Overview
This unit, Thesis II, is the second of two research units that form the cornerstone of the research component of the Master of Clinical Psychology and follows from Thesis I (PSYC22003). In this unit, you will complete data collection and/or analysis, interpretation and scientific reporting for the thesis. You will work under supervision to finalise and submit your research thesis thereby developing the research skills necessary for working as a Clinical Psychologist.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
PSYC22003 Thesis I
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 - 2023
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 12-credit Postgraduate 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
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 Unit Coordinator self-reflection
Consider including in the non-compulsory Zoom sessions some teaching of relevant topics related to the unit rather than only responding to students' questions.
This unit does not include teaching topics in research methodology as students in this unit have completed the unit PSYC22001 Research Methods in Term 1 of the year in which they do this unit. In 2023, topics could be discussed in detail when they relate to a student's question, instead of just specifically answering the student's question. In this way, all students can gain the benefit of attending the sessions, even if they did not have specific questions of their own.
Feedback from Unit Coordinator self-reflection
Consider ways to monitor the effectiveness of research supervision and student progress in the research project.
Contact research supervisors during the term regarding student progress.
- Apply advanced knowledge and skills to complete a research project that is applicable to clinical psychology
- Apply systematic inquiry skills to clinical problems including the acquisition, organisation and interpretation of data to allow critical analysis and disciplined, rigorous and scientific inquiry relevant to clinical psychology
- Demonstrate a high level of written communication skills and understanding of professional and scientific writing styles in the production of the final thesis
- Communicate research findings professionally, ethically and in a culturally appropriate manner fit for a range of audiences.
These learning outcomes are intended to link with the 2019 Australian Psychology Accreditation Council accreditation guidelines for Clinical Psychology and further to align with the Clinical Psychology guidelines of CG17 (Master of Clinical Psychology) course Learning Outcome no. 5: "Demonstrate the capacity to formulate, research and successfully complete a discipline based research project."
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Thesis/Dissertation - 100% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||
| 4 - Research | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 9 - 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 | |
| 1 - Thesis/Dissertation - 100% | |||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
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.
c.l.thompson@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 10 Jul 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 1
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 14 July - Thesis meeting 1.
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.
Week 2
Begin Date: 17 Jul 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 24 Jul 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 2
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 28 July - Thesis meeting 2.
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.
Week 4
Begin Date: 31 Jul 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 07 Aug 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 3
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 11 August - Thesis meeting 3.
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.
Mid Term Break
Begin Date: 14 Aug 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 21 Aug 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 4
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 25 August - Thesis meeting 4.
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.Week 7
Begin Date: 28 Aug 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 04 Sep 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 5
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 8 September - Thesis meeting 5.
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.
Week 9
Begin Date: 11 Sep 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 18 Sep 2023Module/Topic
Thesis meeting 6
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Friday 22 September - Thesis meeting 6
This meeting will be on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. It is not compulsory to attend but it is a good opportunity to ask questions relating to your research.
Week 11
Begin Date: 25 Sep 2023Module/Topic
THESIS SUBMISSION DUE ON FRIDAY
Thesis meeting - extra meeting time available if required
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Thesis Due Friday 29 September.
Friday 29 September - A thesis meeting time is available if required.
If you have any last-minute questions, the unit coordinator will be available for a thesis meeting on Zoom from 9.00 to 10.00 on Friday morning. See Moodle for the meeting link. Please email Claire by Friday 9 a.m. if you want to attend this meeting.THESIS Due: Week 11 Friday (29 Sept 2023) 4:55 pm AEST
Week 12
Begin Date: 02 Oct 2023Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Thesis/Dissertation
Students are required to submit the thesis as a single PDF document. The thesis (introduction, methods, results and discussion) should be between 6,000-8,000 words, not including abstract, tables, figures and references. The thesis formatting should be consistent with APA-7 style.
The submitted thesis needs to include each of the elements described below.
- Cover page
- Statement of originality
- Acknowledgements
- Data storage statement
- Table of contents
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
- References
- Appendices (must include the final ethics report or a statement from the supervisor that this is not required).
Note that tables and figures should appear in the text as soon as practicable after they are first mentioned.
Week 11 Friday (29 Sept 2023) 4:55 pm AEST
Submit thesis to dropbox on Moodle
Exam Week Monday (16 Oct 2023)
We will aim to return examiners reports to students in Week 14, however this will depend on examiners reports being recieved and may also depend on whether a third examiners is required. When the examination procedure is completed, a de-identified copy of the examiner’s feedback will be returned to the student. It is the student’s responsibility to share this with their supervisor.
The thesis will be graded by two examiners and graded for each section:
- Title and Abstract
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Data Screening and Assumption Testing
- Discussion
- Style, Referencing, and Written Expression.
The guide that is provided to the thesis examiners to detail the required standards for each grade level within each section of the thesis is available on the unit Moodle page. The results from the two examiners will be reviewed by the unit coordinator. If these two scores are separated by less than an academic grade an average score will be used as the final grade. Where more than one grade band separates the two examiners ’results, then a third examiner will be sought. The final grade will then be the average grade of the two most aligned results as determined by the unit coordinator and the third examiner.
All theses will be subject to ‘Turn It In’ analysis.
The thesis will be awarded an overall grade as follows:
High Distinction (85% +)
Distinction (75-84%)
Credit (65- 74%)
Pass (50-64%)
Fail (Less than 50%).
- Apply advanced knowledge and skills to complete a research project that is applicable to clinical psychology
- Apply systematic inquiry skills to clinical problems including the acquisition, organisation and interpretation of data to allow critical analysis and disciplined, rigorous and scientific inquiry relevant to clinical psychology
- Demonstrate a high level of written communication skills and understanding of professional and scientific writing styles in the production of the final thesis
- Communicate research findings professionally, ethically and in a culturally appropriate manner fit for a range of audiences.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
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?
