Practicum Educator Orientation Resources

These training resources are designed to help professionals orient to their role as practicum educator. Whether you are new to the role or need a refresher, our training program allows practicum educators to individualize content to meet their needs.  

As of fall 2025, field education is now known as practicum education in the School of Social Work. However, you may still see references to “field education” in course titles, documents and other dated web content.

Welcome to Practicum Education

Welcome to Practicum Education at the UB School of Social Work. We are grateful for your partnership and hope the resources below will equip and enable you to feel supported in your commitment to be a practicum educator. Please reach out to us anytime with questions: sw-field@buffalo.edu.

Overview of the Modules

Each module provides essential information for practicum educators on the particular topic. All modules are short (between 2 and 20 minutes) and include additional resources underneath the video. A copy of the PowerPoint slides is also available under each module.

On this page:

1. Welcome to Practicum Education at the UBSSW

This module (5 mins) provides an overview of practicum education, the practicum educator orientation and introduces you to the practicum team at the UB School of Social Work.

2. Structure of Practicum & Roles and Responsibilities

This module (10 mins) covers the structure of practicum (when practicum takes place, the hour requirements for students, practicum calendar) and roles and responsibilities (of practicum educator, task supervisor, faculty liaison and student). 

Please note the reference to Taskstream is outdated. Our current system for housing the learning contract and timesheets is called SONIA.

3. Orienting a Student to Practicum

In this module (6 mins), practicum educators will learn about the importance of providing MSW students with a comprehensive orientation at the start of practicum. The module will also review best practices and where to find orientation-related resources.

4. Developing a Learning Contract

This first module (7 mins) reviews the basics of a learning contract: What it is, how it is developed and how it is critically important in guiding the practicum. The second video (3 mins) explains UBSSW resources for developing a learning contract and where the learning contract "lives" in our online practicum software, SONIA. 

5. Supervision and Giving Feedback

This module (19 mins) will cover the significance of supervision in the practicum education experience. Practicum educators and students will gain insight into developing a positive working relationship, understand the importance of regularly scheduled supervision, as well as the importance of providing honest, ongoing feedback. 

6. Addressing Challenges in Practicum

This module will assist supervisors with strategies for handling problems that could arise with students in practicum. Supervisors will understand the importance of problem-solving and contacting the Faculty Liaison for support.

7. Evaluation

This module (10 mins) provides an overview of why and how we evaluate students. A demonstration of completing an evaluation in SONIA is included.

Additional Resources

Dynamic and Effective Practices in Social Work Practicum Education [1:26:44 hours]