SOWK12012 - Organisational Practice

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Organisations are encountered on a daily basis and shape the lives of people and communities, including service-users, clients and social workers themselves. A variety of human service organisations are located within complex social, political and cultural contexts; these, in turn, provide a vehicle for the implementation of policy and provision of human services by the welfare state. With social work practice predominantly taking place in, and shaped by, organisational context, developing an effective organisational practice is critical to the achievement of the aims and values of the social work profession. In this unit, you will develop knowledge of different organisational theoretical models to facilitate your ability to analyse and creatively consider organisational and system change. You will also develop and apply strategies to promote social and welfare work values of social justice and action the equality of opportunity in the provision of services to clients.

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

Successful completion of 48 credit points in any course.

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 1 - 2023

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. Online discussion forum 15%
2. Report 35%
3. 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 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 2.7 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 51.72% 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: E-mail feedback to the Head of Course
Feedback
Students did indicate the assignments need to be spaced better throughout the unit
Recommendation
This feedback be acted upon and assessments be better spread throughout the unit.
Action Taken
Assessment due dates changed to support student study schedules.
Source: E-mail feedback to the Head of Course
Feedback
Regular ZOOM sessions be planned from the beginning of the unit
Recommendation
This feedback be acted upon in preparing this unit in 2021 and regular ZOOM sessions be planned from the beginning of the unit.
Action Taken
Student engagement improved with more frequent tutorials and Zoom sessions.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Staffing disruptions impacted on the success of the unit. There were some delays with receiving feedback for assessments.
Recommendation
This unit had previously been staffed consistently, but due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the school, staffing disruptions occurred, which may have impacted unit outcomes. This issue has since been resolved.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Research and analyse organisational theoretical models, within the context of social systems and change, and apply those models to professional practice within human service organisations
  2. Analyse a variety of organisational types and contexts, and evaluate their strengths and limitations in delivering human service organisation goals and social work outcomes
  3. Evaluate organisational models for cross-cultural practice, including working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
  4. Identify and apply appropriate strategies, consistent with professional values and ethics, for the resolution of dilemmas in organisational practice contexts.

The learning outcomes are aligned with the ASWEAS (2020) guidelines.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online discussion forum
2 - Report
3 - 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
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 - Online discussion forum
2 - Report
3 - Written Assessment