WELF 2020: Interviewing Skills in Social Work & Human Services
Assessment information
Assessment 1: Weekly Continuous Assessment Quizzes (worth 20% of overall grade)
Due date:Weekly(see course outline for dates)
Purpose: The weekly continuous assessment quizzes draw on the course readings, lectures and weekly activities. They are designed to facilitate student reflection on the core concepts, processes and professional standards learned each week, thereby assisting students to gauge their understanding of these. This supports students to incrementally build their knowledge and understanding of interviewing skills, stages and processes and consolidate their learning as they progress through the course. In doing so it assists students to strengthen their understanding of the content being taught so that they can confidently apply their knowledge to practice when conducting human service interviews.
Assessment 1 details/ task:
Each week (weeks 1 – 12) you will need to complete a continuous assessment quiz.
This will be clearly marked ‘Weekly Continuous Assessment Activity’ and will be available at the bottom of the Weekly tab (eg, the Week 1 continuous assessment quiz will be at the bottom of the Week 1 tab, the Week 2 quiz will be at the bottom of the Week 2 tab and so on).
Continuous assessment activities relate to the essential readings, lectures, videos and tutorial/ studio activities for that week and any previous weeks. Therefore, it is recommended that you complete the continuous assessment activity after watching the lecture, completing the reading and attending the studio session (or completing the online activities).
- Each quiz will consist of at least 5 multiple choice and/or true/false questions (some weeks may contain more).
- You have one chance to answer each question.
- Weekly quizzes will open at 8am on the Monday of therelevant week and will close at 11.59pm on the Sunday of that week. For example, the Week 1 continuousassessment activity will open at 8am on Monday 3rdMarch and close at 11.59pm on Sunday 9th March (see course outline for weekly due dates)
*It is essential that you progress through this course at the same pace as your peers, therefore, extensions will not be provided for continuous assessment activities without evidence of exceptional circumstances.
Assessment 2: Videoed Interview (worth 40% of overall grade)
Due date:23rdMay 2025, 11.59pm
Purpose: This assessment requires second year social work and human service students to apply their knowledge of human service interviews and the necessary skills and stages to practice. Students use the social work studios to conduct and record a 15-minute interview. The video must demonstrate the ability to work in an empathic collaborative partnership with clients to facilitate a human service interview using the skills and processes learned during this course. Well-developed skills in client-centred practice, communication and interviewing are integral to being an effective human service or social work professional. Therefore, this assessment provides students with an important opportunity to practice and develop these skills, ensuring that they are at an adequate standard, hence increasing students competence and confidence in conducting human service interviews.
Assessment 2 details/ task:
You are required to conduct a 15 minute interview with another student in your class, based on a low-key, real lifesituation (must be an authentic/ real-life interview, not a role play or made up). The interview must be video-recorded and submitted for assessment. The
video must show the interview from beginning to end, without stopping and cannot be edited. Please ensurethat you check your topic with your tutor prior to the interview to ensure that it is appropriate. Some examples ofpossible topics for the interview include health and fitness, time management and work/life balance.
The interview must be conducted by you and must not be scripted (must be an authentic interview, no role-playing). It must show all stages of the interview process taught in this course anddemonstrate your skills in attending, listening, influencing and working in partnership with your client. Take special care with confidentiality.Partners and times for recording interviews will be determined during your studio session inweek 5 (internal students) or at the external student workshop (external students).You may also book the studios in your own time to record another interview if you are not happy withyour first one.
*Allocated partners are for recording interview assessments only. Your tutor will allocate different partners for you to practice with in class each week so that students gain experience working with and interviewing a variety of different people (an important skill for professional practice as clients will vary greatly).
?Please see the Marking Guide for more information on the assessment criteria. Please note that feedback onthe Videoed Interview will be received together with feedback on the Video Analysis.
Instructions on how to record a video in the studios are available under the assessment information tab.
There are a few examples of video interviews under the assessment information tab on the course site and you will notice that these are far from perfect, but serve as a good example of what is expected for this assessment.
Tips:
You will need a USB 3.0 (or USB 3.1 or 3.2) to video-record your interview (the social work studios do not allow you to save it directly to Onedrive so please ensure that you bring a USB). “3.0” refers to the speed (A USB 2 is too slow and your recording may not save). The USB must have at least 8 GB of free space. Instructions on how to record a video in the Social Work Studios and how to upload a video are available on the course site under the ‘Assessment’ tab. As soon as you have completed the interview, upload the video via the assessment link on the course site (or save a back-up copy to another device or Onedrive). This way, if you lose or damage your USB you will have a back-up copy. When playing your video back, open it with VLC player, rather than Quicktime, as the sound sometimes does not work in Quicktime.
Assessment 3: Critical analysis of video
Due Date:8thJune 2025, 11.59pm
This assessment provides students with an opportunity to observe, reflect upon and critique their skills, use of self and understanding of the interview process as demonstrated in their video interview. This encourages self-reflection and facilitates the development of an enhanced self-awareness. It requires students to reflect on their learning throughout the course and their own personal interviewing style to engage in deep self-reflection and identify and discuss their strengths and areas for further development. Students support their critical analysis with academic literature, hence demonstrating their understanding of interviewing skills, stages and processes in preparation for practice in social work and human services.
Assessment 3 details/ task:
The purpose of this assessment piece is to critically reflect on your videoed interview (Assessment 2) to identify what you did well and areas for further development.
Respond to the following 5 questions and support your analysis with academic literature. Please use thesequestions (in bold) as sub-headings and include an introduction and conclusion.
Critically analyse:
- How you directed and moved through each stage of the interview(Empathic relationship; Story andstrengths; Goals; Restory; and Action). For example: Was each stage demonstrated? Was sufficient time spent in each stage? Were the goals ofeach stage achieved? Eg, was the opening spiel delivered appropriately and was trust and rapport developed instage 1; Did you explore the client’s story sufficiently in stage 2 before moving onto goals; Were relevant andappropriate goals identified in stage 3; Were appropriate strategies identified in stage 4; Was the interviewconcluded appropriately? Were transitions from one stage to the next smooth?
- Your use of attending skills in the interview– eg. eye contact, non-verbals, body language, demonstration of empathy and genuineness etc.
- Your use of listening responses in the interview– eg. paraphrases, reflections, encouragers, clarifications, summaries.
- Your use of influencing responses in the interview– eg. questions, probes, empathetic confrontations etc. For example, were your influencing responsesappropriate? Did you use too few or too many? (remember that these should be used very sparingly throughoutthe interview, especially in the early stages- listening responses should be predominantly used).
- How you worked in partnership with the client– eg. did the client do most of the talking? Did you facilitate the client to explore their situation and identify theirown goals and strategies rather than setting goals for them etc.
The word limit is 1800 words. 10 per cent variance is allowed. Your analysis must be supported by at least five academic references (more is preferred) and adhere to APA 7 referencing conventions.
Use examples from the interview to support your arguments, i.e. “At 5 minutes, 15 seconds into the interview I said ‘…'” or “In the early stages of the interview I spoke very quickly which showed that…” As you are reflecting on your own video interview, it is preferred that you write in first person and use personal pronouns such as “I” or “my” in this assessment piece. Please ensure that you use the literature to strengthen/ back-up your critique. For example, ‘Although the wording of my opening spiel was appropriate, my tone of voice could have been perceived as condescending,. As highlighted by Ivey, Ivey and Zalaquett (2016), it is important to ensure that ….’ etc etc.
Please see the Marking Guide for more information.To assist you to critically reflect on your video, you may choose to transcribe your Videoed Interview (write up “word for word” what you and the interviewee said) before you analyse it. There is a process recording template available under the ‘Assessment’ tab on the course site that you can use to transcribe and begin analysing the videoed interview. Please do not submit your process recording
