Course Coordinator:Laura Dodds (ldodds@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces you to social work within contemporary Australian society and globally. You will develop knowledge and understanding of the purpose, focus, core values, professional ethics, theories and processes required to undertake social work with individuals, groups and communities. The variety of roles, fields, contextual considerations and theories informing social work practice are examined, unified by an emphasis on respect for persons, human rights, social justice, professional integrity in social work practice and critical reflection.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Learning materials – 1 hour online learning materials and activities not for timetabling | 1hr | Week 1 | 13 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On campus tutorial/workshop - 2 hours | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
700 Level (Specialised)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Australian Association of Social Workers | |
1 | Demonstrate an understanding of foundational social work concepts and theories, and articulate the relevance of these for social work practice. |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
1, 1.1, 4.2, 4.4 |
2 | Discuss, collaborate on and explain how your own sense of self and personal values intersect with social work and may impact on your social work practice |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Engaged |
1, 3, 5.4, 8 |
3 | Identify and apply relevant social work concepts, processes and skills to social work practice in ways that reflect the orientations and values of social work. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Ethical |
1, 1.1, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 5, 5.4 |
4 | Demonstrate appropriate communication skills |
Knowledgeable Engaged |
5.4, 6, 6.1, 6.4, 7.1 |
CODE | COMPETENCY |
Australian Association of Social Workers | |
1 | Values and ethics |
1.1 | Practise in accordance with the AASW Code of Ethics |
3 | Culturally responsive and inclusive practice |
4.1 | Understand higher level systemic influences on people with respect to area of practice |
4.2 | Understand and articulate social work and other relevant theories and concepts |
4.3 | Understand the role of research and evaluation in obtaining and generating new knowledge for practice |
4.4 | Understand and articulate how and when theories, knowledge bases and knowledge sources inform practice |
5 | Applying knowledge to practice |
5.4 | Apply critical and reflective thinking to practice |
6 | Communication and interpersonal skills |
6.1 | Communicate with a diverse range of people |
6.4 | Use information technology to communicate and provide services |
7.1 | Record and manage information appropriately |
8 | Professional development and supervision |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
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Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Quiz/zes will be used to provide early feedback on the understanding of course content.
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 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 30% | 3 Quizzes 1 hour |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | Online Test (Quiz) |
All | 2 | Artefact - Professional, and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | 1500 words |
Week 7 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 3 | Oral | Group | 30% | 20 minutes - in class presentation. |
Refer to Format | In Class |
All | 4 | Activity Participation | Individual | 10% | 13 tutorials |
Refer to Format | In Class |
All - Assessment Task 1:Quiz/zes | |
Goal: | The goal of this assessment task is to demonstrate an understanding of a range of concepts, values, contextual considerations and theories relevant to social work |
Product: | Quiz/zes |
Format: | Released: Weeks 3, 6 & 12 This is an individual assessment. You will access and respond to the quizzes via Canvas. Quizzes may contain multiple choice and/or short answer questions. |
Criteria: |
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All - Assessment Task 2:Reflective and researched essay with Eco-map | |
Goal: | For you to reflect on your motivations and values for undertaking social work/ human services practice. Social work and human services practice is reflexive, requiring practitioners to be aware of their own orientations in a practice context and how these fit with the values and purpose of social work and human services practice. This short reflection is designed to assist you to appreciate how you understand the fit between yourself and social work and human services practice. It also provides an opportunity for you to receive feedback from your tutor about your written skills and capacity to link reflections to relevant literature. |
Product: | Artefact - Professional, and Written Piece |
Format: | This task will be to write a reflective essay. Your narrative will be accompanied by a personal Eco-map which visually represents your written discussions. Due week 7. |
Criteria: |
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All - Assessment Task 3:Group Case Presentation & Analysis | |
Goal: | The goal of this task is for you to demonstrate you can identify and apply relevant social work concepts, values, questions and theories to a given case study which are supported by relevant, contemporary literature. This task further requires you to demonstrate your oral communication and presentation skills as well as your group work and collaboration skills in accordance with the inherent academic requirements of this degree. |
Product: | Oral |
Format: | In groups of 4 to 5 students, you will select from a list of case scenarios and present an in-class oral and visual analysis of the chosen practice context/issue. Presented in weeks 12 or 13. |
Criteria: |
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All - Assessment Task 4:Tutorial Attendance and Participation | |
Goal: | AASW external accreditation requires mandatory attendance for skills based tutorials. Students must attend weekly tutorials and actively participate in all tutorial activities. |
Product: | Activity Participation |
Format: | Tutorial attendance will be recorded to meet external AASW accreditation requirements. Student participation and engagement in tutorial activities assessed based upon attendance and participation across weeks 1-13 tutorials. |
Criteria: |
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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.
Not applicable
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.
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.
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