Social workers in multi-level settings encounter clients across the life course facing life limiting illness, dying, death, grief, loss, and bereavement In this course, students are introduced to the perspectives of dying individuals and their families, grievers, and those who provide professional caring services. Current trends in palliative and end-of-life practices as outlined by the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, and the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End-of-Life Care are discussed. Students are exposed to contemporary and cross-disciplinary death and grief literatures with a critical eye towards how these reflect practice that is health promoting, improves quality of life and attends to the total care of the patient and family. Ethical decision-making, advocacy and the rights of clients are explored. Additionally students will reflect upon how their life experiences, cultural beliefs, personal assumptions, and values inform and ‘make sense’ of practice situations with dying and grieving clients.
Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:
Upon completion of this course, students will:
Online Small Group Discussions: Students respond to a prompt related to course readings and interact with classmates in an online forum.
Reflective Journals: In this course, you will be required to post every week in a reflective journal (visible to only you and your instructor) on specific reflection questions relating to the week’s topics. Your Reflective Journal entries will be assessed using the Reflective Journal Rubric.
The journal assignment will alternate between an art assignment and a reflection on readings and their relevance to your practice.
The Week 7 reflection entry will be a substantive one. You will select 3-5 peer-reviewed articles and other readings covered during the semester that changed or transformed your views on death, loss, or grief. You are encouraged to find at least one article from the literature that is of particular interest to you. These readings may have had an overall or generalized effect (for example approaching dying clients more openly or with less fearfulness) or may focus on a particular area of interest (for example physician assisted suicide or unrecognized grief). Online multimedia from the course content may also be included but they do not replace a reading selection. The paper should include the following:
All readings must be APA cited and included in your reference list. You may cite articles other than those chosen to discuss that reinforce or contradict your choices.
Written Assignment, An Analysis of a Short Story, (Due Week 3; 8-10 pages; 20% of grade) is based on a choice between three fictional readings, Whither Thou Goest, a short story by Richard Selzer (1998) or High Speeds or The Sum of our Parts, short stories in Chris Adrian’s (2008) story collection or A Better Angel. You will critically analyze selected content from the story that reflects readings and class materials covered in the course thus far. You are expected to integrate scholarly references from books, journals, and other academic reading in the body of your paper to support your discussion (6-10 references). You are encouraged to enhance your analysis of the story with personal reflections and viewpoints. You may select another short story or chapter for this assignment however it must be pre-approved by the instructor by Week 2.
The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Assignment | Point Value | Percent of final grade |
---|---|---|
Written Paper | 200 points | 20% |
Weekly Discussion Participation | 400 points (50 points x 8 weeks) | 40% |
Weekly Reflective Journals | 280 points (40 points x 7 weeks) + 120 points (Final Reflection) | 40% |
Total | 1,000 points | 100% |
Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday unless otherwise noted.
Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.
Participation is measured through your discussion board postings. Postings to the discussion board must add substantively to the discussion by building upon classmates’ ideas or posing critical questions to further the discussion. For example, a posting of “I agree with what people are saying” is not sufficient. I will be monitoring participation on a weekly basis and welcome people to check in with me if you have questions regarding your participation. Keep in mind that weekly postings make up a significant percentage of the final grade. All postings must be respectful. If at any time you are concerned with a posting, please notify me immediately. Please note that you will work in small groups to reflect and respond to the discussion questions. Your Instructor will assign you to a small group at the beginning of the course. This will be the group you work in throughout the course–where small group discussion occurs. Each week you will receive up to 30 points for participation. Please refer to the Participation Rubric to see how your weekly participation will be evaluated.
The majority of your discussions require a certain quantity of posts, but this is a minimum amount. Unless otherwise noted, you should post quality responses of no more than two or three paragraphs in length of the indicated quantity in any preferred combination related to the questions. The recommended method is that you carefully read the existing posts and then think about how to build off the existing ideas by offering additional insights, alternative perspectives, or raising critical questions. As part of this process, be sure to refer back to the original discussion question in order to keep the thread focused on the required topic and address the indicated question(s).
All posts to the discussion boards should be completed by 11:59 P.M. E.T. of the last day of the module as indicated in the “Course Schedule.” Any discussions that extend beyond that date and time will not be considered a part of the grade and/or assignment, but rather optional reading. Even though you technically have until the last day of the module to post, your participation points will suffer if you do not post initially by Saturday as this negatively impacts your classmates’ ability to respond to your posts and your ability to respond to their posts. Posts that no longer relate to the identified topic should be moved to one of the on-going discussion boards such as “Ask You Instructor,” “Hallway Discussions,” or “Resources.”
Powerpoint presentations, online class discussion, and case studies case studies will be used to illustrate theory, practice approaches, research, and policy as they relate to practice with individuals, families, and professional care providers working with loss, death and grief. Course readings reflect theories and practice models across disciplines and cultures, and include fiction that illuminates the experiences and perspectives of the dying, their loved ones, and professional careers. Course content encourages curiosity, active inquiry, debate, and creative exploration.
Although the course introduces, organizes, and explains course content, students are expected to take responsibility for analysis and application of content to their learning needs. In the School of Social Work, students are viewed as adult learners. It is expected that students will take responsibility for their own learning, incorporate critical thinking skills, show professional respect to the instructor and each other, and create an online classroom atmosphere that facilitates the teaching/learning process.
Specific expectations include:
Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.
Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.
Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.
Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.
The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.
Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.