SOWK12008 - Theories of Change for Professional Practice I

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will be offered a range of learning opportunities to engage with key theories that have informed professional social work practice. This unit presents both structural and personal theories, and how these can be integrated for professional practice, such as working with change and complexity. Structural theories include post modernism, critical theory and ecological perspectives; personal theories include psychological approaches, humanism, grief, loss and trauma-informed practice. This unit also explores change models and how these inform the development of assessment and intervenion strategies. You will engage in the process of critical reflection and exploring your values and beliefs, in order to develop an emerging ethical theoretical framework for your professional social work practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

SOWK11015 Professional Communication in Human Services

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 50%
2. Presentation and Written Assessment 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 91.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.09% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Continue to provide regular tutorials and Zooms
Recommendation
Student engagement is critical in this unit and regular Zooms have been implemented.
Action Taken
Weekly Zoom sessions allowed students to apply their developing knowledge of different theories to practice scenarios or learning activities.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Some theories were challenging to understand.
Recommendation
This unit has undergone a review, and as a result, improvements have been made to provide greater clarity in the teaching of theoretical perspectives in Year 2.
Action Taken
Each theory was briefly introduced as a segway to lecture and reading materials. The Weekly Zoom sessions assisted students in applying their understanding of different theories to practice examples.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Most students indicate they are highly satisfied with all aspects of the unit.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will continue to explore ways of helping students make connections between theory and practice.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator
Feedback
Students who attend the Zoom sessions indicate the sessions facilitate their learning and application of theory to practice. However, there is minimal student attendance at Zoom sessions and participation in unit forums.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will explore ideas for increasing student engagement with weekly unit content and their peers.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Identify theoretical perspectives that have informed the professional practice of social work
  2. Analyse theoretical perspectives and apply to social work practice contexts
  3. Integrate social work theories with your emerging professional practice frameworks
  4. Appraise and critically reflect on feedback drawn from your experiences in professional learning contexts.

This unit addresses components of Practice Standard Objectives (2003): 1,2,3 and 6

These suggested amendments are in line with the ASWEAS (2020) and anticipate the further changes needed for the 2022 re-accreditation process for the existing BSW.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Presentation and Written Assessment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Presentation and Written Assessment • • • • •