How are fieldwork courses different from other courses?
Most of the work in a fieldwork course takes place outside of the classroom. Fieldwork courses require that the student spend at least 60 hours over the course of the semester working in an appropriate agency (e.g., mental hospital, mental health clinic, school for children diagnosed as “learning disabled,” child care center, geriatric facility, rehabilitation center, and so on). The type of agency available for the field placements will vary depending on the content of the course. For example, an appropriate placement for the “Abnormal Psychology Fieldwork” course might be a mental health clinic or geriatric facility that deals with Alzheimers patients. That would not be an appropriate placement for a course entitled “Childhood Disorders Fieldwork.” An appropriate fieldwork placement for the latter might involve a school or mental health facility that deals with children who have emotional or learning problems. That, however, would not be a suitable placement for a practicum assignmen
