SOWK13010 - Integrating Theory and Practice 1

Showing: 2026 HE Term 2
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides you with the opportunity to learn from your field placement or human service practice experiences through the critical reflection and evaluation of the integration of theory and practice that considers context and social work aims, values and ethics. You will engage in critical reflective and reflexive practice to evaluate the implications of theoretical understandings and approaches and the influence of the personal, organisational and socio-economic-political contexts for creative and socially just social work practice responses. You will be required to draw on feedback from your previous coursework and field placement/human service work experiences for the ongoing critical reflection of your developing professional practice framework and use of self in practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: SOWK12011 Social Group Work and Family Work. Co-requisite: SOWK13009 Fieldwork Education 1

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
Mixed Mode

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 resource/s 0%
2. Written Assessment 20%
3. Written Assessment 30%
4. 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

Previous Feedback

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:
 Students highly valued the unit's quality and structure, particularly the residential school, practice-focused assessments, engaging learning resources, and opportunities to learn collaboratively with peers. Students also highlighted the Unit Coordinator's passion for the profession, supportive approach, and constructive assessment feedback as key strengths of the learning experience.

Recommendation:
 Continue the current teaching and learning approach, including the residential school, authentic assessment design, and personalised feedback processes that support student engagement and professional development.

Action Taken:
 The teaching and learning approach was continued.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback:
 While students appreciated the overall design and organisation of the unit, some students, particularly those not undertaking placement or entering through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathways, reported challenges identifying relevant practice examples to draw upon in assessment tasks.

Recommendation:
 Consider incorporating case study options into assessment tasks to give students not currently on placement additional opportunities to demonstrate their application of learning, while recognising that students awarded RPL have already demonstrated prior practice experience equivalent to placement requirements.

Action Taken:
 Case studies were integrated into assessments.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback:
 Student feedback identified concerns about assessment workload, word-count requirements, and the relevance of certain learning activities for students with prior professional experience.

Recommendation:
 Review the assessment structure, workload, and word count requirements, and provide clearer guidance regarding unit expectations and the purpose of learning activities, particularly for students entering the unit with Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or significant professional experience.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback:
 The residential school remained a highly valued component of the unit, with strong student engagement and feedback highlighting its contribution to professional identity development, collaboration, and connection with peers and staff.

Recommendation:
 Continue to support and enhance the residential school, given its demonstrated value in fostering student engagement, professional identity development, and connections with peers and staff.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Critically reflects to enhance awareness of the influence of personal and professional values, beliefs, culture, and assumptions on social work practice and the use of self within the field placement or human service practice context
  2. Critically examines and evaluates the implications of dominant discourses, social and historical contexts and power relations on service user groups and social work practice
  3. Critiques your application of cross-cultural competencies including working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  4. Critically reflects on your developing social work identity and professional practice framework
  5. Critically evaluates theories and theoretical approaches and their application to different practice contexts in the field placement or human service setting.

Australian Association of Social Workers Education and Accreditation Standards

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online resource/s • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • •
4 - 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 10
1 - Online resource/s • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
4 - Written Assessment • • • • •