Course Syllabus
Instructor Contact Information
Lead Faculty Information
This course was designed by Dr. December Maxwell. There are numerous sections of this course with varying faculty. This course may contain videos and content designed by another faculty to be used by all sections of this course.
Course Details
For a list of course activities, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Course Prerequisites
The only prerequisite is graduate standing.
Course Materials
-
Unraveling Assumptions: A Primer for Understanding Oppression and Privilege, 1st ED 2022, Karen L. Suyemoto, Roxanne A. Donovan, Grace S. Kim
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th Ed.
- Additional readings will be pulled from multiple sources and linked in the "Resources" page of each course module.
Social Work Competencies Alignment
| EPAS 2022 Competencies | Course Content |
Dimensions(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical & Professional Behavior |
Assignment 1: Implicit Bias Plan Students take 3 Implicit Association Tests (race, gender, sexuality), write a paper that identifies themes in the test results, identify the origins of current biases, discuss how their biases can impact practice, and review research articles with related practice applications. |
|
| Competency 2: Advance Human Rights & Social, Racial, Economic & Environmental Justice |
Assignment 1: Implicit Bias Plan Students take 3 Implicit Association Tests of their choice and write a paper that identifies themes in the test results, identifies the origins of current biases, discusses how their biases can impact practice, and reviews research articles with related practice applications.
|
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| Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice |
Assignment 2: Injustice Infographic Students work as a group to identify a key population with intersecting identities and oppressions and create an informative infographic illuminating the social, political, and economic issues of an oppressed group and describe current significant problems. Section 3 also requires students to identify, write, and evaluate policy. |
|
Grades
Breakdown
| Activity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Discussion Board Engagement | 15% |
| Story of Self | 15% |
| Social Injustice Infographic | 25% |
| Implicit Bias Test and Plan | 25% |
| Practicing Cultural Humility | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 91–100% | A | Excellent: Work exceeds course expectations |
| 81–90% | B | Good: Work meets course expectations |
| 71–80% | C | Fair: Work marginally meets course expectations |
| 65–70% | D | Poor: Work minimally meets course expectations |
| 64% or below | F | Failure: Work does not meet course expectations. |
Course Components
Discussion Board Engagement
For all discussion boards, students should submit their original post to the discussion board questions of the week by Friday, and responses/rejoinders are due by Sunday by midnight. The lowest three scores on discussion posts are automatically dropped in grade calculations. Note that you can miss a maximum of three discussion board posts.
Live Sessions
There will be two Live Sessions throughout the course where participants will meet to receive and process course content and connect with other students. While these sessions are ungraded, your attendance is required. If you are unable to attend, you will review the recorded session and provide a three-page summary e-mailed directly to the instructor within one week of the Zoom video being posted.
Story of Self
A 9-10 page paper addressing your background, the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors towards diversity and difference of both yourself and your family, and a reflection that brings it all together.
Social Injustice Infographic
Small groups will create an infographic detailing 1 social, political, economic, or environmental injustice experienced by 1 vulnerable population featured in this course. Your group will also have 3-5 minutes to present the infographic during our 2nd Live Session.
Implicit Bias Test and Plan
A 9-10 page paper or 25-minute recorded presentation focused on a reflection of Implicit Association Tests. Using the IAT results, students will select two articles that address social work practice with a vulnerable population, write an analysis and reflection, and develop practical applications gleaned from the research.
Practicing Cultural Humility
Students will watch selected videos and write 9-10 pages responding to prompts surrounding cultural humility and actionable steps to recognize and develop cultural humility in social work practice.
All assignments are to be double-spaced in a readable 12 pt—font, with normal margins. You must use headings and subheadings throughout the assignments per the APA manual. Do not submit a cover page or abstract. Be sure to submit in a (.doc) or (.docx) format.
Course Policies
Communication
Students should use their OU e-mail or Canvas to communicate with the instructor. They can expect a response usually within 48 hours Monday-Friday. For any reason communication will be delayed beyond that, it will be communicated to the students in advance. Professional communication is an expectation. Please take a moment to review these tips for communicating with your instructor.
Feedback
Students can expect feedback and grades on their activities and assignments within two weeks. Any exceptions to that will be communicated by the instructor in advance.
Late Policy
Students are expected to submit work by the due date stipulated in the course. Students who are unable to submit coursework by the due date because of an extenuating circumstance should contact their instructor prior to the due date to request an extension for the work. If it is not possible to contact the instructor before the due date, they should do so as soon after the due date as possible. Instructors have the discretion to offer an extension or to accept late coursework without penalty based on their assessment of a student’s circumstance.
Plagiarism
The NASW Code of Ethics states: “Social workers should not participate in, condone, or be associated with dishonesty, fraud or deception.” One of the values on which the Code of Ethics is based is that of integrity and one of the ethical principles derived from this value is “Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.”
Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. Generally, there is no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism.
For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.
Use of Generative AI Policy
The emergence of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT and DALL-E) has sparked interest among many students in our discipline. The use of these tools for brainstorming ideas, exploring possible responses to questions or problems, and creative engagement with the materials may be useful for you as you craft responses to class assignments. While there is no substitute for working directly with your instructor, the potential for generative AI tools to provide automatic feedback, assistive technology, and language assistance is clearly developing. Please feel free to reach out to me well in advance of the due date of assignments for which you may be using generative AI tools, and I will be happy to discuss what is acceptable.
In this course, students shall give credit to AI tools whenever used, even if only to generate ideas rather than usable text or illustrations. When using AI tools on assignments, add an appendix showing:
- the entire exchange, highlighting the most relevant sections
- a description of precisely which AI tools were used (e.g. ChatGPT private subscription version or DALL-E free version)
- an explanation of how the AI tools were used (e.g. to generate ideas, turns of phrase, text elements, long stretches of text, lines of argument, pieces of evidence, maps of the conceptual territory, illustrations of key concepts, etc.)
- an account of why AI tools were used (e.g. to save time, to surmount writer’s block, to stimulate thinking, to handle mounting stress, to clarify prose, to translate text, to experiment for fun, etc.)
Overall, AI tools should be used wisely and reflectively with an aim to deepen understanding of the subject matter. Generative AI may not be used at all on the Story of Self, since this is an assignment about you, your experiences, and how they may shape your social work practice.
Students should also be aware of the potential benefits and limitations of using AI as a tool for learning and research. AI systems can provide helpful information or suggestions, but they are not always reliable or accurate. Students should critically evaluate the sources, methods, and outputs of AI systems. Violations of this policy will be treated as academic misconduct/plagiarism.
Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act Statement (HIPAA)
In line with the new HIPPA regulations concerning protected health information, it is important that you understand that any client information that you share, either verbally or written, will need to be de-identified. This means that any information that would allow another to identify the person needs to be changed or eliminated. This includes obvious things like names and birth dates but may also contain other information that is so unique to the person that it could allow for identification, including, but not limited to diagnosis, race/ethnicity, or gender. If diagnosis, race/ethnicity, or gender is directly related to the case presentation, it can be included if it will not allow for identification.
School of Social Work Anti-Racism Statement
“The 2022 Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) affirms and strengthens the enduring commitment of social work education to principles of anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The 2022 EPAS supports social work programs in developing a workforce of social workers who are knowledgeable about the ways positionality, power, privilege, and difference affect practice areas, and how social workers challenge systems of oppression that affect diverse populations.” - Excerpt taken from the CSWE Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards
Course References
The resources on the Course References page were used in the development of this course and are recommended supplemental reading for your professional practice.
University Academic Policies and Student Support
Access the University Academic Policies Document.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|