Summer 2026 SOWK 588 Class 08 Weekly Email

MyHeritage Syllabus Presentations Emails

Thank you all. It has been a great year getting to work with you.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

Week eight marks the end of this class and also the MSW program. The content is asynchronous. Final grades are due to the instructor by next Wednesday, 7/22. Students will read content about systems thinking and future planning. There are forums where you can respond to questions from the textbook and practice diagramming systems. An online quiz will provide a space for students to demonstrate their learning from the coursework. Student also have a forum to share their future directions and key learning from the program.

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Apply systems thinking to analyze complex policy problems and visualize interrelated components through diagramming techniques.
• Critically evaluate the benefits and limitations of tools such as problem trees, influence diagrams, and causal loops in policy analysis.
• Demonstrate integrative learning by reflecting on personal and professional growth across the MSW program and articulating future goals as practitioners.
• Synthesize key insights from Rebooting Policy Analysis and relate them to real-world practice contexts.

Unit Assignments

Read

• Linquiti (2022) Chapter 12: Incorporating Systems Thinking in Policy Analysis
• Linquiti (2022) Chapter 13: Using Policy Analysis to Visualize the Future

W-08 A-01 Asynchronous Participation and Engagement

The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and offer meaningful perspectives that contribute to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or build on conversations peers have shared. There are five forums this week, and you are expected to make at least four replies across any of them. These forums include the following:

• Students reflect on their personal and professional growth, future aspirations, and any concerns as they transition into practice in the Future Directions and Key Learning forum.
• In the Diagramming a System with Systems Theory, students explore how visualizing systems can enhance understanding of policy and practice.
• The Linquiti (2022) Textbook Review forum invites students to share their impressions and key insights from the course textbook, Rebooting Policy Analysis.
• In the Chapter 12 Discussion Questions forum, students respond to prompts about system mapping, causal relationships, and the benefits and limitations of various analytical tools.
• The Chapter 13 Discussion Questions forum encourages students to explore forecasting policy outcomes, evaluating alternatives, and the dynamics of group collaboration in policy planning.

A-04 Take Home Exams

Take the quiz, A-04 - Take Home Exam 02 over Linquiti’s (2022) chapters 5-10. I have a PDF with these chapters. Because I’m already sharing the last four chapters on the forum, I didn’t want to share these universally as well. If you do end up needing them, let me know, and I will send them over to you.

Go Forth and Change the World

Unit Resources

I’m excited to see what you all do with your careers. Please keep in touch and let me know what you are doing out there. I’m happy to be here if there is anything I can do for you and your career. You can add me on social media (although I’m not always that good at it). You can find links to lots of things at https://vsp.ink/hub and more links to less-used social media at my contact page.

You can listen to a podcast episode for this week’s reading Chapters 12 through 15: Policy Analysis for a Messy World, or see the entire series Podcast Series.

I’ve added the last four chapters of the textbook as a PDF below.

I added a shared photo album with photos from the Pinning Ceremony. Please note that the album is private, but viewable by the shared link (see the weekly course page for the link).

If you are interested, I might as well share it here. I get to be on the Radio this Friday, and you can join.

Reference

Linquiti, P. D. (2022). Rebooting policy analysis: Strengthening the foundation, expanding the scope. CQ Press.

To-Do List

• I extended the deadline for the presentation 11:55 PM on Wednesday night. Don’t forget to submit those as well
• Complete the A-04 - Take Home Exam 02
• Read chapters 12 & 13 of the textbook (golden star for also reading chapters 14 and 15)
• Complete four replies across any of the five forums
• Do great things