CQUniversity Unit Profile
PSYC14052 Psychology Research Project B
Psychology Research Project B
All details in this unit profile for PSYC14052 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

Psychology Research Project B is the second of two units designed to introduce you to the process of undertaking research in the Psychology discipline. Over the two units, you will independently undertake a scholarly investigation, under the supervision of a qualified supervisor within the Psychology discipline. The purpose of the Research Project B unit is to provide you the opportunity to conduct the project proposed in Psychology Research Project A (PSYC14051). Throughout this unit you will conduct the investigation proposed in Term 1 and develop an independent scholarly report based on this investigation. Your final thesis submission will comprise an empirical journal style paper report based on the findings of your specific research project. Successful completion of this unit requires that Psychology Research Project A and Psychology Research Project B are undertaken in two consecutive University terms (e.g. Term 1 and Term 2, or Term 2 and Term 3).

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 4
Credit Points: 12
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.25

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) Course (CC42). Prerequisite:  PSYC14051 Psychology Research Project A

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 3 - 2020

Online

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).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Written Assessment
Weighting: 100%

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.

Previous Student Feedback

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 Informal emails, evaluations, student drop-in sessions

Feedback

Make the assignment guidelines and resources more accessible

Recommendation

The content for assignment guidelines and resources will be divided into smaller sections and presented as text, pages, and resources on different sections of Moodle.

Feedback from Supervisor feedback, student emails

Feedback

There is a large amount of unnecessary contact between students and College of Psychology staff (supervisors) prior to the start of the term.

Recommendation

Contact with supervisors prior to term will be made optional but encouraged.

Feedback from Student progress report, student emails

Feedback

Students reported needing and receiving a high level of support from Unit Coordinators and supervisors.

Recommendation

Unit Coordinators will continue to engage with College of Psychology and external supervising staff (supervisors) to ensure they have up-to-date training, clear expectations for supervision, and the workload consideration to continue to provide high level supervision for the students.

Feedback from Student and supervisor emails and forum posts

Feedback

Students and supervisors identified that individual students may need different data analytic programs depending on what analyses they are conducting, but that there is no clear avenue for accessing such programs.

Recommendation

Unit Coordinators will work with other Honours and Research Coursework Unit Coordinators across the University to establish, where possible, an avenue for allowing students short-term access to software licenses.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Design and execute a research project incorporating the key research steps, including the formulation of research question/s, the analysis of data to test the research question/s, and the interpretation of the findings
  2. Prepare a research project report that includes research question/s, empirical literature review, data analysis, reporting of results and discussion.

The purpose of the two-term long Psychology Research Project (A & B) is to provide you with training in developing, conducting, and communicating research across theoretical and applied domains. This requires you to undertake an investigation of a research question in psychology and to report the investigation in written scholarly form. The research question will be of theoretical or applied significance to an area of psychology and the investigation and subsequent dissertation will be carried out under the principal supervision of a member of the psychology staff.

The thesis is an individual research project where the expectation is that you, with advice from your supervisor(s), will be responsible for, and participate in, all steps of the investigation and reporting.

Successful completion of this unit requires that Psychology Research Project A and Psychology Research Project B are undertaken in two consecutive University terms (e.g. Term 1 and Term 2, or Term 2 and Term 3).

Learning outcomes fulfill the level 2 pre-professional core competencies required by the updated Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) guidelines, specifically 2.5: Investigate a substantive individual research question relevant to the discipline of psychology. The unit also meets the study criteria as specified by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) as appropriate for study at level 8 as stated by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2
1 - Written Assessment - 100%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2
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 - Written Assessment - 100%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks.

Additional Textbook Information

N/A

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Amanda Rebar Unit Coordinator
a.rebar@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 09 Nov 2020

Module/Topic

Continue data collection. Begin preparing Appendices. Make contact with Supervisor to discuss your progress to date.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2 Begin Date: 16 Nov 2020

Module/Topic

Data collection; Refine Introduction and Method section; Prepare Appendices.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 23 Nov 2020

Module/Topic

Data collection; Refine Introduction and Method section; Prepare Appendices.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 30 Nov 2020

Module/Topic

Data collection completed and analyses begun. Drafting of results and discussion. Introduction and Method section finalised. Preparation of Appendices.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 07 Dec 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 14 Dec 2020

Module/Topic

Drafting of results and discussion. Prepare Appendices.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 6 Begin Date: 21 Dec 2020

Module/Topic

Data collection completed and analyses begun. Drafting of results and discussion. Aim to submit draft of results and discussion sections of empirical report to supervisor for feedback (allow 2 weeks for review).

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 28 Dec 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7 Begin Date: 04 Jan 2021

Module/Topic

Data collection completed and analyses begun. Drafting of results and discussion. Aim to submit draft of results and discussion sections of empirical report to supervisor for feedback (allow 2 weeks for review).

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8 Begin Date: 11 Jan 2021

Module/Topic

Final draft of thesis to supervisor for feedback

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 18 Jan 2021

Module/Topic

Finalise your Appendices and ensure formatting etc. is accurate and consistent.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10 Begin Date: 25 Jan 2021

Module/Topic

Review feedback from supervisor and make necessary changes to thesis.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 01 Feb 2021

Module/Topic

Review feedback from supervisor and make necessary changes to thesis.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 08 Feb 2021

Module/Topic

Thesis Submission Due

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Thesis Due


Empirical Report (Thesis) Due: Week 12 Monday (8 Feb 2021) 11:55 pm AEST
Exam Week Begin Date: 15 Feb 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Tasks

1 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Empirical Report (Thesis)

Task Description

The final thesis submission is comprised of a comprehensive Empirical journal style paper report. This likely will be a more detailed (and refined) version of what you begin in your proposal. So there is a level of ‘re-write and paraphrasing’ of your own work throughout the year. TOTAL word count of the submitted thesis should be between 9,000 and 10,000 words.

The word count includes all headings, tables and figures that appear within the section, in-text citations are included in the word limit requirements. Because a word count range is stipulated there is no 10% above/below the word count rule, the thesis must fall between 9,000 and 10,000 words in total. Non-adherence to the word count will result in a 10% word count penalty being applied.

For the Honours thesis submission, the word count excludes all pre-pages (i.e. Title pages, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents) as well as the Abstracts, Reference Lists and Appendices. All thesis submissions should be word-processed in double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, with 2.5cm margins. The thesis will be required to be submitted electronically in pdf format. The thesis should follow the style guidelines set out in the Publication Manual (7th edition) of the American Psychological Association.

With the exception of the assessable section on data screening and assumption testing, Appendices presenting the output from data analysis are not required to have statistical testing and reporting of tables and/or figures in APA format (i.e. this can be copied and pasted from the output into the Appendices). However, where possible, students are encouraged to ensure their Appendices do adhere to APA requirements. Please note that all data presented in the body of the thesis, and in any appendix reporting data screening and assumption testing, is required to be in APA format and style.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Monday (8 Feb 2021) 11:55 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Each Honours thesis examination takes up to 4 weeks, as allocation of examiners and appointment of external examiners is an extensive process. As such, the release of thesis grades happens outside of the normal release of grade time frames.


Weighting
100%

Assessment Criteria

Each Honours thesis is examined by two examiners (one internal and one external examiner) who will complete the assessment via Qualtrics: https://cqushhss.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_807iM7bRb3NSlSZ.

The Thesis Coordinator and/or the Head of Course will appoint two appropriately qualified individuals to examine the thesis. In accordance with APAC guidelines and University and School policies, the student’s Supervisor or Co-supervisor may not act as an examiner of the thesis.

The completed thesis is the only graded assessment task for Psychology Research Project A and B and is graded according to the University's system of grading.

Examiners will provide both a letter grade and a percentage mark to the Thesis Coordinator using the University system of grading. Based on the two examiners’ reports and assigned numerical grades, a final grade for the thesis will be calculated in the following manner:

As with any examination/assessment process where there is more than one marker appointed, moderation of marking by the thesis coordinator will occur to determine the final grade. In the case of an unresolved discrepancy between markers, the Thesis Coordinator will appoint a third examiner, and moderate from the examination reports as with any examination process where there is more than one marker appointed. When finalised, student grades will be released on the relevant Unit’s Moodle site.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Design and execute a research project incorporating the key research steps, including the formulation of research question/s, the analysis of data to test the research question/s, and the interpretation of the findings
  • Prepare a research project report that includes research question/s, empirical literature review, data analysis, reporting of results and discussion.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Team Work
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Cross Cultural Competence

Academic Integrity Statement

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?