Unit Synopsis
Social Work Field Education 1 is the first of two fieldwork placements that you are required to complete. You will complete onsite, agency-based interactions and learning tasks in a practice context supervised by an approved agency worker. You will participate in the range of activities, tasks, and processes that the agency encompasses by negotiation with the supervisor and subject to agency rules and procedures. During the first placement you are invited to consolidate and apply your learning from the first two years of study within an agency placement context. You will observe other workers, participate in the operations of the agency and should be able to critically analyse and articulate your developing professional practice framework within the context of the field placement. A Field Education Manual will guide you through the placement process, providing a detailed framework and administrative arrangements, including attendance and assessment requirements, as well as roles and responsibilities of all parties. The manual outlines the inherent requirements and performance expectations based on the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Practice Standards and ASWEAS General and Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. You are required to attend the compulsory residential school associated with the co-requisite unit, SOWK13010, and participate in designated call-back sessions.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 18 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.375 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisites: Students must have completed all first and second year units before attempting SOWK13009. Corequisite: SOWK13010 Integrating Theory and Practice I. 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 |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026
Term 1 - 2027 Profile
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).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 18-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 37.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 450 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Professional Practice Plans (learning plans) | 0% |
| 2. Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | 0% |
| 3. Presentation | 0% |
This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
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: SUTE
appreciated Robyns feedback/comments of my learning agreement and her responses felt encouraging and helped me feel like I was on the right track. Robyn also helped me feel prepared for placement by providing relevant information and explaining the different processes and requirements. Thank you!
We will continue to provide relational support and clear guidance in feedback, with a focus on ensuring students feel encouraged and well-prepared for field education.
Relational and responsive student support continued throughout the 2026 offering. The Unit Coordinator provided clear guidance and individualised feedback on Learning Agreements, regular communication throughout placement, and opportunities for students to seek clarification and support through consultations and scheduled online sessions. Guidance was also provided across placement and assessment processes to support students in understanding requirements and connecting their placement learning with the unit learning outcomes. This approach contributed to all students successfully completing the unit requirements.
Source: Student Unit and Teaching Evaluation
Additional online sessions to explain the stages and submission requirements of the Learning Agreement would be helpful.
Additional online support sessions will be incorporated into future offerings to guide students through the stages of the Learning Agreement. These sessions will clarify submission requirements, expectations at each stage, and provide opportunities for students to ask questions and seek clarification.
In Progress
Source: Unsolicited student feedback (used with permission)
This experience has been an incredible opportunity for growth both personally and professionally. [The teams] patience, guidance, opportunities, and knowledge shared to help me succeed through this phase has been wonderful.
Continue to provide relational, strengths-based support throughout field education, including accessible guidance, timely feedback, and opportunities for individual consultation to support students’ learning, confidence, and emerging professional identity.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Develop and demonstrate the integration of professional social work knowledge, skills, and values within the placement context, in alignment with the AASW Code of Ethics and AASW Practice Standards, and organisational context for practice, including adherence to legislative and policy frameworks.
- Reflect on your professional practice, incorporating self-care strategies, use of self in the organisational context along with problem-solving skills, and cross-cultural competency.
- Create opportunities to develop your skills in the assessment of clients' needs, evaluating appropriate intervention strategies using social work theoretical frameworks.
- Construct a professional practice framework relevant to your emerging social work practice and demonstrate its application in various contexts.
All of the learning outcomes are linked to the AASW Practice Standards.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Professional Practice Plans (learning plans) | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Presentation | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | |||
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | • | |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | • |
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |