HUMAN SERVICES 110 Laulima (online)         Introduction to Human Services”

Fall 2010

Lucy L. Jones, Ph.D., CSAC

lucyj@hawaii.edu

Consultation by appointment

 

Prerequisite:    None

 

Required Textbook:      Human Services: Policy and Practice (7th edition)

By Betty Reid Mandell and Barbara Schram

 

Computer Requirements:

1. You need a computer with access to the Internet using Netscape 6.x or higher, Internet Explorer 5.x or higher, or Mozilla Firefox as your browser. If you use AOL, it is recommended that you get a stand-alone version of Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Firefox.

2. You need an e-mail address. You may get an e-mail address from your campus for free. I need to correspond with you on your college email.

3. You must have a virus check program. As a student, you may download the McAfee Virus scan for free from UH Technology if you don’t have one already. You should update your virus definitions daily.

 

Course Objectives:

·         An overview of the field of human services - past, present, and future.

·         An understanding of the attitudes, values, skills and knowledge, necessary to be successful in human services.

·         An active interaction with class members in an atmosphere that fosters self-knowledge and growth.

·         An understanding of the field of human services available in the local community as practicum preparation.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

·         Students need to look at self, and in the knowing of self, they can respect others and accept their differences as well as their similarities.

·         Students can learn more about what is out there in the community and where they can be a part of its growth.

·         Students can take what they have learned and put it into action to deal with the many social issues that exist in the community and become change agents for the community.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Community Agencies:

  • You will be expected to visit five (5) various human service agencies on the island. This will assist us all in planning for any required practicum work over the next few semesters. Try to find agencies you were unaware of before this semester. Write a brief paragraph about what the agency does and your opinion regarding their effectiveness.
  • At least one of these must be a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-anon, Narcotics Anonymous. In one chapter, we address the welfare system, and you will be asked to visit a welfare office that week, which will also count as another of your agency visits. That means you only need to find three (3) more to visit.

Service Project (Your Gift to the Community)

  • A community service to a human service program or to benefit a social cause will be provided by you for at least one hour outside of regular class work.
  • Optional: If you have created a local study group, or what I call a Base Group (see below), you may do this community service as a group. You are encouraged to be creative in using talents, skills, knowledge and interests in completing this project. If you have not created a local study group (Base Group) you may do this individually.
  • Other class members will join in the discussion of your project with questions and comments.
  • This can be done at any time during the semester, to save yourself the anxiety of doing it at the last minute.

 

Base Groups (optional):

If there are enough students in your geographical location, you might want to gather in small groups to meet offline for sharing of ideas, to study together, and to work on your community service project. You will be expected to do quite a bit of your own research on the internet, which is an excellent tool for growth.

 

Participation:

The most effective way to learn and grow is to share ideas, information, and inspiration with the rest of the class. With an online class, we do not have the same opportunity for class interaction and discussion that we would have if this were a traditional in-class format. Thus, the Discussion Page and Laulima mail become our vehicle for class participation and communication.

 

Participation in our class will be in the form of your reaction to what other students have posted on the Discussion Page regarding an assigned topic. Like a regular job, if you miss too much work you would be dismissed, so it is with this class. If you do not participate and contribute to the discussions, you will be required to choose between withdrawal or a failing grade.

 

Within one week of the due date, you are required to give a quality response to a minimum of TWO of your classmates for each of the Discussion posts. These reaction posts will constitute your participation grade. Of course, you may post more if you wish. To post a response to another student’s post, click on reply, then write your response. Don’t forget to click “submit” so it shows up for others to read.

 

You should check into our Laulima classroom at least 2 times per week, just as you would if you were attending a traditionally formatted class. Always check for Instructor’s Announcements message on the Home Page for new information.

 

Talking with Classmates:

You should use the internal Laulima Private Message system to correspond between yourself, other classmates, and your instructor. This is located in small print at the top of the Discussion Page. The Discussion Page is where you can ask questions that are general in nature or for which other students in the class may be able to provide assistance for you. You should read these questions frequently as well.

 

Submitting Your Work:

Please do not submit attachments to your homework if at all possible. Not all students are able to download attachments. Also, it would take too long to download attachments from everyone in the class. If you use Microsoft Works (this has a .wps file extension), I am not able to open it. Your attachments must be either MS Word .doc or .pdf files. When you write a paper, simply “copy and paste” to include it in the body of your post. The only exception to this might be if you have a Mac, which somehow doesn’t format correctly for Laulima. Talk to me about this.

Where to Submit Your Work:

There is usually a lot of confusion in the first few weeks of an online class about “where do I send my work to you?” There is a page in Laulima called “Discussion and Private Messages.” There will be folders for each chapter’s assignments and discussion questions. Do not submit assignments on the Assignment Page! They will not be read there, nor will they be counted.

 

Concluding Summary:

At the end of the semester, please write a brief paragraph summary of what you learned over the course of the semester that will benefit you in your personal and/or professional life. A class has no meaning unless it can be of some value other than merely a grade or three credits.

 

A Word to the Wise:

Since this is an online class, it is easy to forget that there is limited time to complete the course. You might plan to set aside a certain time every few days to check in, contribute to discussion, turn in assignments, ask questions, e-mail the instructor, and more. This way it will become a habit and you will finish in a timely manner.

 

Assignments: Each online chapter will contain an assignment for you to research and report in written form. Occasionally, I will give extra time to complete the work for a particular assignment if I believe it will require more research. If you have difficulty for some reason (death in the family, hospitalization, and the like), please let me know and we will work out something together.

 

Note: Each assignment will be closed a few days after the due date and you will not be able to access it unless you contact me with a valid reason for not getting your assignment in on time.

 

Modules:

There are 15 chapters for this course. For each chapter, you will be reading the assigned chapter, and completing assignments regarding the current topic. You will also respond to what others have written. There are specific due dates listed later in this syllabus. You will be graded on the content of your weekly assignments AND how well you write the paper. Thus, grammar and spelling will be important so plan to proofread your papers thoroughly before you submit them. The due dates are firm. No late papers will be accepted unless you have worked it out with me.

 

Discussion Questions:

On most weeks, I will include discussion questions to be discussed among your classmates. This has no specific grade points attached, but will count as part of your participation and response to others.

 

Please note: Even ONE minute past the deadline is considered LATE and could result in a significant loss of points, unless otherwise noted.

 

Cyber-class:

Sometimes assignments are lost in cyberspace. Make sure that you make electronic copies of everything you send in case you have to verify that you sent an assignment by the due date. The time an item is sent shows up on electronic submissions. With electronic copies sent to yourself, you can forward lost assignments to me to receive credit for the module. Invariably your computer will decide to be difficult or crash just the very moment before midnight that you were going to send in your assignment. The deadline for all assignments including all chapters, essays, and other assigned materials is MIDNIGHT of the due date. Technical difficulties do not alter the deadlines. Have a backup plan. Please plan ahead so you don’t get caught by a troublesome computer problem at the last minute.

 


Students With Verified Disabilities:

If you have a disability with verification on file with your college’s Office of Students with Disabilities, please let me know if you think you will need accommodation. I will be glad to provide accommodations as needed. I think you will find that because of the online format of this course and the types of assignments that you may not need additional accommodations, but please let me know and I will be glad to discuss it with you and with your Disabled Students’ Office.

 

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTE:

I will be on the HCC West Campus during the semester, as I teach face-to-face classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Thursday afternoons, I have a vidcon class that will alternate between HCC Hilo and the West Campus. We can set up a time to meet in person when it’s convenient for us both. I will be available by e-mail anytime and online at our Laulima classroom anytime. I will check assignments and/or messages on Laulima only once a day and only once per weekend. Any urgent messages should be sent to me at my regular email address (lucyj@hawaii.edu).

 

SCHEDULE OF MODULES:

Reminder: All due dates are Sunday night at midnight unless otherwise stated.

Note: Individual assignments to go with each chapter will be on the Assignments page

 

Week of August 23 (Assignment due August 29)

Chapter 1  “What are Human Services? What do Human Services Workers do?”

 

Week of August 30 (Assignment due September 5)

Chapter 2 “Changing Nature of the Helping Process”

 

Week of September 6 (Assignment due September 12)

Chapter 3 “Strategies of Intervention”

* First Community Agency visit due

 

Week of September 13 (Assignment due September 19)

Family Intervention Letter

 

Week of September 20 (Assignment due September 26)

Chapter 4 “Attitudes/Values, Skills and Knowledge”

* Second Community Agency visit due

 

Week of September 27 (Assignment due October 3)

Chapter 5 “Values and Ethical Dilemmas”

 

Week of October 4 (Assignment due October 10)

Chapter 6 “Social Welfare System”

* Welfare office counts as 3rd Community Agency

 

Week of October 11 (Assignment due October 17)

Chapter 7 “Poverty”

 

Week of October 18 (Assignment due October 24)

Chapter 8 “Working with Diversity”

 

 

Week of October 25 (Assignment due October 31)

Chapter 9 “Interviewing”

* Fourth Community Agency visit due

 

Week of November 1 (Assignment due November 7)

Chapter 10 “Case Management/Counseling”

 

Week of November 8 (Assignment due November 14)

Chapter 11 “Facilitating Groups”

 

Week of November 15 (Assignment due November 21)

Chapter 12 “Program Planning”

* Fifth Community Agency visit due

 

Week of November 22 (Assignment due November 28)

Chapter 13 “Organizing Changing Systems”

 

Week of November 29 (Assignment due December 5)

Chapter 14 “Legal Issues”

 

Week of December 6 (Assignment due December 12)

Chapter 15 “Burnout”

* Community Service Project due

 

Summary Due – last day of semester

 

Grading System:         

329 - 360 = A

288 - 328 = B

252 – 287 = C

217 – 251 = D

  0   -  216 = F

 

Grades based on the following:  360 points possible for 100%

 

15 points each week on weekly written assignments X 16 weeks = 240 points

2 points each week for each of two quality responses to other students  4 X 16 weeks = 64 points

            (This is the same as attending and participating in a class twice a week)

25 points for Community Service Project/Your Gift to the Community = 25 points

5 points for each agency visit (5 required) X 5 = 25 points

6 points for semester summary at end of semester = 6 points