Social Work Field Placement (USVP70)

The Department of Social Studies offers two bachelor's programmes in the area of social work: child welfare and social work. The department accepts trainee students from other countries that offer a similar education to those provided in these two areas. Work experience in the relevant area is an important part of social work education. Gaining experience and reflecting on practical professional work should be included in initiatives in which thinking and work methods in social studies are central.


Course description for study year 2024-2025. Please note that changes may occur.

Facts

Course code

USVP70

Version

1

Credits (ECTS)

10

Semester tution start

Spring, Autumn

Number of semesters

1

Exam semester

Spring, Autumn

Language of instruction

Norwegian

Offered by

Content

This course consists of professional training that will be supervised, varied and assessed. Through training, the students will develop their understanding of the relationship between theory and practice. Supervised professional training will provide increased expertise that is relevant to the social worker’s field of work. Ethically assessed actions play a key role in the field placement course.

The field placement is initially offered in Rogaland, and is organised by UiS. The university allocates a place of supervised professional training to each individual student. The students will complete a total of 210 fours of training over a period of at least 7 weeks.

Inbound exchange students apply via standard international admission procedures after the department has received a request to take trainee students.

The course consists of 5 topics:

  1. Independent practice of social science-related work under supervised professional training
  2. Relationships and communication
  3. Professional role and ethics
  4. Participation
  5. Applying research-based knowledge

Learning outcome

After successfully completing and passing the course, candidates will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Independent practice of social science-related work under supervised professional training

  • Can plan and carry out work tasks in complex and conflictive situations.
  • Can apply social discretion in encounters with individuals, families and groups.
  • Has insight into relevant mapping, analysis and decision-making methods.

Relationships and communication

  • Can apply academic knowledge about relationships and communication in supervision/guidance, motivation and systematic change work.
  • Has insight into the importance of digital communication in professional practice and interaction.
  • Can communicate the subject and exchange views and experiences with partners.

Professional role and ethics

  • Has insight into ethical issues and can manage ethical dilemmas in encounters with people.
  • Has insight into how to exercise judgment in situations where there is inadequate and/or conflicting information, and identify opportunities within different contexts.
  • Can reflect on risk and how to manage conflicts and reduce the risk of adverse events.

Participation

  • Can apply academic knowledge and methods in order to interact and collaborate with users regarding everyday life and difficult topics in a way that safeguards their interests, participation and rights.

Applying research-based knowledge

  • Can assess scientific knowledge and political framework conditions in a practical context.
  • Can apply research-based, experience-based and user-based knowledge in practical social work.

Required prerequisite knowledge

Students must be enrolled to study social work or an equivalent degree at their home institution.

Recommended prerequisites

Students who have completed two semesters at their home institution will be prioritized.

Exam

Form of assessment Weight Duration Marks Aid
Practical placement 1/1 Passed / Not Passed

The fieldwork supervisor (on-site) will do a continuous evaluation of the students’ efforts and will write up the final evaluation by the end of the placement. The students can have a maximum 4 sick leave days during training.

Coursework requirements

Clarification of learning outcomes, Written assignment

Clarification of plan for learning and written assignment must be approved before final assessment of the supervised professional training course. Approval/non-approval of compulsory activities is announced on Studentweb.

Clarification of learning outcomes: At the start of supervised professional training, students must clarify their individual learning outcomes in collaboration with the supervisor and submit them in Inspera.

Written assignment: Scope of 3000 words (+/- 10%) including table of contents and notes; excluding source referencing and bibliography. Referencing style: APA 7th.

The supervised professional training assignments are to be submitted in Inspera at UiS in accordance with the deadline set by the department. Late submission is considered failure to submit an assignment and will therefore be assessed as not approved. If it is necessary to postpone submission, this must be agreed with the contact teacher.

Course teacher(s)

Placement coordinator:

Ingunn Øyre

Course coordinator:

Andreas Håheim

Method of work

Supervised professional training work methods include:

  • Supervised professional training - 30 hours per week.
  • Independent supervised professional training assignments.
  • Study day - 1 day per week to work on practical assignements an the syllabus.

Open for

Inbound exchange students proficient in a Scandinavian language.

Course assessment

There must be an early dialogue between the course supervisor, the student union representative and the students. The purpose is feedback from the students for changes and adjustments in the course for the current semester.In addition, a digital subject evaluation must be carried out at least every three years. Its purpose is to gather the students experiences with the course.

Literature

The syllabus can be found in Leganto