This paperback text offers a practical guide for students who are taking a field work or practicum course for completion of their social work degree at the undergraduate or graduate level. The book utilizes a model that describes how students progress through their practicum in stages: Beginning, Reality Confrontation, Relative Mastery, and Closure. Each chapter includes exercises for skill and concept development, assignments, and activities, and also addresses common features, issues, and needs of students at each stage of their development. Written in a friendly, helpful manner, the book helps students to identify their strengths, needs, and learning styles; to become familiar with agency organization on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels; to formulate their field goals and strategize ways to evaluate learning; to develop and to build on the supervisory relationship; and to end their placement in a thoughtful and effective manner. The relationship with the student's field instructor, which is viewed as an essential component of the learning experience, is reinforced throughout the book.