Syllabus
Introduction to Social Work

Introduction to Social Work

SOCW-2361

Credit Spring 2020
02/17/2020 - 05/17/2020

Course Information

Section 002
Distance Learning
ONL DIL
Blanca Alvarado

Section 001
Distance Learning
ONL DIL
Blanca Alvarado

Section 004
Lecture
MW 12:00 - 13:20
HLC1 2104
Blanca Alvarado

Office Hours

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    NULL - NULL
    Highland Campus
    Sunday: 8:00pm - 9:00pm (Google Hangouts)
    Two Sessions (8:00pm - 8:29pm AND 8:30pm - 9:00pm)
    DATES for Virtual Office Hours are below:
    2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/29, 4/5, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10

    Wednesday: 10:00am - Noon (in person or by phone)
    Highland Campus - Building 4000 - Room 4.2310.34, 512-223-7149

    Wednesday: 1:30pm - 2:30pm (only in person)
    Highland Campus - 2nd Floor - Lounge Area - near the Student Services Office

Course Requirements

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS   

Mandatory Online Orientation                  Deadline: to be fully completed by Sunday, Feb. 2nd, by 10pm                    (0 points)

Requirement to remain in the course. If you do not successfully complete the online orientation requirement for this class, you will be withdrawn from the course at the end of Week 2. You will receive a checkmark as a grade on Bb within 3 days of your post, if you completed the Orientation successfully. Please check Bb within 3 days after posting as I will leave you a message if you need to modify your post and re-submit. Many students fail to post a picture of themselves in the body of their post and this makes their post incomplete.                                           

    

15-Weekly Current Events Blog           Due every Sunday, by 10pm - Starting Week 1 (1/26) and ending Week 15 (5/10)      (45 points)   

You will be required to inform yourself, on a weekly basis—for a minimum of 60 minutes, of local and global current events and then blog on Blackboard (Bb). There will be a SPECIFIC folder for each week (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc.) and you will only receive credit for posts that are posted IN the appropriate folder and during the specified week. The Grading Rubric for the Blogs is located in the same folder as the Weekly Blogs. I encourage you to review the Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs before posting your blog. I will LOCK Weekly Blogs after the deadline, after 10pm on Sundays, so you will not be able to post for that week, if you miss the deadline.                  Upcoming folder Blogs will be UNLOCKED first thing Monday mornings or very late on Sundays.                                                                          Each Blog is worth up to 3 points and has a MINIMUM word count of 100 words or more.  

 

15-Weekly Article Reaction Papers     Due every Sunday, by 10pm - Starting Week 1 (1/26) and ending Week 15 (5/10)          (45 points)   

You will be required to read and provide a reaction to assigned weekly articles. There will be a SPECIFIC folder for each week (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc.) and you will only receive credit for posts that are posted in the appropriate folder. The Grading Rubric for the Article Reaction Papers is located in the same folder as the Article Reaction Papers. I encourage you to review the Rubric for Evaluating Student Reaction Papers before posting a response. I will LOCK the Article Reaction Papers folder after the deadline, after 10pm on Sundays, so you will not be able to post for that week, if you miss the deadline.                                                                                                     Each Article Reaction Paper is worth up to 3 points and has a MINIMUM word count of 100 words or more.  


 

Family Assessment (EcoMap & Reflection Paper)               Deadline: Sunday, Feb. 16th, by 10pm                           (15 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 Blackboard), to practice your skills at drawing an eco-map.

Instructions:

• PART 1: Draw (by hand--not computer--on an 8x10 paper) an eco-map 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 eco-map 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 eco-map, the resources in the eco-map, 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. 

 

Small Group Discussions           Due 3/1 (part 1), 4/5 (parts 2 & 3) and 5/3 (part 4), by 10pm         (25 points each, total of 75 points) 

A total of three (3) Small Group Discussions will be required to discuss the documentary, Century of the Self...a 4-part series, an hour each.  Groups of 3-5 members will be randomly assigned 3 weeks before the deadline. The instructor will send an announcement 3 weeks before the deadline letting students know that groups have been formed. Students are responsible to make contact with fellow group members within the first week. If students do not make contact to schedule a time to discuss the assigned material, within the first week, they waive their rights to meet in a group to discuss the documentary and students who do not meet with their assigned group will not receive any credit. Groups should not be smaller than 3 members, unless someone from your group emails the instructor informing me of members who have not made contact...after the first week. Each student will need to complete a Pre-post (before you meet with your group) and Post-post (after you meet with your group) on Bb. Pre-post and Post-post questions will be posted on Bb.                     

 

Meet In-Person with an Academic Advisor                          Due: Anytime in March, by 10pm   (10 points)

You will be required to meet in-person with an academic advisor at ACC or another higher education institution to discuss your current and future educational goals—to help ensure your academic success in higher education. The visit with an Advisor needs to be done specifically for this class and ONLY during the month of March AND you need to post answers to 3 questions you asked the advisor during your meeting. You will probably ask more than 3 questions, but you are only required to post to Bb the top 3 questions and answers you think will be beneficial/helpful to other students, along with your writeup of your overall experience (200 words minimum, in total). 

 

Meet with Professor       Deadline: The last day to meet with me is May 10th             (5 points each meeting, in total, 10 points)

You will be required to check in with me, at least TWICE during the semester. Our meeting will take place during my virtual office hours on Sunday evenings; 8:00-9:00pm or in person during my other office hours at the HLC. Depending on how many people show-up or login, we can have a one-on-one or a group meeting. Our meeting should last a minimum of 30 minutes and you will be required to post, within 3 days of our meeting, a brief post on Bb about your experience (minimum of 100 words or more)...in order to receive credit.  

 

In-person Interview - Social Worker with BSW or MSW or PHD Degree in Social Work          Deadline: May 3rd, by 10pm  (50 points)    

 

To complete this assignment, you will need to interview a social worker in-person and submit a write-up of your interview (in Q&A format) and overall experience completing this assignment (a minimum of 500 words for the entire write-up). The person you choose for the interview MUST hold a social work degreeBachelor’s of Social Work (BSW) or a Master of Social Work Degree (MSW) or PhD or Doctorate in Social Work—this person does not have to be a licensed social worker. You will need to reach out to social workers/agencies doing work that interests you and ask if there is a social worker with whom you can interview.               

Please explain that you are doing a class assignment and you NEED to meet in-person for 30-45 minute interview. I highly discourage interviewing someone you know well. Use this exercise to interview someone you normally would not have access to and who is doing the kind of work you are interested in doing. You will NOT receive any credit, if you do not interview in person.

Instructions: Include the following in your write-up of the interview (please submit in Q&A format). Post to Bb - Discussion Board, In-Person Interview. 

 

PLEASE WRITE-UP IN A Q&A FORMAT

•Please describe how you were able to locate your interviewee?

•When and where (actual location) did the interview take place? Again, you will not receive ANY credit if this interview is not done in person. 

•How long did the interview last? Please aim to have the interview last between 30-45 minutes. 

•Provide a contact number or email for your interviewee. 

•What type(s) of educational degree(s) does this person hold? 

•Where did they receive their most recent degree?

•What types of jobs have they held where they feel they are putting their social work degree to use?

•Name of current agency, job title, under what auspices does the organization operate (for-profit, nonprofit, or public)?

•One-three sentences briefly describing what they do.

•Identify the population they serve.

•What main skills are needed to do their job?

•The average work day of a social worker (in their setting).

•What type of supervision is available and how often?

•Approximately, identify the range in salary for their current position. For instance, in the low, mid, or high...40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.

•A brief discussion of the challenges and rewards of being a social worker in the 21st Century.

•Please discuss three things you found valuable from your interview. 

•Please take time to reflect on the information you gathered from your interviewee and speak to your own career goals…                          Is this something you would like to do as a social worker?, What about the position interests you?, What about the position concerns you?, What is the highest degree you are thinking of pursuing?  


 

Final Take-home Exam                                               Deadline: May 13th, by 10pm                                                       (50 points)                                                                                                           

The Final is designed to integrate new and covered materials from readings and videos from throughout the semester.                        The Final will most likely consists of 5 short answer questions with sub-questions (i.e., 1a, 1b, 1c as one question).           The take-home exam will be made available on Bb 5 days prior to the deadline. An announcement will go out on Bb when the Final becomes available. Submit to my ACC email account – balvarad@austincc.edu. Do not post your final exam on Bb.


Please note that any late exams will be penalized - 1 point for every minute that the exam is late.                                                             No exceptions, so please plan accordingly and aim to complete your Final Exam as soon as it becomes available.

Readings

All reading, visual, and audio material will be made available on Bb. 

Course Subjects

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.


 

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

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, organizer, case manager, counselor).

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.