Overview
This is an introductory unit designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and values required throughout your studies in psychology and the social sciences. At the end of this unit you will be able to understand, apply and evaluate basic research methods in psychology, including the characteristics of the science of psychology, and describing and evaluating different research methods used by psychologists. You will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills, which includes sceptical inquiry and the use of the scientific approach to solving problems. You will also demonstrate introductory skills consistent with the application of psychology that involves finding and critically evaluating scientific literature, constructing empirical arguments, generating research questions, conducting ethical research, referencing and formatting in APA style, and preparing research reports.
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 1 - 2019
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
Students indicated that they valued the opportunity to learn via 'doing,' that is, by putting what they learnt into practice in their assignments.
The major assessment for this unit is a research report, based on a research project designed and implemented by the students. This assessment task should remain the major assessment of the unit and remain integrated into the weekly content.
Feedback from Have your say
The resources and examples provided for the assessments were highly appreciated and useful.
Continue to evaluate and develop resources in relation to APA formatting, critical thinking, and report writing to assist students with the major assessment task, and to provide a foundation for future psychology units.
- Describe, apply and evaluate the different research methods used by psychologists
- Evaluate the quality of information, including differentiating empirical evidence from speculation
- Write a standard research report using American Psychological Association (APA) structure and formatting conventions
- Reflect on one’s experiences in order to identify and articulate one’s personal and sociocultural values as well as demonstrate insightful awareness of one’s feelings, motives, and attitudes.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||
2 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||
3 - Critical Review - 20% | ||||
4 - Report - 50% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
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 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||||||||
3 - Critical Review - 20% | ||||||||||
4 - Report - 50% |
Textbooks
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
Edition: 6th
American Psychological Association
ISBN: 1433805618
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
This book will be used through your entire degree. Copies can be purchased from the CQUni Bookshop here: http://bookshop.cqu.edu.au (search on the Unit code)
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom account (Free)
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.
b.p.smith@cqu.edu.au
l.lole@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
The science of knowing
Chapter
Refer to Moodle site for required reading material.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Ethical research
Chapter
Burton et al. (2018). Ethics (pages 32-66) from Psychology Research Methods.
APA Publication Manual (2010). Manuscript structure and content (pages 11-20).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Qualitative research
Chapter
Braun and Clarke (2013). Ten fundamentals of qualitative research (pages 19-41) from Successful qualitative research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Experimental research
Chapter
Refer to Moodle site for required reading material.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Non-experimental research
Chapter
Refer to Moodle site for required reading material.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
No lecture (vacation week)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Searching psychological literature
Chapter
APA Publication Manual (2010). Manuscript structure and content (Chapter 2).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Critically evaluating research evidence
Chapter
Dunn (2013). Searching and reading the psychological literature (Chapter 3) from The practical researcher: A student guide to conducting psychological research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Writing in APA style
Chapter
APA Publication Manual (2010). Writing clearly and concisely (Chapter 3).
APA Publication Manual (2010). Crediting sources (Chapter 6).
APA Publication Manual (2010). Reference examples (Chapter 7).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Writing in psychology
Chapter
APA Publication Manual (2010). The mechanics of style (Chapter 4).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data analysis- Part 1 (descriptive statistics)
Chapter
APA Publication Manual (2010). Displaying results (Chapter 5).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data analysis- Part 2 (inferential statistics)
Chapter
No set readings for this week
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The research process in action
Chapter
APA Publication Manual (2010) - Chapter 8 (The publication process).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Required readings other than those from the prescribed textbook will be made available on the Moodle site.
Please note, in order to pass this unit you must submit the report (assessment 4) and obtain at least 25/50 (50%).
1 Written Assessment
A list of psychological experiments and information relating to these will be made available on the Moodle site after the lecture in Week 1 of term. This assessment requires you to (a) select and research ONE of the ten listed psychological experiments in detail, and (b) write and submit ONE 450-550 word personal reflection on the experiment, according to the Marking Criteria.
This assignment is your chance to add your thoughts and analysis to what you have read and experienced. This piece of writing is meant to illustrate your understanding of the experiment (for example, the ethical implications of why and how it was done), and how it affects your ideas, and how it may possibly affect your practice in future.
Week 5 Monday (8 Apr 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Submission via Moodle
Week 7 Monday (29 Apr 2019)
Assignments will be returned within two weeks of submission
This assessment will be graded out of 15 marks. Marks will be allocated, according to each of the following criteria:
- An understanding of the issues and ethics of a particular experiment is demonstrated (5 marks).
- Reference to personal experiences, situations, events, or new information is made (5 marks).
- The response is of sufficient length (i.e. adheres to word limit) and is written with good spelling and grammar (5 marks).
- Evaluate the quality of information, including differentiating empirical evidence from speculation
- Reflect on one’s experiences in order to identify and articulate one’s personal and sociocultural values as well as demonstrate insightful awareness of one’s feelings, motives, and attitudes.
- Communication
- Ethical practice
2 Critical Review
This task is designed to help you apply critical thinking principles when reviewing research articles.
You must apply critical evaluation skills and write a critique of a research paper that will be provided to you in Week 1 of the term. When writing the review, you must use/answer the twenty (20) questions that will be provided to you.
Week 9 Monday (13 May 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Submit via Moodle
Week 11 Monday (27 May 2019)
Assignments will be returned within two weeks of submission
This assessment will be graded out of 20. One (1) mark is allocated to each of the twenty (20) questions. There is no word limit for this assessment, however, responses to each item must be given in at least one or two sentences. A one-word response will not be accepted and will receive a mark of 0/1.
- Evaluate the quality of information, including differentiating empirical evidence from speculation
- Reflect on one’s experiences in order to identify and articulate one’s personal and sociocultural values as well as demonstrate insightful awareness of one’s feelings, motives, and attitudes.
- Critical Thinking
3 Online Quiz(zes)
Academic conventions and copyright law require that you acknowledge when you use the ideas of others. In most cases, this means stating which book or journal article is the source of an idea or quotation. There are many ways to present this information (referred to as referencing styles). In psychology, we use the American Psychological Association (or APA) referencing style. It is currently in its 6th version. All of your assessments in psychology will require the use of APA formatting and referencing. This task is designed to test your knowledge of the APA referencing style.
The quiz will consist of thirty (30) multiple choice questions. Each question is worth 0.5 marks. Questions will be related to various aspects of the use of the APA referencing style (e.g., in-text citations, reference list, general formatting of documents). The quiz will be available from Monday Week 1 until Monday week 11, and you may complete the quiz at any time within this period. You will only be given one opportunity to complete the quiz. The quiz will not be timed.
1
Other
Week 11 Monday (27 May 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Quiz will close on Monday 27 May at 9.00am
Week 11 Monday (27 May 2019)
Marks will be provided at the completion of the quiz
Half a mark (0.5) mark will be given for each correct response. There are a total of 30 questions. The quiz is not timed, but you will only be given one opportunity to complete the quiz.
- Describe, apply and evaluate the different research methods used by psychologists
- Write a standard research report using American Psychological Association (APA) structure and formatting conventions
- Information Literacy
4 Report
The aim of this assessment is to enable you to practice writing and preparing a research report. You should be able to demonstrate that you can critically evaluate the literature on a given topic, communicate a research aim, construct a hypothesis, and discuss research findings. You will be required to complete a survey provided by the course coordinator over the first two weeks of the term. Results of the experiment will be made available in Week 5.
You will be required to write a 1500-2000 word research report on this data including an abstract, introduction and literature review (brief), a methods and procedure section, a results section, a discussion section, and a reference list. No statistical analysis will be required (this will be provided to you); however, some general descriptive data may need to be calculated (e.g., demographic data, and basic means and standard deviations for some variables). For the literature review five (5) references will be provided to you, but at least five (5) more must be found, and referred to, in your report. The report must be written in APA format.
Week 12 Monday (3 June 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Submit via Moodle
Exam Week Monday (17 June 2019)
Students will receive feedback within two weeks of submission
The report will be graded out of 50 marks. Marks are divided according to the following criteria:
- Title: 2 marks
- Abstract (summary of research and findings): 5 marks
- Introduction (discussion of research problem, aims, hypotheses): 10 marks
- Methods (subjects, methodology, procedure): 6 marks
- Results (clarity of reporting, inclusion of appropriate graphs/tables, summary of findings): 6 marks
- Discussion (summary of findings, implications, criticisms, future directions): 10 marks
- References (using APA style, including 5 additional references): 6 marks
- General (formatting, style, spelling, word count.): 5 marks
More detail (and marking rubric) will be provided on the Moodle site.
- Describe, apply and evaluate the different research methods used by psychologists
- Write a standard research report using American Psychological Association (APA) structure and formatting conventions
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- 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.