Unit rationale, description and aim
Social work is a distinct discipline and social workers demonstrate their professional identity by applying and integrating social work values, ethics, knowledge and skills in diverse practice contexts. Students will undertake a supervised field placement of 360 hours in a human service agency context, and attend 10 hours of campus-based integrative seminars. This final field education unit encourages students to build on knowledge and practice skills gained in Field Education 1 and 2 to facilitate a strong social work professional identity as beginner social workers. Learning in this unit is informed by the AASW Practice Standards and the AASW Code of Ethics. The learning outcomes of the unit are consistent with the Social Work curriculum that embeds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and prepares students for practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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.
Acquire knowledge on social work practice and serv...
Learning Outcome 01
Assimilate and demonstrate professional and ethica...
Learning Outcome 02
Apply knowledge and skills developed in campus-bas...
Learning Outcome 03
Content
Interactive and experience-based discussions and exercises that explore placement processes and experiences with a focus on
- relating theory and knowledge to practice
- exploring values & ethics in practice
- critical reflection
- building social work identity
Integrative seminars respond to the learning needs of students as they work toward meeting the AASW requirements for placement
Assessment strategy and rationale
Students are assessed on a range of activities that accumulate over t the beginning, middle and end of the placement, and which reflect developemental and experiential learning principles. These strategies include a learning agreement, Mid Placement Report and Final Placement Report. and a presentation in a conference contextStudents are also required to submit a signed timesheet at the end of their placement. Each assessment task is informed by the identified learning outcomes for the unit, which are aligned with AASW practice standards. In negotiation with the ACU Liaison Visitor and Social Work Supervisor, students will be able to revise the Learning Agreement and Mid Placement Report in response to feedback on the requirements to achieve a satisfactory standard.
Overview of assessments
Learning Agreement Enables students to identify ...
Learning Agreement
Enables students to identify their learning goals, tasks and timeframes for completion in alignment with AASW Practice Standards
Pass/
Fail
Mid Placement report, including Theory to Practic...
Mid Placement report, including Theory to Practice/Ethics Presentation
Students need to demonstrate their progress against their learning goals at the mid-point of their placement. The report also needs to include feedback from the student’s Field Educators.
Enables students to articulate the connections between relevant social work theory and ethics to their placement experience in the form of a 20 minute presentation at the mid-placement liaison contact.
Pass/
Fail
Brief Oral Conference Presentation on a practice ...
Brief Oral Conference Presentation on a practice highlight at the School of Allied Health Final Year Student Conference
Enables students to develop professional presentation skills and a commitment to ongoing professional development as an Allied Health professional via the School of Allied Health Final Year Student Conference to showcase and celebrate their placement learning to a broader audience
Hurdle
Final Placement Report Students need to demons...
Final Placement Report
Students need to demonstrate their progress and completion against their learning goals at the conclusion of their placement. The report also needs to include feedback from the student’s Field Educators.
Pass/
Fail
Completed timesheet Students are required to mai...
Completed timesheet
Students are required to maintain and submit a record of the placement hours completed in order to meet AASW requirements for graduation as a social worker.
Pass/
Fail
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
For this final professional experience unit, learning happens in the 360 hour placement and in the classroom. The main teaching and learning strategies include experiential learning, reflective learning, practice - theory integration and skills development. These are used in the placement setting, and integration of this experience with social work knowledge, values and ethics is facilitated in 10 hours of campus-based integrative seminars. Planned learning goals and strategies for the specific placement are recorded in the Learning Agreement. This Unit Outline needs to be read in conjunction with the Social Work Field Education Handbook.
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS OF UNIT
Punctual and full attendance on the placement is an essential requirement for the unit. The attendance requirements are specified in ACU Assessment Policy and are in accordance with AASW requirements . Attendance at all integrative seminars is expected and an attendance record of all seminars will be kept.Studentsare required to attend at least 80% of all integrative seminars scheduled for this unit.
Reasons why attendance is required
In integrative seminars, students will be interacting with each other and developing skills which they will use professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these essential skills. Attendance is required as part of meeting the AASW requirement to integrate campus learning with field placement learning and skill development.
AASW Graduate Attributes
On successful completion of this unit, students should have developed their ability to:
AASW Practice Standards
This unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes, AASW Graduate Attributes and the AASW Practice Standards. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, ACU Graduate Attributes, AASW Graduate Attributes and the AASW Practice Standards