutorials each week in readiness for their task 2 assessment, starting week 9.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Activity Participation | Individual | 10% | Course duration |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | In Class |
| All | 2 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 10% | 20 Questions / 30 minutes |
Week 5 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 3 | Creative Performance | Individual and Group | 40% | 20-30 min |
Refer to Format | In Class |
| All | 4 | Essay | Individual | 40% | 2000 words |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Participation | |||||||
| Goal: | Students will actively participate for a minimum of 80% of their on-campus tutorials. Failure to meet the minimum participation requirements will result in a failed grade for this task. |
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| Product: | Activity Participation | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | Tutor to assess and record participation each week, in the LMS |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | |||||||
| All - Assessment Task 2:Online test | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | Understand and identify basic theoretical frameworks in the group work context. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | The test will assess a variety of concepts and strategies from the theories, skills acquisition and research covered in this course up to, and including, week 5 material |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | |||||||||||||||||||
| All - Assessment Task 3:Group Activity Facilitation of, and participation in, group team building activity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To work as a group to create and present an appropriate strategy/activity for facilitating group discussion and to focus the group. You will demonstrate creativity, knowledge of group work, consideration of diversity and ethical behaviour in the selection and delivery of the activity. You will also be assessed on your individual participation in the activities presented by other groups. |
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| Product: | Creative Performance | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Submit: Weeks 9-12. The activity will take approximately 20-30 minutes. 30% of the marks will be awarded to the group as a whole and 10% of the total will be individual, based on overall participation in activities |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Collaboration, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 4:Analysis of personal group work experience essay | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | Identify and analyse the interpersonal processes by group leaders and group members displayed in group activity, according to group work theory. Inclusion comprehension of group work practice with diversity populations. |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | A 2000 word essay that evaluates your group work experiences with regard to group processes discussed throughout the trimester. Demonstrate insight and awareness of how personal values and beliefs underlie choices, interpretations and actions of self and group members. Demonstrate comprehension and awareness of the unique additions to group work to consider members of diverse communities. Conforms to APA 7th ed. writing conventions for a reflective evaluation essay. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Required | Ed E. Jacobs,Christine J. Schimmel,Robert L. Masson,Riley L. Harvill | 2016 | Group Counseling: Strategies and Skills | 8 | Cengage |
| Recommended | Jacobs, C., Schemmel, R., Masson, R., & Harvill, L | 2016 | MindTap Counselling Demo | n/a | Cengage |
Nil
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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