SOC3000 Collaborative Community Problem Solving

Contents

• Staffing
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Other requirements
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

RATIONALE

Other courses in the student's program of study engage knowledge and competencies from within particular disciplines. This course expands these studies by challenging the student with a cross disciplinary workplace experience, working effectively and productively with professionals from other disciplines who have different priorities, models and frameworks for conceptualising, managing and solving problems. Complex community issues are the subjects with which teams of students will engage to acquire these skills, while contributing to the understanding of an identified community problem.

SYNOPSIS

Students will work within cross disciplinary project teams consisting of a mix of students, professionals and community members from outside the university. Each team will have a community issue assigned to it. Where possible, this issue will be from an identified community, either within the local area, or from overseas where an international student brings an issue forward. A staff member will facilitate each project team's activities. Students will engage in a series of workshops where they meet as a group and contribute knowledge and competencies from their own experiences and disciplines to critically analyse the components of the issue and define specific challenges, such that further research and consultation can result in a proposed framework for problem solving. Between workshops students will be responsible for researching the issue, consulting with community members personally or electronically, and preparing components of the project report for the team. The deliverable from the course is a report which describes the issue analysis, relevant research and community consultation, and a prospectus on possible management or resolution strategies.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of this course students will be able to:

1.

Apply principles of social justice, ethical and legal professional practice, and working with diversity while engaging in community problem solving.

2.

Apply knowledge and competencies from their own disciplines to strategic thinking as a member of a multidisciplinary team.

3.

Critically analyse complex community problems by integrating theories, systems and frameworks from multiple disciplines and perspectives.

4.

Demonstrate an understanding of the roles of various disciplines in the analysis, research, consultation and intervention processes related to a selected community problem.

5.

Collaborate effectively and productively with other team members who have different priorities, models, and frameworks for conceptualising, managing and solving problems.

6.

Demonstrate professional communication and organisation skills necessary to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team, including group facilitation, leadership, planning, decision making, conflict resolution and effective use of computer mediated communications.

7.

Plan community level strategies with processes inclusive of all stakeholders.

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Hanson, MP 2005, Clues to Achieving Consensus: A Leader's Guide to Navigating Collaborative Problem Solving, Scarecrow Education, Lanham, MD.

Hogan, C 2002, Understanding Facilitation, Theory and Principles, Kogan Page, London.

Holly, M 1984, Keeping a Personal-Professional Journal, Deakin University Press, Geelong, Victoria.

Ife, J & Tesoriero F 2006, Community Development: community-based alternatives in an age of globalisation, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

Kenny, Susan 2006, Developing communities for the future: community development in Australia, 3rd edn, Nelson Thomson Learning Australia, South Melbourne.

Kotler, P, Roberto, N & Lee, NR 2002, Social Marketing: Improving the Quality of Life, 2nd edn, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, vol SAG.

McKenzie-Mohr,D & Smith, W 1999, Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing, New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC.

Sarkissian, Wendy & Perlgut, Donald (eds) 1994, The community participation handbook: resources for public involvement in the planning process, 2nd edn, Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University.

Taylor, J, Wilkinson, D & Cheers B 2008, Working with communities in health and human services, Oxford, South Melbourne.

Wenger, E, McDermott, R and Snyder, W 2002, Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

NOTES

1.

All members of a team will receive the same mark for this assessment item. This assessment item is primarily aligned with objectives 4,5,6 and 7.

2.

Each student will write a reflective report on their learning experiences and the effectiveness of their collaborative team. Individuals will evaluate the professional behaviour of themselves and their team members. This assessment items is primarily aligned with objectives 4, 5 and 6.

3.

The team's final report will summarise the multidisciplinary analysis of the issue with related consultation and research, the possible strategies for addressing the issues and the rationale for the strategy chosen as the preferred option. While the team final report will receive a single mark, the examiner reserves the right to reduce individual marks where individual reports indicate that a student did not contribute adequately to the report. This assessment item is primarily aligned with objectives 1,2,3,6 and 7.

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   This course employs a team-based approach to learning in which students must participate in small groups engaged in a community problem solving exercise. To meet the team based objectives of the course, students must participate in their assigned group activities either face to face ot through computer mediated communications. Students participation is formally assessed and successful participation is required to complete the requirements to be awarded a passing grade in this course. There are no other attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students responsibility to study all material provided to them of required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To complete each of the assessment items satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available for each assessment item
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without extenuating circumstances and without prior approval, then a penalty of a maximum of 5% of the assigned mark may apply for each working day late, up to a maximum of 10 working days, at which time a mark of zero can be recorded for that assignment.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade, a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no exam for this course.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Given the details under (6) above, there are no deferred exams for this course. However, if any deferred/makeup work is granted, it would have to be submitted by a date set by the examiner.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6 Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm

ASSESSMENT NOTES

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

1. Students will require access to email and have internet access to UConnect for this course.
2. IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE WITHIN CHILDREN UNDER 18 UNLESS YOU POSSESS A CURRENT 'BLUE CARD'. State law is Queensland requires that ALL adults (including university students, pre-service educators, trainers, vocational teachers, industry educators) working with children under the age of 18 in the state of Queensland* obtain approval before commencing such work. Many education courses include a practical component (professional experience, project work, research, assessment etc) that may require engagement with children under the age of 18. It is your responsibility to ensure that you possess a current suitability card (Blue Card) before commencing any practical components of this course. For further information see: <http://www.childrencomm.qld.gov.au/employment/bluecard/infomationsheets.html> *If you are undertaking practical experience outside the State of Queensland, Australia, you should check local requirements.
3. It is imperative that students check with the Examiner whether they need to obtain ethics clearance for any of their community work in this course.
4. Students enrolling in WEB courses MUST have ongoing convenient and reliable access to the Internet in order to access course materials and participate in activities that will affect assessment. The levels of equipment required may change from time to time, with the most recent specification listed at http://www.usq.edu.au/currentstudents/computingstandards/default.htm You can check whether your computer system meets these requirements from USQAssist (http://usqassist.usq.edu.au/).
5. Students can expect that assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in the course. This includes appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect to achieve the same grades as those students who do possess them.

This version produced 11 Dec 2009.