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Mount Ida College
HS 406 – Practicum/Seminar II
Spring, 2010
(For printable
version click here.)
Instructor: Dr. Madeleine Cousineau
Office Hours: Monday 1–2;
Tuesday, 1–3
or by appointment |
Office: Academic Tech
Center 232
Telephone: 617-928-7304 |
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Email: |
mcousineau(at)mountida.edu
mrcousineau(at)comcast.net |
PURPOSE, STRUCTURE, AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This seminar is the second part of a year-long
capstone experience. As the continuation of HS 405 it
includes the same goals: to offer you the opportunity to put
into practice information from previous Human Services courses
while developing specialized skills in a professional setting
related to your career goals. In the seminar you will discuss
the weekly readings and your work experiences and relate those
experiences to the knowledge that you have developed from your
previous courses. In addition to the objectives of the first
semester, students who complete this course should be able to:
- demonstrate increased professional competence
- give a capstone presentation highlighting the
most important experiences of the practicum
- conduct themselves in a confident manner during a
mock job interview
- develop a plan for employment by working with the
Office of Career Services
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
Course requirements include consistent and punctual
appearance at the practicum site, attendance at the
weekly seminar on Friday from
1
to
3 p.m.
, reading assignments, written responses to readings,
journal entries posted on Angel, midterm and final
summaries, and a capstone presentation.
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Reading
and Written Assignments
The reading assignments (which are in the
calendar/outline on page 4 of this syllabus) are from
the following book:
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The Successful Internship:
Transformation and Empowerment, by H. Frederick
Sweitzer and Mary A. King (Brooks/Cole).
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Study
questions on these readings will be the basis for a weekly
written assignment that must be brought to class each Friday.
Each assignment will appear on Angel one week before it is due.
To find the assignment, click on the Lessons tab, then click on
the due date. If you have difficulty
accessing Angel, use the study questions link at the top
of this page.
Midterm
and Final Assessments
Instead of midterm and final exams, there will be written
summaries. These are short papers (minimum of 4 pages) in which
you will describe what you believe to be the most important
elements of your practicum experience, as evidenced in your
journals, during the past half-semester. These summaries will be
graded on clarity of writing, organization, and the integration
of specific elements of the practicum with information from the
textbook.
Capstone
Presentation
Each student will prepare a Power Point presentation to be
given for students and faculty at the end of the semester (date
to be announced). The presentation will be graded on clarity and
thoroughness of information, correct use of Power Point, and
basic principles of public speaking (eye contact, posture, clear
speech, and appropriate pacing of the material).
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Journal
The journal assignment consists of a report to be written as
soon as possible after each work shift—or within ten hours, if
it is not possible to write immediately after the shift—and
posted on Angel. The class will decide whether these entries
will be seen only by the instructor or shared with the class.
Write at least 300 words per shift, including:
| 1. |
A
summary of what happened during the work period. |
| 2. |
One
or more of the following: |
| a. |
Something good
that happened what your part in it was—for example,
did you make it happen, did you benefit from someone
else’s positive action, or was it completely
spontaneous? If applicable, state how this good occurrence
affected one of more of the clients, your co-workers
and/or your supervisor. What was it about the situation
that caused you to feel it was good? |
| b. |
Something that
did not go so well—What can you learn from this experience?
Did it result from something that you or another
person might have handled in a different way? |
| c. |
New skills that
you learned or discovered during this shift—how you
learned them and how you think you might use them in the
future; |
| d. |
Praise or
criticism that you received from your supervisor or
co-workers, how you felt about this, and how you
responded to it; |
| e. |
What this work
is helping you to learn about yourself; |
| f. |
Whether this
day’s experiences lead you to believe that you are
presently working in the type of setting in which you
would like to work after graduation—why or why
not? |
| g. |
Questions that
you may have about policies and procedures and whom you
might ask about them; |
| h. |
Ethical concerns
that have come up on the course of your work (that is,
situations in which you are not sure about the right
thing to do, or something that someone else is doing
that you believe is not right); |
| i. |
Whether this
placement is enabling you to use the skills that you
have learned in your previous courses; |
| j. |
Whether you feel
that this placement is enabling you to grow as a person
and as a human services professional; |
| k. |
Anything else
that you think is important to write in your journal. |
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
Because a substantial part of the grade for this seminar is
based on written work, it is extremely important that each
student write original work and avoid plagiarism. Any
plagiarized assignment will receive a grade of zero.
Plagiarism is using someone else's ideas without
giving credit to the original author. This includes:
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Copying
another student's assignment and handing it in as though it
were your own;
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Copying
words directly out of a book or article for a paper,
essay, or other written assignment without using quotation marks
around the words copied;
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Taking ideas out of a book
or article—even if not using
the exact words—without showing in a
footnote or other form of citation where those ideas
came from;
- Copying from the Internet. This is really
dangerous. See the fourth suggestion below.
How
can you keep your work free from plagiarism?
Besides the common-sense answer of not doing things that
you already know are dishonest,
remember:
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Whenever
you use the exact words that are written in a book, put
quotation marks around those words; the only time you
don't need quotation marks is when a professor wants you
to memorize something word-for-word, such as definitions
of terms,
Don't
be afraid to express your own ideas about something you
read in a book, article, or website. Sometimes students are afraid that they
might not have understood a reading assignment, and that
if they copy the words of the author they will be sure
to get it right. These students need to realize that the
professor knows what is in the reading assignment, and
will recognize the words that the students copied.
DO
NOT COPY FROM THE INTERNET ! ! ! It is
extremely easy for
a professor to find evidence of Internet plagiarism. So don't
even think about doing this.
Trust yourself. Know that you are
an intelligent person and that your ideas have value. Use
reading assignments to help you develop your ideas, but don't
copy other people's words or ideas.
GRADES
The final grade for this course is based on the following:
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Distribution:
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Points
to Grade:
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Reports
from Site Supervisor................
Written Assignments.............................
Journal.................................................
Midterm Summary................................
Final Summary......................................
Capstone Presentation..........................
Total ..................................................
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20%
40%
10%
10%
10%
10%
100%
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93-100
points
90-92 points
87-89 points
83-86 points
80-82 points
77-79 points
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A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
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73-76 points
70-72
points
67-69 points
63-66 points
60-62 points
Below 60 |
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
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In addition,
any one of the following will result in a failing grade:
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Failure to
complete the required 120 hours because of absences or
frequent late arrival;
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Reports
from the site supervisor of behavior that is consistently
irresponsible or harmful to the clients. This does not
mean that you may never make mistakes, but rather that your
overall performance is expected to be responsible and
ethical;
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Failure to
appear for the capstone presentation.
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Calendar/Outline
| I.
Moving Forward |
| Read by
January 29:
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The Successful
Internship, Chapter 8, page 123 to the top of page
131. |
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II. Issues and Challenges
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by February 5:
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Chapter 8, page 131 to the middle of page 139;.
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February 12: |
Chapter 8, middle of page 139 to page 147. |
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III. Problem Solving |
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Read by February 19:
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Chapter 9, page 152 to the middle of page 155.
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| IV.
Eight Steps for Making Changes
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by
February 26:
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Chapter
9, from the middle of page 155 to the top of page 162;
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by
March
5:
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Re-read pages 155–159 and apply them to a
problem in your own practicum. (Go back over your
journal for this semester and lastsemester to find a
problem to work on.)
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M I D T E R M A S S E S S M E N
T D U E O N M A R C H
1 2
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| V.
Developing a sense of Competence |
| Read by
March 26:
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Chapter 10, page
165 to the top of page 177. |
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VI. Ethical Issues
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| Read by
April 2:
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Chapter 10, pages 177–186 and pages 191–195.
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VII. Completing
the Practicum
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| Re-read by
April 9:
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Chapter
11, pages 196 to the top of page 204;
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April
16:
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Chapter
11, pages 204–210.
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F I N A L A S S E S S M
E N T D U E A P R I
L 2 3
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M O C K J O
B I N T E R V I E W
S A P R I L 2 3
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VIII. Preparing for the
Capstone Presentation
April 30: PowerPoint Tips
May 7: Final Preparation of Presentations
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C
A P S T O N E P R E S E N T A T I O N
S : D A T E T
O B E A N N O U N C
E D
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