FIELD WORK SEMINAR II SENIOR YEAR

SOCIAL WORK 4441 002 CRN 13434

(1 credit hour)
Professor Althea M. Grant, LMSW, ACSW
Office Hours: By arrangement
Room 43 Thompson Home
Email: ad9444@wayne.edu
Office number: 313-577-9886
cellular number: 313-706-0876
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Understanding the learning experiences through critical reflection on field and course work.
Social Work 4441 BSW Field Education Seminar I is a one credit hour seminar held concurrently
with SW 4998 Field Practice II (5 credits) during the fall semester. Students MUST be enrolled
in SW 4998 Field Practice II in order to earn credit for this course. Social Work 4441 BSW Field
Education Seminar II facilitate students understanding of the learning experience through
critical reflection on field and courses. The course helps students reflect on their field
experiences and to draw from their course content, all of which help define them as social work
professionals.

COURSE COMPETENCIES AND PRACTICE BEHAVIORS FOR THIS COURSE

COMPETENCIES
2.1.1 Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly
Practice Behaviors:

Advocate for the client access to the services of social work; practice Personal reflection and
self-correction to assure continual professional development; attend to professional roles and
boundaries; demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance and communication;
engage in Career long learning; use supervision and consultation
2.1.2 Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice
Practice Behaviors:
Recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide
practice;
make ethical decisions by applying standards of the NASW Code of Ethics; tolerate

ambiguity in resolving conflicts; apply concepts of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled

decisions
2.1.3 Apply Critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments
Practice Behaviors:
Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including research based
knowledge, and practice wisdom; analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention and
evaluation; demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with
individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues
2.1.4 Engage diversity and difference in practice
Practice Behaviors:
Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal bias and values in working
with diverse groups; recognize and communicate the importance of difference in shaping life
experiences
2.1.5 Advance human rights and social and economic justice
Practice Behaviors:
Advocate for human rights and social justice; Engage in practice that advance social and
economic justice
2.1.6 Engage in research- informed practice and practice informed research
Practice Behaviors:
Use research evidence to inform practice; Use practice to inform scientific inquiry
2.1.7 Apply Knowledge of human Behavior and the social environment
Practice Behaviors:
Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the process of assessment, intervention and evaluation;
Critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment
2.1.8 Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver
effective social work services.
Practice Behaviors:
Analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being; Collaborate with
colleagues and clients for effective policy action
2.1.9 Respond to contexts that shape practice
Practice Behaviors:
Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and
technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant services; provide
leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the
quality of social service
2.1.10 Engage, assess, intervene and evaluate with individuals, families, groups,
organizations and communities
Practice Behaviors:
(a)
Engagement:
Substantively and affectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups,

organizations and communities; use empathy and other interpersonal skills; develop a
mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes
(b) Assessment
Collect, organize, and interpret client data; assess client strengths and limitation develop
mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives; select appropriate intervention
strategies
(c) Intervention
Initiate actions to achieve organizational goals; implement prevention interventions that
enhance client capacities; help clients resolve problems; negotiate, mediate, and advocate for
clients; facilitate transitions and endings
(d) Evaluation
Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions
11 Analyze the impact of the urban context on a range of client systems, including practice
implications
Practice Behaviors:
Examine the distinct characteristics of the urban context and apply the analysis to social work
practice.
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:
It is expected that students effectively utilize field instruction by:
a. identifying own learning needs, areas of difficulty, and feelings of discomfort
b. continuing to take responsibility to prepare and plan for supervision
c. continuing to accept, integrate, and apply guidance and feedback received from field
instructor
d. continually re-evaluating the development of practice skills in light of field and
classroom instruction
GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment
Module 1 Discussion Board
Module 2 Group
Discussions
Module 3 Ethics Activity

Percenta
ge
10%
10%

Related Course Competency

#
Competency #1
Competencies #1, #3, #10

10%

Competencies #1, #2, #3,

#10
Competency #1, #3, #7
Competencies #3, #4, #7,
#10
Competencies #2, #3, #5,#
7, #8, #10
Competencies #1, #3, #10
Competency #1, #3, #10,
#11

Module 4 Journal
Module 5 Blog

10%
10%

Module 6 Group cases

10%

Module 7 Blog
Report on Field Placement
Setting

10%
30%

TOTAL

100%

GRADING POLICY:
Students may pass the course with a grade of D but must maintain a C average during the junior
and senior year. (See Undergraduate Bulletin, Wayne State University).
http://www.bulletins.wayne.edu/ubk-output/index.html)
Incomplete grade policy: http://www.socialwork.wayne.edu/incomplete_grade_policy.pdf
GRADE DISTRIBUTION:
100-95 A

94.9-90 A-

89.9-87 B+

86.9-83 B

82.9-80 B-

79.9-77 C+

79.9-77 C+

76.9-73 C

72.9-70 C-

69.9-67 D+

66.9-63 D

62.9-60 D-

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE

This is a one credit web course composed of lecture and discussion with seven online modules.
First module begins Thursday, September 3, 2015 and last module ends Thursday, December 10,
2015. The modules are seven days in length and a new module begins every other week.
Students are required to participate in discussion about field placement and the integration of
coursework and fieldwork. The focus of the course is to help students integrate their coursework
learning with their experiential learning in the field practicum. Through lecture and group
discussions, case analyses, a reflective journal, and blogs, students learn about professional
social work practice with an emphasis on critical thinking, self-awareness, ethics and values, and
culturally responsive practice with an emphasis on human rights and social justice.
The sessions are organized around the following areas:

Defining and describing agency services

Learning to ask for help
Effective use of supervision
Review of professional behavior and demeanor
Ethics in Social Work
Boundary issues
Communication skills
Realistic expectations
Time management skills
Self care

ROLE OF THE STUDENT AND INSTRUCTOR

Students are expected to attend all online class modules; absences from class may affect the
student's grade, particularly excessive absences and tardiness. Two or more absences will result

in a student being asked to withdraw from the course and may also impact the students field
placement. Students are expected to be prepared at class time for discussions based on assigned
readings as class participation enhances the learning experience. Assignments must be received
by the identified day. For further details about the role of a student, see the Universitys
Statement of Obligations of Faculty and to the Instructional Process in the Wayne State
University Graduate Bulletin. http://www.bulletins.wayne.edu/fib/fib2d.html
The instructor will closely monitor all postings, offer additional questions to guide discussions
and help maintain focus if the class has difficulty focusing on the topics. All assignments must
be completed on Blackboard. Assignments will not be accepted if submitted by email to the
instructor.
The instructor will respond to student questions that are not related to the assignments by email.
The grade points will be posted in the Grade Center within a reasonable time period after the
deadline of each assignment.
At the end of module four, the instructor will send an email to each student giving personal
feedback about their progress in the seminar.
Members of the class, including the instructor, will request confidentiality of others as not to
repeat or share personal, professional, or assignment related issues discussed or disclosed in
class.
POLICIES FOR THIS COURSE
Assignments must be received by the identified deadline dates in the Course Calendar located on
the course menu on the Blackboard home page. To complete all assignments and the required
responding posts, the online modules of this course will require adherence to the periods
specified in the Course Calendar. All assignments will be assessed by a Grading Rubric that is
related to a specific assignment. The four Grading Rubrics in this course are for the discussion
board/groups/blogs, ethics activity, journal and agency report paper. They are located in the
course menu on the Blackboard home page.
Students who are late in their postings will lose points for each assignment in accordance with
the Grading Rubrics associated with each assignment. There is no extra credit for assignments in
this course. There is no opportunity for revision of assignments after submission for grading.
For a missed session at instructors discretion, (considered only in extreme cases life events
beyond ones control), student may be allowed an optional make-up assignment (i.e., a 3-5 page
paper with minimum of 3 sources and using APA format focusing on topic covered in session
missed OR another assignment identified by the instructor). Students who elect this option and
successfully complete the makeup assignment will receive partial points (minus late points
indicated in the grading rubric) for missed session. Students who miss a second session and who
did a first make-up will not have an option for a second make-up these students would lose all
points for the second missed session. Students who miss more than three classes and do no
make-up work should drop the class.
Being a responsible student in an online seminar entails regular class attendance and active
class participation with consideration for others. When students participate actively in class

discussions, learning is enhanced. To be able to participate actively and with relevance to the
course subject matter, it is important that you log into each class as soon as the assignment is
available. It is the students responsibility, whether present or absent, to keep abreast of
assignments and class discussion.
Academic honesty is expected therefore, all submitted work must be original. The presentation of
anothers words or ideas as ones own, without giving credit to the source with a properly noted
citation, is regarded as plagiarism. Any work that is submitted in this class found to contain
portions that are plagiarized will receive a ZERO.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Report on Field Placement setting
30 points
Report on Field Placement Setting due Tuesday, November 10, 2015 by 11:59
pm. A written report, minimum of 5 pages, must be submitted using outline
below. This report addresses performance outcomes related to the field placement
(practicum) setting. This report builds on the assignment required in SW 4020
Social Work Macro Theory and Practice. The following content must be
addressed:

Mission/purpose of the agency

Overview of the population served
Your role within the agency
Other disciplines represented within the organization and your (or social
work) interaction with each discipline
How clients access/enter the system, eligibility, intake policies, and
procedures, etc.
How clients progress through the system
How clients leave/terminate the system
Discuss the agencys commitment to the community and surrounding areas it
serves and examples of how this is achieved

COURSE LEARNING UNITS

Module
I

II

Content
Introduction and orientation to the course
Student introduction
Review of course syllabus
Review expectation of all parties
Discussion on field assignments: learning
plan, process recordings, evaluations

Defining and describing agency services

Learning to ask for help

Competencies
#1

#1, #3, #10

Effective use of supervision

Review of professional behavior and
demeanor

III

Ethics in Social Work

Boundary issues

#1, #2, #3, #10

IV

Time management skills

Self care

#1, #3, #7

Group discussion and problem-solving

Understanding the perspective of the client

#3, #4, #7, #10

VI

Reflecting feelings and integrating skills

Group discussion and problem-solvingDifficult clients
Reporting of child abuse and neglect

#2, #3, #5, #7, #8, #10

Reflections on personal growth in field

Performance Achievement Rating forms
Transition and reviewing objectives for next
semester

#1, #3, #10

VII

WSU STUDENT RESOURCES

Students with disabilities
http://studentdisability.wayne.edu/rights.php.
Academic integrity and student code of conduct
http://www.doso.wayne.edu/assets/codeofconduct.pdf
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Wayne State:
http://www.caps.wayne.edu/
REQUIRED MATERIAL AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Required
(All students are able to download the manual from the Schools web site)
The Field Education Manual, 7th Edition (2013). Wayne State University School of Social Work.
Recommended Texts
Birkenmaier, J. M., and Berg-Weger, M. (2011). Practicum Companion for Social Work:
Integrating Class and Fieldwork, The (3rd Edition) (Connecting Core Competencies). Allyn &
Bacon.

Sweitzer, H. & King, M. (2004). The Successful Internship: Transformation and Empowerment
in Experiential Learning. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
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