SOS2160 Knowledge development in social work Course description

In this course, the students will acquire knowledge of research and development work of relevance to social work. They will become familiar with positions, concepts and problems in theory of science, and with social science methods and their possibilities and limitations. The students will carry out a project in groups where they explore in depth a topic of their own choosing from one of the courses in the second year of the programme.  

Students must have completed and passed the first year of the Bachelor’s Programme in Social Work.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:  

Knowledge  

The student:  

• has broad knowledge of the links between theory of science, theory and research methods  
• has knowledge of the different positions in theory of science and the development of knowledge in social work  
• is familiar with social science methods and their possibilities and limitations  
• can keep up to date with research and development work of relevance to social work, at the national and international level  

 Skills  

The student:  

• can obtain, assess and summarise relevant research and development work in a social work topic of their own choosing and present this orally and in writing  
• can carry out a limited survey that includes data collection and analysis  
• can reflect on the possibilities and limitations of various research methods   
• can reflect on the relationship between theory and practice in knowledge development  

General competence  

The student:  

• has insight into professional and research ethics issues that can arise when working with knowledge development  
• can reflect on how research and development work can contribute to new ideas and innovation in the services  

The teaching methods vary between lectures, seminars, digital learning resources and student-active forms of learning. Emphasis is placed on students’ active participation and project work as a method for shedding light on and exploring a topic.  

The following compulsory activities must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam: 

1. Compulsory participation in seminars and the project group. 

The minimum attendance requirement for seminars and the project is 80%. The project group itself decides how to register and document participation in group work. If a student’s absence exceeds 20% but is lower than 40%, a compensatory written coursework requirement will be set. The coursework requirement must be completed and approved by the given deadline. Absence in excess of 40% will result in loss of the right to take the exam.  

The reason why attendance is compulsory is that the student will in this way acquire competence necessary to meet the objectives of the course that they would be unable to acquire from solely reading the syllabus and/or taking the exam.  

Compulsory activities must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. 

The course concludes with the submission of a project assignment prepared by the project group. The project assignment must be between 14-16 pages. Font and font size: Calibri 12-point. Line spacing 1.5. The approved citation style APA for assignments must be complied with. 

Candidates who fail or who were absent from the ordinary exam for a valid reason can take a resit/rescheduled exam.  

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. 

Jorunn Vindegg og Dag Jenssen