BV3100 Professional practice – Professional work and critical reflection Course description

This course comprises supervised professional practice in a workplace where the student will gain experience with work of relevance to child care and welfare. The course also includes one seminar that prepares the student for practical training, one mid-term seminar, and one that summarises and concludes the training period. During the practical training period, the students will gain experience that promotes the integration of theory and practice, academic progress and personal development. Under supervision, the students will practise using critical and ethical reflection as well as practical skills.

Practical training is unpaid.

Language of instruction is Norwegian.

The student must have completed and passed the second year of the Bachelor Programme in Child Care and Welfare.

Se praksisguiden for trafikklærerutdanningen

The course is centred around adapted practical training where the students must engage in, cooperate and reflect on their own and other’s experience. The students are appointed a supervisor at the practical training establishment and will receive individual supervision once a week. At some practical training establishments, the students may also receive group supervision, which will compensate for some of the individual supervision. The students will be followed up by a contact lecturer from the programme in the course of the practical training period, both individually and in groups.There are three assemblies at the university: a practice preparation seminar before the practice, a mid-term seminar, and a practice concluding seminar after the practice. These assemblies consist of lectures combined with group work.

The following coursework requirements/compulsory activities must have been approved for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1: Attendance at the pre-practice seminar and mid-term seminar.
• Coursework 2: Creating personal learning goals.
• Coursework 3: Reflection paper - description of a practice event and critical reflection on the event.
• Coursework 4: Work placement period

Absence is only accepted in connection with illness and/or leaves of absence approved by the university. The maximum limit for absence is 20%; see the rules for practical training. The supervisor must document attendance in practical training.

The student's working hours are stipulated on the basis of the normal working hours for the workplace in question.

The attendance requirement for compulsory teaching activities is 80%. If a student's absence exceeds 20%, a coursework requirement is set to compensate. If a student's absence exceeds 40%, they lose the right to take the exam.

Each student is responsible for ensuring that their attendance is documented. The length of the teaching days will vary, and it is each student's own responsibility to stay informed about the teaching schedule.

All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam.

If the work placement is not approved, the student must also obtain approval for attendance in pre-practice seminar and mid-term seminar, and has the personal learning goals and reflection paper approved again, as the requirements are linked to the specific placement/ work placement period.

The exam in the course is an individual written home exam with a scope of 10-12 pages which the student work on during the period of practice. The assignment is distributed during the pre-practice seminar and must be submitted shortly after the practice concluding seminar.

To pass, students are required to use more than two literature sources (relevant academic and/or research literature) in addition to the mandatory course literature in their exam submission.

Candidates who fail the practical training assignment can submit a reworked version as a resit exam once. Candidates who fail twice must submit a new research question.

Any resit or rescheduled exams will be organised in the following semester.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Pass / Fail.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

Birgitte Nyblin-Austgulen