Viewing Unit History

The information below is relevant from 06/03/2017 to 07/03/2021
Click Here to view current information

SOWK12008 - Theories of Change for Professional Practice I

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit presents the most contemporary theories that inform change-oriented professional practice including the history of psycho-dynamic approaches to human behaviour, crisis intervention and task-centred theory, cognitive-behavioural theory, attachment theory, and humanism, existentialism, and spirituality. The focus of this unit is on the application of this knowledge to the micro system of professional and individual client and the critical analysis of social work interventions and their effectiveness. Students should be able to analyse social theories to social work referral contexts.

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. or SOWK11012 Introduction to Social Work A and SOWK11013 Introduction to Social Work B.

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 - 2018

Term 1 - 2019 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2020 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2024 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

To view Past Exams,
please login
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
Nil.
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
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Compare and contrast the philosophical assumptions, ideologies and theoretical perspectives that have informed the profession of social work through time
  2. Analyse social theories and apply the theories to social work referral contexts
  3. Apply professional values and ethics to practice contexts
  4. Apply the philosophies, ideologies, and theories of social work to their emerging professional practice framework
  5. Analyse their performance from feedback drawn from their involvement in professional learning contexts

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

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
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 5
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
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