Mandatory Online Orientation   

Deadline: to be fully completed by the end of Week 1, Sunday, August 27th, by 10pm                           (10 points)

Requirement to remain in the course. If you do not successfully complete the Online Orientation requirement for this course, on Blackboard (Bb), you will be withdrawn from the course at the end of Week 1. You will receive points on Bb within 24 hours of your post, if you completed the Orientation successfully. If you do not see points posted for this assignment, within this time frame, please check your post as I will leave you a message. Many students fail to post a picture of themselves in the body of their post or they attach their responses as a file and this makes their post incomplete.                                           

Family Assessment (EcoMap & Reflection Paper)                       

Deadline: Sunday, September 3rd, by 10pm                                                                                                 (25 points)

In total, 2 parts need to be turned in for this assignment - AT THE SAME TIME.  

You will apply what you have learned from reading Chapter 8 of Zastrow, the chapter on Beginning the Interview, and other material on conducting a Family Assessment (all posted on Bb), to practice your skills at drawing an ecomap.

Instructions:

• PART 1: Draw (by hand--not computer--on an 8x10 paper) an ecomap of you and people you live with (place a circle in the middle of the page identifying yourself and those you live with), then add additional smaller circles around the main circle of your immediate family members you do not live with and any associations, groups, institutions that serve as resources/stressors in your life as smaller circles around the main circle. Spend 45-60 uninterrupted minutes completing the ecomap by adding as much detail to each circle of the ecomap as you can, within this time frame. 

• PART 2: Type a reflection paper (minimum of 500 words) describing the experience of completing the ecomap and your analysis of the drawing (this part is simply a reflection of your experience completing the eco-map). I want you to take some time to reflect on your drawing (the eco-map) and use the reflection paper as a way to communicate some of the feelings that come up for you and any connections you make between the people, associations, groups, institutions, resources, and stressors in your life. In the essay you will identify the patterns you see in the ecomap, the resources in the ecomap, and the ways in which you have been influenced by the relationships, resources and groups in your life. You may want to apply the theories you read about in chapter 8 of Zastrow to your own family. This essay is designed to be an introspective and personal exercise (there is no wrong way to complete this part—as long as you reflect on you and your environment and meet the 500 word count minimum). What you write will be kept in confidence. 

*Submit Reflection Paper as pdf attachment and email to balvarad@austincc.edu - along with an electronic copy/image of your ecomap. 

4 Reaction Papers   

Due 10/8; 10/22; 11/5; and 11/19, by 10pm, by 10pm                                                                     (25 points each, up to 100 points)   

You are required to read/view and provide a critical reaction to assigned articles/material. There will be a SPECIFIC folder for each Reaction Paper on Bb and you will only receive credit for posts that are posted in the appropriate folder. The Rubric for Evaluating Student Reaction Papers is located in the same folder on Bb. I encourage you to review the grading rubric before posting a response. I will LOCK the Reaction Papers folder a day after the deadline, after 10pm. You will not be able to post a day after the deadline, if you miss the deadline. Beyond that time the discussion board will no longer be available. 

Group Interviews - Social Worker with BSW or MSW or PHD Degree in Social Work    

Deadline: Anytime before the end of November, by 10pm           (35 points for each interview, a total of 105 points)    

A 1-pager with instructions and interview questions can be found on Bb - Discussion Forum, Group Interviews.

Final Exam - Critical and Reflection Paper

Deadline: Sunday, December 3rd, by 10pm                                                                                                      (60 points)

 The Final will be made available a week before the deadline. Students will receive an announcement and will be able to     

 access the Final on Bb. The Final will focus on what the student has learned throughout the semester. 

Reading Material will be assigned—they will be posted on Blackboard for students to download and read.

This is a foundation course designed to help students develop a beginning understanding of the core elements of the profession of social work and to provide an overview of the history and development of social work as a profession. The course is designed to foster a philosophical, historical, and critical understanding of the social work profession including social work values, ethics, and areas of practice utilized under a Generalist Social Work Model. 

The primary goals of this course are for students to gain a better sense of: (1) the profession of social work at the micro (individual), mezzo (groups, families and organizations), and macro (organizations, communities and society) levels; (2) the values, ethics, standards, skills and responsibilities necessary for the best direct and indirect practices of social work services; and (3) the various employment positions available to social workers who hold a BSW, MSW, and/or DSW/PHD degree(s).

This course will actively seek to: (1) expand the student's knowledge of and empathy with all persons who might be referred to as a “minority,” or through circumstances have become disenfranchised from mainstream society; (2) encourage students to purposely become aware and well-informed at all levels (locally, regionally, nationally, and globally) of political, social, and economic forces that impact different communities; and (3) expose students to a new way of examining human interaction through the lens of social work theory, method, and practice.

COURSE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

1. Discuss the historical development of social work in the United States.

2. Distinguish the profession of social work from other helping professions.

3. Identify core values of social work as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics.

4. Identify the primary roles and functions of social workers (advocate, community organizer, 

    case manager, counselor, etc.).

5. Articulate how practice settings influence the roles and functions of social workers.

6. Describe the Generalist Social Work Model.

7. Describe how the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners Code of Conduct guides 

    social work practice.

8. Describe how the NASW Code of Ethics guides social work practice.

9. Describe social work’s goal of advancing human rights and justice.

10.Describe social work’s obligation to serve diverse populations.

PROGRAM STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

PSLO 1 - Critical thinking: Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.

PSLO 2 - Advance human rights and justice: Articulate social work’s goal of advancing human rights and social and economic justice, as well as the core values of social work as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics.