Overview
This is an introductory unit designed to provide students with up-to-date knowledge of the latest trends in both research and careers in psychology and the social sciences. It is a vehicle for the presentation of practical information about opportunities in Psychology and an opportunity to hear visiting speakers talk about their own careers and or research. The unit aims to educate students pursuing a career in psychology and the social sciences about the various career paths available with the aim of assisting them in making informed decisions about their career options and study plan across their course of enrolment. Students will also have an opportunity to learn about research from an applied perspective through participation in current research projects.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2017
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Have your say evaluation feedback
Most of the students commented how much they appreciated the breadth and variety of lectures, e.g. "I love learning of all the new avenues that Psychology can lead to. Has been a wonderful journey so far"
Maintain the current format with guest lecturers from a wide range of fields, showcasing the diversity of Psychology as a discipline and as a profession.
Feedback from Have your say evaluation feedback
There was a generally widespread appreciation of the time and commitment put into to guiding and responding to students, for example... "Dr. George Stuart is a fantastic lecturer, was very good at explaining things to us students during lectures and was very assisting in clarification any students needed on assignments."
As a level 1 unit, there is initially a higher level of dependency as students make the transition to independent learners. This unit provides the scaffolding which should be maintained in future iterations in order to ensure students progress into level 2.
Feedback from Have your say evaluation feedback
"The course had a range of different assessments that required multiple skills. I enjoyed the continuity of assessment 1 and 3. It was interesting to learn about the fields of psychology from people who were in it. Course coordinator was great."
Maintain the formative assessment (critical review and peer review) as these work well and are appreciated by students.
- Distinguish and make informed decisions about the diverse career paths and fields of study within psychology and the social sciences.
- Apply critical thinking to current research in the field of psychology and the social sciences.
- Synthesize ideas and extract themes from current psychological literature
- Communicate ideas effectively in writing and in adherence with APA style.
- Articulate the key values and principles of psychology and the study of human behaviour across a range of research fields within psychology.
- Interpret research findings with consideration to diverse populations and individual differences.
- Apply the principles of effective learning to their own study as the basis for successful lifelong learning.
As per NPC1403
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 20% | |||||||
| 2 - Group Discussion - 20% | |||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 60% | |||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Group Discussion - 20% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
Edition: 6th (2009)
Authors: American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , USA
ISBN: 978-1-4338-0561-5
Binding: Hardcover
Additional Textbook Information
Electronic, spiral bound and hardbound versions of this text are available. There are freely available summaries online and I will include links to these in Moodle, but this is a manual that will be useful throughout the psychology degree and in giving feedback on formatting, I will refer to pages in this manual.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.stuart@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to the unit/Critical thinking and belief in the paranormal
Chapter
Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
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No lecture
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
Chapter
Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
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Module/Topic
Effective clinical Psychology treatment
Christopher Crawford
Chapter
Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Guest speaker TBC
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Suggested readings may be supplied by speaker
Events and Submissions/Topic
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No exam
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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No exam
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Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Portfolio
Week 3 Friday (28 July 2017) 12:00 am AEST
You will receive an automated response once you have registered your participation
This is the first part of a two-part assessment, the marking criteria for which are described in Assessment 3.
- Apply critical thinking to current research in the field of psychology and the social sciences.
- Synthesize ideas and extract themes from current psychological literature
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
2 Group Discussion
This is a two part exercise involving review and peer review.
Part 1 (Review): Select at least one of the lectures given in this course and write a 500+/-50 word critical commentary, summarising the topic highlighting the extent to which research findings were well founded; there were flaws in the research; there were advantages/disadvantages with the career described; extent to which the research/area of practice was limited/biased to specific group/cohort etc.
Part 2 (Peer Review): Choose a review from a fellow student and comment on the following criteria (100 words+/-50):
- Adherence to the word limit
- Succinctness of description and arguments
- Clarity of arguments
- Level of critical analysis
Week 12 Friday (6 Oct 2017) 10:16 am AEST
Assignments will be returned within 3 weeks of the submission due date
Each part of the assignment is worth 10% of the total marks for the course and will be awarded in an all or nothing
fashion
Marks will only be awarded to what are considered by the course coordinator to be 'serious attempts'
The following criteria would constitute non-serious attempts:
- Nonsensical, abusive or irrelevant (non topic related) comments
- Deviance from specified word limits
- Distinguish and make informed decisions about the diverse career paths and fields of study within psychology and the social sciences.
- Apply critical thinking to current research in the field of psychology and the social sciences.
- Articulate the key values and principles of psychology and the study of human behaviour across a range of research fields within psychology.
- Interpret research findings with consideration to diverse populations and individual differences.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
By the end of week 3, you should all have taken part in at least two studies (unless you’ve chosen to opt out of this and submit the alternative essay instead) and for this assignment you must write a 1500 word descriptive/reflective account of one of those studies.
For those who opted not to take part in the studies, you must write a maximum 2500 word descriptive/reflective essay on your experience in any lecture in this series.
Week 10 Friday (22 Sept 2017) 12:00 am AEST
Submitted through Moodle
Within three weeks of the submission deadline (if handed in on time)
The essay must be formatted throughout using APA format. Sub-headings may be used, but are not necessary. Citations must be used throughout to support all reported findings, theories or quotations, though direct quotations should be avoided where possible.
The word count will include all words from and including the first word of the title to the last word of the conclusions, and includes any in-text citations or captions within the text, but does not include references or appendices. An assignment which does not fall within 10% above or below the specified word limit will be subject to a word count penalty of up to 10% of the total possible grade. Words in assignments that exceed 10% of the word count are not assessed/marked and this may also affect the marks given.
Your essay will be assessed according to the following marking scheme which will be used to assess the Course Learning Outcomes. The total final mark is out of 60%. Marks will be awarded from 0 - 15 for each of the following 5 criteria...
1. Length: 1500 words for those who completed Assessment 1 and 2500 words for those who opted out of Assessment 1
2. Evidence of critical thinking
3. Evidence of literature search and appropriate use of citations with evidence of synthesis of ideas/literature
4. Rational/logical development of arguments
5. Effective communication: Style and structure of writing and adherence to APA style. This includes adherence to the following...
Title: Must have a title that describes well the topic to be discussed (either the study or the area of professional psychology)
Introduction: Not more than one paragraph, giving some historical background to the area and setting the scene
Main body: Develop the main themes of your chosen topic here
Conclusions: One or two paragraphs summarising the preceding section and, most importantly, giving your assessment of the status and possible future directions of the area, either in terms of research or professional development
Reference section: Must include full references for all citations given in the essay
- Apply critical thinking to current research in the field of psychology and the social sciences.
- Synthesize ideas and extract themes from current psychological literature
- Communicate ideas effectively in writing and in adherence with APA style.
- Apply the principles of effective learning to their own study as the basis for successful lifelong learning.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
