School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Transdisciplinary Research for Practice
  • Unit Code

    SWK6425
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Prof Janine JOYCE

Description

Social work in a complex and changing world with widening inequalities, conflicts, and ecological degradation requires working in partnership with diverse disciplines, professions, communities, and movements including, regional, rural and remote settings. This unit further develops social work foundations, relationship building and participatory practice to explore leadership in transdisciplinary approaches to social change through research, advocacy, and activism. There is a focus on activist-based, participatory, and decolonising research methods and ethics including practical strategies to connect research with action.

Prerequisite Rule

Must have passed SWK6400

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Critically evaluate theories of transdisciplinarity and inequality and their application to social work and social services research practice.
  2. Apply reflective and creative practice skills in leadership and group work for collaboration across disciplines, professions, communities, and social movements.
  3. Demonstrate research literacy across a broad range of methodologies.
  4. Apply participatory action research approaches to respond to current wicked problems including ecological degradation.

Unit Content

  1. Critical reading on Social Work foundations.
  2. Develop reflective skills drawing upon real-world experience including examples from regional, rural and remote contexts.
  3. Research techniques, transferable to a range of contexts.
  4. Introduction to reflective and creative practice skills in leadership and group work.
  5. Critical reading to develop activist-based, participatory, and decolonising lens on research methodologies.

Additional Learning Experience Information

This unit covers AASW 2021 ASWEAS Required Curriculum content area (1) Constructions of social work purpose, place, and practice. (2) Power, oppression, and exploitation. ASWEAS graduate attributes: 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Portfolio ^Group activity demonstrating participatory action research leadership in transdisciplinary settings; individual reflections on collaboration 50%
Viva ^Podcast - interviewing each other reflecting on leading participatory action research 50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
Portfolio ^Group activity demonstrating participatory action research leadership in transdisciplinary settings; individual reflections on collaboration 50%
Viva ^Podcast - interviewing each other reflecting on leading participatory action research 50%

^ Mandatory to Pass


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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