PSYC11011 - Personal and Professional Development

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit is designed to help you, as a university student studying psychology, to build a set of evidence-based strategies to prepare you for your academic and professional life. You will receive practical instruction on how to effectively study at university; develop your written and oral communication skills; work effectively in groups; navigate the scientific literature; and apply American Psychological Association (APA) referencing conventions. Your communication, teamwork and research skills will be utilised in the design and preparation of a group presentation. You will also be introduced to career pathways in psychology-related disciplines, and given insight into the personal skills, capabilities and knowledge relevant to a career in psychology. The creation of a career portfolio will help you identify and market the transferable knowledge and skills that you will acquire throughout your degree.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2023

Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Adelaide
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Townsville
Term 3 - 2024 Profile
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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Annotated bibliography 30%
2. Group Work 50%
3. Portfolio 20%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 80.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 23.81% response rate.

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.

Source: Have your say (student feedback)
Feedback
The assessment tasks were applied and the resources available were extremely helpful. It was good to have the freedom to choose the topic of the essay.
Recommendation
Continue to include applied assessment tasks and provide flexibility relating to the topics available for the major assessment. Continue to develop resources relating to oral and written communication that can be applied to this unit's assessment as well as those in future units.
Action Taken
The groups were able to work together to select a topic of their choice for the presentation. Topics had to be related to a real-world problem or issue that a psychologist working in this discipline would be required to address in a typical day. Additional resources for giving presentations were provided, and this continues to be updated.
Source: Have your say (student feedback)
Feedback
The unit subject matter was useful and applicable to the unit as well as for future reference.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to focus on applied skills and knowledge required for studying psychology at university, as well as begin to help students recognise graduate competencies and career pathways.
Action Taken
The unit underwent a revamp in relation to topics and assessment. These changes were done to ensure the unit remains focused on applied skills for the degree, as well as job-ready skills. Students are given details about the competencies and psychology-specific careers, and asked to reflect on their skills and pathways.
Source: Unit coordinator
Feedback
The ePortfolio assessment task was a 'must pass' item, however this was not made clear.
Recommendation
Clearly communicate that this item must be successfully completed in order to pass the unit and meet the unit learning outcomes.
Action Taken
A marking rubric was developed for this task, with clear instructions that the assessment has a minimum grade.
Source: Unit coordinator
Feedback
Provide instruction and experience relating to interpersonal skills and group work. These skills will be important for future units within the undergraduate psychology degree.
Recommendation
Introduce group work (theory and practice) into the unit. This will be reflected in changes to the unit overview, unit learning outcomes, lecture content and assessment.
Action Taken
Groupwork is now a large part of the unit, with two weeks content dedicated to groupwork theory and skills, and the major assessment being a group task.
Source: Student feedback, self reflection
Feedback
The ability of individual students to work in a group was not adequately assessed.
Recommendation
Incorporate self- and peer-evaluation of group work, as well as include groupwork as a criteria in the group presentation marking rubric.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Self reflection
Feedback
Groups were allocated randomly in week 1. However, the addition and withdrawal of students in the first few weeks of term negatively impacted the equality of group numbers and the ability of groups to begin the task
Recommendation
Allocate groups after Census date (week 4). Consider changing the group size to 5.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Locate, evaluate and use scholarly sources of information in adherence with the American Psychological Association (APA) style.
  2. Communicate ideas effectively in written and oral form.
  3. Work collaboratively as part of a team.
  4. Create a professional ePortfolio that synthesises knowledge of self, careers and psychology disciplines to map academic, career and learning paths.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Annotated bibliography • •
2 - Group Work • • •
3 - Portfolio • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
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 • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10