Working in Human Service Organisations (SWSP3011)

Course overview

Assists students to understand, analyse and work with a wide range of human service organisations. Implications of the centrality of organisations for social work and the skills and knowledge required to work in organisations are explored. Theories and concepts to guide effective social work in organisational contexts are developed, explained and applied to practice situations. This subject requires reflection by students on the experiences gained through their practicum placements.

The Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) program is accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). The AASW Accreditation Standards (2020) stipulate that accredited social work programs are required to include content that addresses the five core curriculum areas listed below. SWSP3011 contains content in the curriculum area number 1: Constructions of social work purpose, place, and practice.

This course provides social workers with an understanding of the organisational context surrounding their practice. Throughout this course, you will be introduced to theories, practices and dilemmas relevant to working in the human services sector. Understanding human service organisations and gaining organisational skills are essential if you are to address social justice and respond to the needs of clients. As such, this course differs from other courses you have undertaken in your social work degree, where you have sought to understand the structural and personal circumstances that impact our clients. This course considers you as a worker in a human service organisation and aims to provide you with frameworks andﾠtools to assist you in understanding the 'real world' of practice, to reflect on and act as a team member, and to utilise professional values in your working environment. This course will assist in understanding, negotiating, and managing practice within varying organisational contexts. You are likely to work in a range of agencies with different cultures and structures throughout your career.ﾠFor this reason, the course will provide a platform for future career development in your work including integrating leadership and supervision.ﾠ

This course seeks to guide you as you undertake your placement and will have a strongﾠfocus on your placement context and will involve consideration of your organisational experiences.

SWSP3011 is a required course for students in the BSW (Hons) program. The course runs concurrently with your placementﾠin SWSP3155.

This course has a flexible delivery. The week's material is released each Friday morning to Blackboard in the respective week's Learning Resources folder. Undertaking the week's material is self-directed.

Course requirements

Assumed background

This course is run alongside your field placement, SWSP3155 Field Placement 1. It is a course requirement that students are in the process of undertaking, or have recently completed, your first practice placement. Any student who is not currently enrolled in SWSP3155ﾠ (including having recently completed SWSP3155) must discuss their circumstances with the Course Coordinator prior to enrolling.

Companion or co-requisite courses

You'll need to complete the following courses at the same time:

SWSP3155

Course contact

Timetable

Additional timetable information

The timetable for yourﾠplacement and this course differs. Each has different start and finish dates. This course follows the UQ academic calendar and starts in Week 1 of Semester 1 - that is, the week beginning 24thﾠFebruary. Use the Semester 1 academic calendar for public holidays and the mid-semester break as these apply to this course. Material for each week will be available on Blackboard early on Friday morning, as this is the day most of you are not on placement. The list of weekly topics is set out in 4.1 Learning Activities.ﾠ

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to provide you with

• an understanding of how organisations operate
• an awareness of how organisational issues impact on social work practice
• developing a critical understanding of organisations including the economic, social, political and historical context in which organisations work
• an understanding of important themes such as leadership, accountability, agency, risk, and teamwork
• strategies for ethical social work and human service practice within organisations
• guidance in meeting the challenges of working in a changing organisational world

This course is designed to sit beside your experience as a student on placement. There will be a considerable amount of reflection on your role as a team member within your agency.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Assignment 1 (Essay)

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

40% Marked out of 100

Due date

11/04/2025 1:00 pm

Week 7

Other conditions

Student specific.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit through Turnitin in the Assessment Section/Assignment 2 of the SWSP3011 Blackboard site.

• Use a docx format, not pdf.

All courses require students to submit an electronic version of their assignment via Blackboard.

Please check the companion website assessment area for specific instructions on this process. A link will be made available under the tab Assessment / Assignment 1 of your Blackboard course to allow you to submit your assignment electronically.

Please refer to ITS help if you experience difficulties in submitting your assignments in Blackboard or using TURNITIN as instructed on the companion website.

Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and/or MT (Machine Translation)The anti-plagiarism software TURNITIN is being used at UQ. The electronic version of your assignment will be submitted via Blackboard, using the TURNITIN software. Work submitted may be subjected to a plagiarism detection process. If this process is used, then copies of this work will be retained and used as source material for conducting future plagiarism checks.

By submitting your assignment, you are certifying that it is your original work and that where you have used the ideas or writing of other authors, this has been acknowledged according to accepted academic guidelines. Further, it has not been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at any university (unless resubmission is part of the requirements for the course assessment).

You need to ensure you have completed the university’s academic integrity module before you submit your assignment.

• Refer to full details in the Assessment Section/Assignment 2 of the SWSP3011 Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Applying for an extension

Extension requests are submitted online via my.UQ. Extension requests received in any other way will not be approved.

Information about applying for an extension can be found on my.UQ.

Extension guidelines

• Extension requests should be submitted prior to the assessment deadline.
• Extension requests must state the due date and the due time of the assessment.
• Requests for extensions received after the assessment item submission due date may not be approved. Late requests must include evidence of the reasons for the late request. 
• The extension granted should be in proportion to the period of illness or disruption caused by the exceptional circumstances and will typically be no more than 2 weeks in duration.
• Students on a Student Access Plan (SAP) with a clause on extension requests must still adhere to the extension request policy outlined. Students need to attach the SAP and a note outlining their current situation with the online extension application. A maximum of 7 days will be granted for applications on the basis of an SAP. An extension request beyond 7 days will require additional supporting information as this request will not be considered on the basis of the SAP, but rather additional events (whether they relate to the circumstances of the SAP or not).

Outcome of application

• Extension requests are generally processed within 2 working days. Students can see the outcome of their application by logging in to my.UQ.
• Appeals against a refusal of an extension should be lodged through the Student Grievance Resolution process outlined on my.UQ.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Assignment 2 (Journal and Reflective Essay )

Mode

Written

Category

Notebook/ Logbook, Reflection

Weight

60% Marked out of 100

Due date

13/06/2025 1:00 pm

Other conditions

Student specific.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes

L01, L03, L04, L06

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit through Turnitin in the Assessment Section/Assignment 2 of the SWSP3011 Blackboard site.

• Use a docx format, not pdf.

All courses require students to submit an electronic version of their assignment via Blackboard. Please check the companion website assessment area for specific instructions on this process. A link will be made available under the tab Assessment / Assignment 2 of your Blackboard course to allow you to submit your assignment electronically.

Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and/or MT (Machine Translation)

The anti-plagiarism software TURNITIN is being used at UQ. The electronic version of your assignment will be submitted via Blackboard, using the TURNITIN software. Work submitted may be subjected to a plagiarism detection process. If this process is used, then copies of this work will be retained and used as source material for conducting future plagiarism checks. Please refer to ITS help if you experience difficulties in submitting your assignments in Blackboard or using TURNITIN as instructed on the companion website.

By submitting your assignment, you are certifying that it is your original work and that where you have used the ideas or writing of other authors, this has been acknowledged according to accepted academic guidelines. Further, it has not been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at university (unless resubmission is part of the requirements for the course assessment). You need to ensure you have completed the university’s academic integrity module before you submit your assignment.

• Refer to full details in the Assessment Section/Assignment 2 of the SWSP3011 Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Applying for an extension

Extension requests are submitted online via my.UQ. Extension requests received in any other way will not be approved.

Information about applying for an extension can be found on my.UQ.

Extension guidelines

• Extension requests should be submitted prior to the assessment deadline.
• Extension requests must state the due date and the due time of the assessment.
• Requests for extensions received after the assessment item submission due date may not be approved. Late requests must include evidence of the reasons for the late request. 
• The extension granted should be in proportion to the period of illness or disruption caused by the exceptional circumstances and will typically be no more than 2 weeks in duration.
• Students on a Student Access Plan (SAP) with a clause on extension requests must still adhere to the extension request policy outlined. Students need to attach the SAP and a note outlining their current situation with the online extension application. A maximum of 7 days will be granted for applications on the basis of an SAP. An extension request beyond 7 days will require additional supporting information as this request will not be considered on the basis of the SAP, but rather additional events (whether they relate to the circumstances of the SAP or not).

Outcome of application

• Extension requests are generally processed within 2 working days. Students can see the outcome of their application by logging in to my.UQ.
• Appeals against a refusal of an extension should be lodged through the Student Grievance Resolution process outlined on my.UQ.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

As the due date is late in the semester (during the examination period) students with approved extensions may not receive a final grade when the grades are published. These students would receive an incomplete grade (INC), which will be converted to a final grade when the assessment is marked.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Students must submit all pieces of assessment and achieve an overall mark of 50% to pass this course.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

In the case of a student requiring a supplementary assessment for this course, the supplementary assessment will be designed to address those components of the final assessment task where the

Plagiarism

All your assignments are submitted via Turnitin - this software checks every piece for plagiarism. This is policy at the University of Queensland.

Plagiarism, collusion and cheating will not be tolerated. All identified cases are referred to the Executive Dean as per UQ Policy and Procedures.

There are resources available to help you understand plagiarism. Go to:ﾠ https://web.library.uq.edu.au/research-tools-techniques/digital-essentials/write-cite-submit?p=1#1

Section 2 is on plagiarism.ﾠUndertake module 3.60.04, Student Integrity and Misconduct.

UQ'sﾠAcademic Integrity modules (AIM)ﾠareﾠcompulsoryﾠand will help you learn what academic integrity is, why it is so important, and how you can act withﾠintegrity in your studies.

If you are unsure about plagiarism, please discuss it with Maree - I amﾠhappy to help.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

A. I will post each week's class material early Friday morning.ﾠMost of you will not be on placement on Friday and can, if you choose, undertake your weekly class then. I encourage you to set up a routine to listen to the lecture and undertake the readings and activities. Completing the class weekly enables you to keep up to date with the current material, and also assists in preparing and completing your assignments (they are linked to the weekly material).ﾠ

B.ﾠ Each week's learning activities may comprise a range of material including a video narrated PowerPoint, readings, videos, reflectionsﾠand exercises. ﾠ

C. You will be responsible for your own study. If, after undertaking the weekly class, you are uncertain or confused, please contact me (Maree) to discuss.

D. This course relies on technology. Sometimes, technology fails, or the internet connection is buffering or too slow to enable listening or playing videos.ﾠPerseverance may be needed in these circumstances. Turnitin may also be affected by slow connections. Try to avoid stress by uploading assignments with time to spare.

E. Please be aware of the student's responsibility to check their UQ student email account often - this is the only way I (and the University) can communicate with you. ﾠ

University Learning Resources

Access to required and recommended resources, plus past central exam papers, is available at the UQ Library website (http://www.library.uq.edu.au/lr/SWSP4181).

The University offers a range of resources and services to support student learning. Details are available on the myUQ website (https://my.uq.edu.au/).

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work Learning Resources

In order to undertake assessment and course activities students will need access to a computer that is connected to the internet and their UQ email. Please see the Library website for information on accessing Library computers.

eLearning

The course has a Blackboard (Bb) site that has information and some learning material in regards to the course. Students will be required to become proficient in accessing and using the Blackboard site. Access Blackboard via http://learn.uq.edu.au, or log in to my.UQ and click on the ‘eLearning’ link on the left-hand menu.

Assessment and Assignment Writing Guide

Please visit https://nmsw.uq.edu.au/assessment on the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work website for information about assessment.

Student Support Services

Student Support Services provide an integrated professional service in the areas of careers and employment, learning assistance, personal counselling, disability support, financial services and international student support. For more information on individual services offered, please go to: http://www.sss.uq.edu.au

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.