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PSYC11012 - Foundations of Psychological Research

General Information

Unit Synopsis

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

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 3 - 2019

Term 3 - 2019 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2020 Profile
Adelaide
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Townsville
Term 3 - 2020 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Adelaide
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Townsville
Term 3 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Adelaide
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Townsville
Term 3 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Adelaide
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton
Townsville
Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 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. Online Quiz(zes) 15%
2. Written Assessment 15%
3. Critical Review 20%
4. Report 50%

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 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 84.31% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.48% 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), staff feedback
Feedback
On a few occasions the weekly live sessions were cut short, and the lecturer was under pressure to finish delivering the content. Longer live sessions provide more opportunity for contact with lecturers
Recommendation
The weekly live sessions should be a minimum of 1.5 hours to enable sufficient discussion with students.
Action Taken
Live sessions were scheduled for two hours with only 1h of content to allow for plenty of discussion and classroom activities across the 2h period.
Source: Have your say (student feedback)
Feedback
Weekly email updates could be sent out introducing that weeks content, expected assessment timeframes and potential resources for the upcoming content that week
Recommendation
Continue to develop the weekly milestones for the unit on the Moodle site, and encourage students to utilise this feature to assist with their studies.
Action Taken
Milestones were given for each week on the Moodle site.
Source: Student and Unit Teaching Evaluations
Feedback
Group work was challenging if students did not respond to their group members' efforts to contact them.
Recommendation
Students who do not engage with their group will be contacted directly by the unit coordinator via email and encouraged to participate.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student and Unit Teaching Evaluations
Feedback
Students reported that it would be helpful to have their marks and feedback for Assessment 2 earlier to get an understanding of how well they were doing, prior to Assessment 3 being due.
Recommendation
Review the due date for assessment 2 to allow time for students to have feedback prior to Assessment 3 being due. Video feedback for students on Assessment 2 will also be provided to ensure students are aware of key areas for improvement.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Verbal feedback in tutorials
Feedback
Students reported that they were expected to complete an assessment that included both quantitative and qualitative content) before most of the quantitative information had been given to them (weeks 9 - 12).
Recommendation
Review the order that quantitative and qualitative information will be provided and how this aligns with due dates.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Describe, apply and evaluate the different research methods used by psychologists
  2. Evaluate the quality of information, including differentiating empirical evidence from speculation
  3. Write a standard research report using American Psychological Association (APA) structure and formatting conventions
  4. 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)
2 - Written Assessment
3 - Critical Review
4 - Report
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
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
2 - Written Assessment
4 - Report
3 - Critical Review
1 - Online Quiz(zes)