SOWK13009 - Fieldwork Education 1

General Information

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
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Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 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 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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

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

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 85.71% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 37.84% 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: SUTE
Feedback
I found using the timesheets for placement quite difficult to start with, and would have appreciated a quick tutorial being available. Everything else was fantastic
Recommendation
Recorded tutorials are provided through the Moodle Site, however, we may be able to improve our announcement and guidance around accessing this information.
Action Taken
Students are alerted regularly to what is available.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Workload is extremely high in comparison to other social work students from other universities
Recommendation
We continue to address this, and ways to reduce expectations and levels of pressure.
Action Taken
This is in ongoing development, with decreased unit requirements.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
It would be good to have at least a couple of prearranged zoom videos explaining the assessment, and the requirements for completion. At the very least, someone willing to answer questions on the forum/better communication about expectations.
Recommendation
We have endeavoured to reduce the amount of expectations on student by ensuring we address the assessments at the residential prior to placement. We will be adding sessions as well throughout placement for Q&A times for students.
Action Taken
Pre recorded material will be made available to students.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Loved the point of placement and how working in practice for some on-site experience helped me to incorporate social work practice to my organisation and discover my professional practice framework with consideration to my organisational context. The final assessment was highly effective in providing and receiving feedback from & to other students in a zoom when talking of PPF. The requirements and what to expect for this assessment could have been more clear however with consideration to grades being at a pass or fail standard helped me to feel more confident within myself - less pressure with made me feel the stress of being on placement itself is stressful enough. Thankyou!
Recommendation
We have addressed the confusions and hope this will not be a concern for 2023.
Action Taken
There have been no concerns to note around this on this occasion.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The field education team provided support and guidance.
Recommendation
We continue to explore ways to be supportive and make their experience positive.
Action Taken
We are always looking into ways to further develop this unit.
Source: SUTE teacher report
Feedback
Demonstrated compassion, understanding and acceptance all the way throughout the unit, and made me feel as though I was part of something great! Having Robyn as my FELO was an incredible asset to my successful placement. Robyn provided support in various areas not just education that provided me with confidence in approaching various concerns this term. I am grateful for her contribution over the last few months and know that other students will benefit from her expertise - or collaborative partnership :) Thank you Robyn for your advocacy on my behalf and for your assistance throughout placement. You have been very helpful. Thank you Robyn for your unconditional support and guidance.
Recommendation
Some great feedback here suggests we are mostly on the right track
Action Taken
We will continue to supply this level of support.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Very supportive, flexible & knowledgeable, easy to approach. One of my best teacher in my this social work practice study .
Recommendation
This is great to hear and we will continue to be available and offer a positive experience.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The tasks and deadlines I found, weren't very clear and I had to work hard to put it into a weekly schedule that I could keep track of for myself. If I hadn't done that, I would certainly have missed things.
Recommendation
Subsequently we have supplied a task list for all students to track all requirements.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Possibly include in a previous residential 6 to 12 months prior a day to discuss SONIA. I had started just prior to last placement and I could sense much anxiety and confusion. Discussion about roles of field educators etc. But I felt supported during the placement. By both my supervisor, field educator and CQU staff. I had to take a day off and an extension due to personal reasons. But always felt supported!
Recommendation
This has begun with an introduction to the concept of SONIA in the year one residential and a more comprehensive overview in the year two residential.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
More contact with lecturers throughout the term. More information/ examples and expectations for professional practice framework during term instead of all at Resi it was too overwhelming to do it at Resi.
Recommendation
We are increasing contact and education around this task with a tutorial added for this cohort next year.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.