The purpose of this assessment task is to assist with the development of skills required to be critical consumers of psychological research in oral and written format. Emphasis will be placed on developing your ability to express yourself in a concise and coherent manner, while at the same time ensuring that you present your critique in a balanced and objective manner.

You will be required to submit four (4) x written critical appraisals (max. 300 words per submission) on the individual sections of a research publication (Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion). You will also present an appraisal of one complete article to the class in a 10- to 15-minute presentation during class time and will lead a discussion with the class about the article you have critiqued.

You will be provided with the list of peer-reviewed journal articles assigned for the critical appraisals on the Moodle page. You will be allocated one of the articles to focus on for this assessment in Week 1.

Each of the 4 written critical appraisals will focus on one component of the journal article:

CA1 - Introduction/Aims/Hypotheses,

CA2 - Methods/Design/Data analysis plans,

CA3 - Results, including quality of analysis and clarity of findings

CA4 - Discussion, including interpretation and significance, noted and overlooked limitations & future directions of research.

The oral presentation will cover all sections of the full article (max. 10 slides) and each section will be discussed in more detail during the discussion time.

Each of the 4 x written critiques will be worth 5% and the 1 x oral presentation/leading discussion will also be worth 5%, which will sum to the 25% total assigned for this assessment task.

The written critiques are to be submitted to Moodle in weeks 1 to 4 and the oral presentation & discussion will occur during class in week 4.

Each appraisal is worth 5% for a total of 25 marks.

CA1 – Introduction (5%)

• Literature review appraised and critiqued for relevance (2.5%)
• Research Qs/aims/hypotheses identified and discussed and appraised (2.5%)

CA2 – Methods/Data analysis (5%)

• Method section appraised for detail/accuracy that would support replication of study (2.5%)
• Design and data analysis plan appraised and critiqued for appropriateness to research aim (2.5%)

CA3 – Results (5%)

• Results appraised for detail/accuracy of reporting (2.5%)
• Critical appraisal of tables/figures re. readability (2.5%)

CA4 – Discussion/limitations/future direction (5%)

• Appraisal and critique of discussion and linking with research aim (2.5%)
• Limitations/future direction relevant and well-considered (2.5%)

Oral (5%):

• Brief coverage of all the above (2.5%)
• Leading peers in more detailed group discussion of the research article – well-prepared questions that generate discussion are key (2.5%)

During your career as Clinical Psychologists you may be called upon to assist in the development and/or evaluation of therapeutic interventions. At times you may find this involves making a 'pitch' presentation to community partners, funding bodies, and other potential stakeholders, whose support (financial or otherwise) you require for the evaluation project. The ability to deliver your intervention idea in a concise, coherent, and professional manner, while optimising audience engagement, is key to successful pitching. The purpose of Assessment Task 2, Pitch Presentation, is to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate psychological research knowledge and skills using this pitch platform.

Assessment Task 3 Scenario: You have been approached by your employer to respond to an expression of interest (EOI) from a local community centre that have received funding to develop and evaluate a novel program aimed to improve the mental well-being of young people in regional Australia. The age range is 13 - 21 years; however, you can choose to focus on a sub-group of age range if that is more appropriate for your program (e.g. 13 - 15 years only or 18 - 21 only). The local community centre has requested interested parties (that's you!) to attend a Pitch Presentation and present your program idea and proposed evaluation plan.

You have full flexibility to decide your pitch presentation; however, in your pitch you are to respond to each of the following questions:

1) What is your idea and how is it novel/different to existing programs with similar purpose?
2) Is your program evidence-based, i.e. what recent, relevant, peer-reviewed research supports your proposal?
3) What is the aim of the program?
4) What do you plan to do?
5) Who will be involved?
6) What are your anticipated outcomes?
7) How will you evaluate program efficacy?
8) How will you incorporate Indigenous and other cultural awareness considerations into the program?

During the class in Week 7, you will pitch a research idea to the audience of your peers and teaching staff. Your pitch idea is to be the same idea as that you will use for Assessment Task 3, which will entail the generation of a written application for research funding to deliver and evaluate the idea you pitched in Week 7. You are permitted a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes for your presentation and one (1) power-point slide.

The presentations will be held in class in week 7, however, you are required to upload to Moodle (1) a PDF copy of your single PowerPoint slide, and (2) a written transcript of your presentation pitch by Thursday
of week 7 by 9:00 am (i.e. before the presentations start in class). Please note: Assessment Task 2 (i.e. the Research Pitch presentation) will be assessed in class at the time of the presentation. The uploaded files in Moodle are simply for record-keeping and reference purposes only.

The pitch presentation idea is modelled on well-established concepts such as the 5-minute research pitch (https://www.cqu.edu.au/research/5-minute-research-pitch). The CQUniversity link is provided
here as a reference.

The following marking criteria will be used to assess your pitch presentation:

1) Clear description of the program and target group (2 marks)
2) Brief outline of how the program is evidence-based i.e. current state of literature (3 marks)
3) Aim of the program is clearly defined and appropriate to the proposed program (2 marks)
4) Clear plan of the proposed program (2 marks)
5) All contributing parties considered including participants, service providers, and any relevant others (2 marks)
6) Anticipated outcomes that are relevant, appropriate and clearly defined (2 marks)
7) Clear outline of proposed evaluation plan/approach (2 marks)
8) Indigenous and other cultural awareness considerations well-integrated (3 marks)
9) Pitch presentation is engaging and the responses to required questions are well-integrated (5 marks)
10) Power-point slide appropriate and captures the essence of the program (2 marks)

You will receive a mark out of 25, which will correspond to your % of the 25% weighting for Assessment Task 2.

Assessment Task 3: Written Pitch proposal follows on from Assessment Task 2: Pitch Presentation.

Assessment Task 3 Scenario:

Congratulations! You have impressed the local community centre with your Pitch Presentation and have been short-listed to the next phase in the application process. This requires you to present a written application that outlines in more detail the proposed program and evaluation plan. You are to plan around a budget cap of AU$10,000. Your timeline is 2 years from commencement to completion, which includes the delivery of outcomes back to the local community centre. The following application protocol is to be used - a template will be provided for you on Moodle:

1. Project Title (50 words max)
2. Research Proposal Aims and Summary (200 words max. in lay language)
3. How does your proposal meet the specific brief – “To improve the mental well-being of young people in regional Australia” and what is new and novel about your idea (200 words max.)
4. Research Background and project plan (600 words max.)
5. Outline your evaluation plan including plans for data collection, evaluation methodology, and outcome measures (400 words max.)
6. Identify how you will protect the identities of participants, limit risks, and ensure the completeness and accuracy of your data (Ethics) (200 words max.)
7. Identify any anticipated challenges, such as expected resistance among participants or difficulty with engagement etc. – you should briefly state how you would address each of these (200 words max.)
8. Identify how you will ensure Indigenous People and their Country and culture will be respected throughout this process (200 words max.)
9. Project timelines - must include detail of proposed dissemination of outcomes (150 words max.)
10. Budget & Justification (200 words max.)
11. Who will be involved in the project and what are their roles (150 words max.)
12. References (APA 7th formatting)

Total word count is 2500 words maximum.
Assessment Task 3 is worth 25% of your overall grade for this unit.

The following marking criteria will be used in the assessment of this task:

1. Project Title: relevant and engaging (1 mark)
2. Research Proposal Aims and Summary: appropriate and concise (2 marks)
3. How does your proposal meet the specific brief – “To improve the mental well-being of young people in regional Australia” and what is new and novel about your idea (2 marks)
4. Research Background and project plan - supporting literature appropriately cited and project plan sufficiently detailed but concise (4 marks)
5. Outline your evaluation plan including plans for data collection, evaluation methodology, and outcome measures - clearly outlined and appropriate to the proposed project (3 marks)
6. Identify how you will protect the identities of participants, limit risks, and ensure the completeness and accuracy of your data (Ethics) - all important public safety considerations covered (2 marks)
7. Identify any anticipated challenges, such as expected resistance among participants or difficulty with engagement etc. identified and a brief statement of how each will be addressed (2 marks)
8. Identify how you will ensure Indigenous People and their Country and culture will be respected throughout this process - addressed appropriately (2 marks)
9. Project timelines - clear and realistic, with avenue for dissemination of outcomes outlined e.g. publication, conference, report etc. (2 marks)
10. Budget & Justification (2 marks)
11. Who will be involved in the project and what are their roles (2 marks)
12. References - correct APA 6th formatting (1 mark)

Total = 25 marks

A self-paced online interactive workbook is provided on Moodle for the statistics component of this unit. It is intended that this format will better facilitate individualised revision and learning of statistical knowledge and skills as they apply to psychological research. The self-paced workbook is comprised of eight (8) modules, each of which focuses on a particular topic and associated analytic approaches.

Assessment Task 4 - Online Quizzes, assesses and consolidates learning specific to the self-paced workbook; i.e. Quiz 1 (WB Module 1), Quiz 2 (WB Module 2), Quiz 3 (WB Module 3), Quiz 4 (WB Module 4), and Quiz 5 (WB Module 5), Quiz 6 (WB Module 6), Quiz 7 (WB Module 7), and Quiz 8 (WB Module 8). Quiz 9 assesses the entire content of the workbook.

You will be permitted two attempts for each quiz and the higher of your two marks for each quiz will be counted. The aim of providing you with multiple attempts is to help you identify areas of challenge requiring further consolidation of knowledge. Each week you will be provided with opportunity during class-time to discuss with peers and/or the instructor any specific queries you have in relation to the quiz. Each quiz will contain 10 Multiple Choice Questions, which will be randomly selected from a bank of questions on each attempt.

Your mark out of 10 for each of these 8 quizzes will be prorated to represent a 2.5% weighting of the total 25% for Assessment task 4 (i.e. 8 x 2.5% = 20%). A final quiz (Quiz 9) will be conducted upon completion of all eight (8) modules in the workbook and will cover ALL workbook material. This quiz will contain 20 Multiple Choice Questions. You will only be permitted ONE (1) attempt for this final quiz (Quiz 9). Your mark out of 20 for Quiz 9 will be prorated to represent a 5.0% component of the total 25 marks for Assessment task 1. Your mark for the Assessment Task is therefore allocated as follows: Quiz 1 - 8 = 2.5% each and Quiz 9 = 5% - for a total of 25 marks for Assessment Task 4.

The nature of these online quizzes are such that there is one correct answer for each question. You will be marked accordingly.