VERB3100 Ecological Perspectives in Social Education Course description

Milieu therapy work in an ecological perspective involves a holistic approach to person-centred services where one considers which factors and conditions in the environment affect behaviour at the individual and group level.

As a social educator, the student performs his or her work in meetings with other people. These are people who often find themselves in vulnerable and difficult situations in society. During the course, the student will be challenged with his/her behavioural ecological perspective and his/her relational, communication, and guidance skills when it comes to achieving a good and developing collaboration with users, relatives, colleagues or other partners.

Approved coursework requirements in VERB2300, passed part 1 (practical training) in VERPRA20, as well as passed all other credit-earning courses from the 2nd year of study.

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can give examples of leadership in organizations by applying behavioural analytic principles
• can explain what milieu therapy work in an ecological perspective entails
• has knowledge of the digital transformation of the health services, and the opportunities and limitations that come with welfare technology measures, e.g. digital exclusion
• can account for service innovation and new ways of organizing and providing health services
• can account for the connection between the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of the goals for milieu therapeutic work and explain the epidemiological and demographic basis for public health work
• can identify and describe various factors that affect disease, health and quality of life

Skills

The Student

• can demonstrate culturally sensitive communication and supervision skills that motivate members of a group
• can establish good meetings and demonstrate good meeting management
• has digital relational, communication and guidance skills that enable the candidate to understand and interact with users, patients and relatives. Furthermore, the candidate can supervise users, patients and relatives and relevant personnel who are in learning, coping and change processes
• demonstrates conflict understanding and skills that promote cooperation and reduce conflicts
• can digitally and physically interact both interdisciplinarily, interprofessionally, cross-sectorally and across agencies and levels, and initiate such interaction
• can assess the risk of, prevent and handle undesirable incidents caused by technology and is familiar with methods for following this up systematically
• can identify, reflect on and deal with ethical issues related to health technology, including digital exclusion.

General competence

The student

• can discuss how different aspects of a person's environment affect their development and health
• can reflect on welfare policy and care ideologies in an ecological perspective and how these macro-level factors can affect the service recipient's quality of life and coping.

The work and teaching methods include lectures, seminars, group work, self-study and skills exercises related to supervisory skills and meeting and group leadership.

Web Publishing and Information Architecture will introduce the student to creating well-designed web pages and websites. The course gives theoretical and practical introduction to information architecture, usability, user studies and design methods, as well as to basic HTML and CSS coding.

Web Publishing and Information Architecture is an optional course in the 4th semester of the bachelor programme, and is one of the courses exchange students may choose. The tuition is in English if exchange students are present.

Students who are admitted to the bachelor program must adhere to general progression rules:

• Courses corresponding to at least 50 credits of the first academic year must normally be passed before the student can continue in the second academic year.
• The entire first academic year and courses corresponding to at least 45 credits of the second academic year must normally be passed before the student can continue in the third academic year.

Students who lack more credits than described above may not continue in the next academic year until the requirement is met.

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

• understands the role of information architecture and usability in design of websites
• understands different strategies for users' information search and navigation on websites
• is knowledgeable of principles of user centered and universal design
• is knowledgeable of methods and techniques of collaborative and participatory media design processes
• has practical knowledge of responsive design
• has basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and CMS systems

Skills

The student

• can analyze the relation between context, content and user groups and identify user friendly design from a user perspective
• is able to plan, design, publish and maintain web sites using design methods and user involvement
• is able to communicate design of information architecture

General skills

The student can

• understand how the organization of information and content on a website has influence on user experience and usability of a website

Lectures, creative workshop sessions and guiding sessions in the lab.

The students work individually and in groups with real-life projects.

The teaching takes place in person, on campus. Digital or hybrid teaching is only used in special cases.

There are four coursework requirements. Each assignment is related to, and handed in, after a theme of the course program is completed. The objective of each coursework requirements is that the students work practically with the themes of the course. The assignments are based on HTML-coding and CSS-coding tasks with a 1-page report, an information architecture analysis of a website consisting of a presentation, and a draft/outline of a web project and report that later is handed in as exam work and follow the requirements of the exam work. Each coursework requirement is in this way a rehearsal of parts of the final exam work.

The estimated workload for each requirement is approximately 5-10 hours. The coursework requirements are approved by the course leader, and the students will get individual feedback from the lecturer on each requirement.

All coursework requirements must be handed in within the set deadline and approved before the student may sit for the exam. Students who don't get their assignments approved on their first attempt can hand in a revised version once. Students who cannot hand in their assignments on deadline because of illness or other reasons, can make an agreement on a new deadline for their assignment.

The exam consists of an individual website project and a written report. A reworked version of the course work requirements can be handed in as part of the exam. All parts of the exam must be passed for the student to achieve passing grade on the exam as a whole.

In the project the student shall plan and develop a web site about an approved theme for a target group of their own choice. The project represents around 2 weeks of work and the website shall comprise around 10 pages or equivalent. The students are expected to work on the project throughout the term. The website must be designed and handed in as a HTML / CSS webpage or a Wordpress project, as well as with wireframes and webprototypes developed in the design process.

The idea, process and product must be documented in a project report that reflects upon, and analyses the process and the product. The report is about 15000 characters (with spaces) and draws on theory presented in the syllabus. It must deal with:

• Aim and target group
• User-friendliness and universal principles
• Choice of structure, navigation, labelling and search
• Layout and presentation'
• Copyright

The website and the project report are given a summarised evaluation. The assessment will focus on the student`s knowledge and understanding of web design in relation to:

• User centered and user experience
• Principles of universal design and responsive design
• Adaption of information architecture to aim and target group of the website
• Correct use of HTML and CSS on the website

Exam work can be handed in in English or in Norwegian. The website can be produced in mother tongue.

Students who have failed to pass the ordinary examination and students with legitimate absence are entitled to a new examination.