Unit rationale, description and aim
Social work practice involves the purposeful use of knowledge to enable effective helping in a range of different fields of practice settings, and with different client groups. This final year unit extends students' ability to identify different sources of best practice knowledge with an emphasis on including client perspectives and consolidating understanding of the diversity of social work practice. The unit gives students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate knowledge of best practice and to articulate their own personal-professional practice framework in a chosen field of practice to enable readiness for future social work employment.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify different sources of best practice knowle...
Learning Outcome 01
Locate and evaluate practice evidence in a specifi...
Learning Outcome 02
Critically engage with service user and practition...
Learning Outcome 03
Analyse current debates and challenges confronting...
Learning Outcome 04
Evaluate the impact of various cultural and struct...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
Best practice in social work
- Evidence based practice: history, critical perspectives and application to social work
- Evidence based practice vs. evidence informed practice
- Linear vs. developmental models
- Sources of empirical evidence for ‘what works’: systematic reviews and scoping reviews, quasi-experimental trials, program and service evaluation; client and practitioner engaged research.
- Theoretical approaches to the use of evidence in social work
Applying skills for researching best practice evidence to a field of practice
- Developing a best practice question: converting your information need about a practice framework or intervention into an answerable question.
- Tracking down the best evidence to answer the question
- Critically appraise evidence for its validity and usefulness in specific practice setting and client group
- Knowledge translation: Critical and ethical appraisal with client's strengths, values circumstances.
Fields of Practice that students may choose from to demonstrate best practice research skills include:
- Health and Ageing
- Disability
- Domestic and family violence
- International social work
- Working with LGBTQI groups
- Community justice/ youth justice
- Rural and remote practice for social workers
- Practice in the time of crisis and change
Social Work Practice Frameworks and interventions
- Case management
- Crisis intervention
- Family mediation
- Prevention frameworks
- Community based interventions
- Consumer participation
- Ethical decision making
- Empowerment and advocacy
- Trauma informed practice
Developing a personal-professional practice framework
Assessment strategy and rationale
This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that will allow students to develop skills in researching best practice knowledge. The first assessment is an individual assignment requiring students to identify a field of followed by identification of a best practice question Assessment 2 (Annotated bibliography) will assess students’ competency to identify three different practice evidence sources for their chosen topic. Assessment 3 (Reflective assignment- individual presentation) requires students to demonstrate their learning about identifying best practice evidence for their chosen field of practice topic, with requirement students critically reflect on the value of client perspectives, self and professional identity through the articulation of your personal-professional practice framework.
Overview of assessments
Individual Assignment: Brief assignment task requ...
Individual Assignment: Brief assignment task requiring students to identify a field of practice of their interest followed by identification of particular practice question, and its significance for best practice.
20%
Annotated bibliography: research literature revie...
Annotated bibliography: research literature review task requiring identification and summary of three different evidence sources for chosen practice intervention topic/ field of practice.
40%
Reflective assignment: In-class presentation enab...
Reflective assignment: In-class presentation enables students to synthesise their learning in the unit through the articulation of a personal-professional practice framework in the chosen topic area that incorporates critical reflection on self, client and practitioner perspectives, sources of knowledge and the relevance to best practice and critical reflection on self and professional identity.
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face lectures and interactive skill-building tutorials. Students are encouraged to bring their own device to class to support skill development in sourcing best practice evidence. Interactive tutorials incorporate small group reflective and skills exercises to allow students to link social work knowledge and ethics with their emerging personal-professional practice framework.
AASW Practice Standards
This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565
ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes
This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565