SOWK 565 Generalist Field Experience and Seminar B

Field education is a principal component of the instruction and training students receive to prepare them for a professional career in social work. While receiving supervised practice experience in an agency setting, students will attend a seminar class that offers the opportunity to process their field experiences and engage in further learning. The integration of classroom and field activities provides students with a unique and comprehensive learning experience to support their development as professional social workers.

Presentations and articles

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Quiz: Seminar Participation (14)

Each week students will complete a Quiz: Seminar Participation in order to reflect on what was discussed and learned in their seminar class. 

Timesheet Assignments (16)

The student will document the hours completed during his/her field experience by completing the Timesheet Assignment- Template each week. The student must document all activities including the required one hour of supervision each week.

The Timesheet will document all activities that the student completes in the Field each module. For each day, describe the activities accomplished, place them in the category they best fit with, and include the hour(s) for that specific category. At the end of each module, please total the hours for the module and the cumulative total for the semester. 

Supervisory Agenda Assignments (16)

The student will prepare a minimum of three agenda items prior to the scheduled supervisory meeting with his/her Field Instructor each week. Items that can be included can relate to ethical decision-making, problem-solving, interactions with clients, policy, practice, learning objectives from the previous supervision, and/or specific questions/topics about field experience that require additional discussion. This form requires the signature from the student’s Agency Task Supervisor or External Field Instructor if applicable.

The student must bring a copy of this agenda to each weekly supervision meeting with the top portion completed. The Field Instructor may add to the agenda items as appropriate. The student will complete the remaining sections of the form based on the discussion that occurs during the meeting.  Be sure writing is legible if responses are hand-written within the Supervisory Agenda form.

At the end of the meeting, the student and his/her Field Instructor will sign the form. Be aware that if there are components of the Supervisory Agenda form that are not completed appropriately, the student will be asked to address the concerns and resubmit the form. The student will not receive points for an agenda that is submitted without all appropriate signatures.

Journal Assignments (3)

The purpose of the Journal Assignments is to reflect on the field activities the student participated in and how he/she observed and applied the core competencies. The student will engage in self-assessment and self-correction.

The student will complete a Journal Assignment bi-weekly while completing his/her field internship hours. Each provided template must be answered in 2-3 paragraphs reflecting on what the student learned at his/her field experience, feelings experienced, something he/she would do differently, and the application of core competencies. Please consult previous textbooks and scholarly articles to support efforts to integrate theory into practice. Textbooks and any other sources used must be documented and properly cited.

Case Presentation Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide the student an opportunity to integrate theory into practice, develop a case presentation specific to a client and/or client system that he/she is working in, and facilitate a discussion to identify strengths, areas of growth, interventions, and discussion questions to elicit feedback from classmates.

Using the Case Presentation Template as a guide, the student will develop a PowerPoint Presentation to identify the agency he/she is working in, the reason for referral, genogram/ecogram, an assessment of strengths and needs, interventions, and discussion questions. The case overview should take approximately 10-15 minutes and the discussion questions should take about 15-20 minutes.

Final Evaluation: Self-Assessment Assignment

The Final Evaluation: Self-Assessment Assignment is a highly valuable exercise in each student’s education. It provides an opportunity for self-reflection, critical thinking, and personal/professional development. 

The student will complete a self-evaluation, identifying both strengths and areas for future development. Each area of the evaluation will be completed in detail.

The Faculty Field Liaison will review the evaluation and will assign a grade based upon this evaluation. 

Final Evaluation: Supervisor Assessment Assignment

The Final Evaluation: Supervisor Assessment Assignment is a highly valuable exercise in each student’s education. It provides critical feedback to individual students to assist in their development as professionals. It also provides helpful information for the Social Work Department as we serve those students individually and seek to continually improve our program content and methods to equip our students to become excellent, compassionate social workers.

Meeting: The Agency Task Supervisor and Field Instructor will meet (together or separately) with the student in person (or by MS Teams) to provide feedback on his/her performance and discuss the student’s progress on learning contract goals, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement as well as recommendations for further development.

Final Evaluation: Supervisor Assessment Assignment: The Agency Task Supervisor (ATS) and Field Instructor (FI) will collaborate and complete a final field evaluation to assess the student’s demonstration of practice behaviors associated with each of the core competencies identified by the Council on Social Work Education as essential to generalist social work practice.

The Faculty Field Liaison will review the evaluation, participate in the discussion as needed, and will assign a grade based upon this evaluation. Upon supervisor completion of the Evaluation: Final Template, the student will submit it to the course.

To continue to grow in the field of Social Work, the student will need to consistently hone his/her skills, identify areas of growth, and develop plans to consistently provide high-quality professional services as a Generalist Social Work practitioner. 

Based on the feedback discussed with the student’s supervisors as a part of the Final Evaluation: Supervisor Assessment Assignment, the student will develop a plan using the Professional Development Plan Template, found in the Professional Development Plan Assignment in the assigned module’s Apply section, to address areas of growth in preparation for his/her Advanced Generalist Field Experience.

The student will review his/her Final Evaluation: Self-Assessment Assignment and Final Evaluation: Supervisor Assignment. Then the student will list at least 2 competency areas with corresponding practice behaviors that he/she would like to strengthen before his/her next Field Experience. The student will develop SMART goals to show how he/she will improve on the items that were noted. The goals might include reading more journal articles on practice areas, gaining more professional or volunteer experience, talking with a spiritual mentor, role-playing with a friend, etc. In other words, the student will write down some specific tasks that he/she will do to further develop professionally.

The Student Evaluation of Agency and Seminar Smartsheet form is meant to assess the student’s overall experience throughout the semester in the Field Experience and Seminar course. The student’s feedback is very important to us, and the information provided on this form will help the department improve the MSW Field Education program!

The evaluation includes questions about the student’s Field Instructor, the staff at the agency where he/she completed his/her Field Experience, and the Field Experience course assignments. The evaluation also inquires about components of the Field Experience that the student feels will be most and least valuable to his/her anticipated career development. Lastly, the evaluation asks for suggestions of additional guidelines for students who are placed at his/her agency in the future.