PSYC13026 - Psychology Capstone

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This capstone unit provides you with the opportunity to reflect upon what you have learned from your undergraduate psychology degree, and to apply your discipline-specific knowledge within a professional context. There will be a focus on the transition into the workforce or further study, including the opportunity to review and finalise your professional ePortfolio, and to reflect on your values and current competencies as a future professional in the field of psychology. You will work in a small team to complete an applied major group project to address a real-world problem faced by an external organisation. Working as scientist-practitioners, your project (such as a research proposal, grant application, literature review, intervention, or evaluation), will be based on contemporary research evidence and consideration of cultural and ethical issues, and will highlight your discipline-specific and professional knowledge and skills.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

96 credit points including PSYC13015 in CC43.

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 1 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
Rockhampton

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. Group Work 0%
2. Portfolio 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 78.26% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 27.06% 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: Unit Coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Several students failed the unit because they did not satisfy the minimum mark for Assessment 2 (portfolio). It was not possible to offer a reattempt because this option was not stipulated in the unit profile.
Recommendation
Unit Coordinator to discuss with the Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) about adding a statement to the Unit Profile, allowing students to resubmit Assessment 2. Any changes will be made in line with the university's policy on assessments.
Action Taken
Students not obtaining a pass mark for the portfolio task were given 7 days to make the required changes to their portfolio. A statement reflecting this was included in the 2024 unit profile.
Source: Student end of term evaluation
Feedback
Several students commented on technical issues with Portfolium, and questioned whether it was the most effective tool for showcasing their skills, knowledge and experience.
Recommendation
Maintain the portfolio assessment, but consider alternatives to the Portfolium platform.
Action Taken
Problems with the platform continued in 2024, and actually got worse to the point where students couldn't use many features for at least 4 weeks. Alternative platforms have been sought.
Source: Student Personal Reflections (Assessment 1, Part D)
Feedback
The group contract (part of Assessment 1), was extremely beneficial in setting up the groups during the capstone unit, and has real application beyond university.
Recommendation
Keep the group contract as part of Assessment 1A, and continue to offer resources and tools to allow groups to develop group contracts effectively.
Action Taken
The group contract continued to be a successful addition.
Source: Student feedback, unit coordinator reflection, and feedback from CQUniversity Careers team.
Feedback
Students continued to experience problems with using the Portfolium platform for their ePortfolio assessment.
Recommendation
Replace Portfolium with LinkedIn. This will require slight changes to assessment criteria, as well as new resources for how to use LinkedIn. The CQUniversity Careers team have resources for students already developed that can be incorporated into the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Some groups did not adequately engage with industry partners, despite opportunities.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will take a more active role in facilitating meetings between students and partner organisations.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection.
Feedback
A small number of students did not fully engage with their group for the capstone project.
Recommendation
Continue regular group check-ins and monitoring of groups. Provide students with resources for group work facilitation. Consider increasing the marks allocated to group participation.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: End of term student feedback
Feedback
Students appreciated receiving feedback on their group project before the final presentation.
Recommendation
Continue to provide groups the opportunity to practice their pitch with the unit coordinator prior to the final industry pitch.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Demonstrate career readiness and insight into the skills, knowledge and personal attributes necessary to meet the standards of performance and practice expected in the workplace.
  2. Develop creative solutions to issues faced in the workplace.
  3. Critically reflect on the learning associated with the capstone project and identify further areas of learning and professional development.
  4. Identify and display interpersonal skills and teamwork to a level commensurate with a professional workplace.

In this unit, students will achieve all of the graduate competencies as outlined by the Australian Psychological Accreditation Council (APAC) (https://www.psychologycouncil.org.au/standards). These include:

  • Competency 1.1: Comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with a depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach.
  • Competency 1.2: Apply knowledge and skills of psychology in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals.
  • Competency 1.3: Analyse and critique theory and research in the discipline of psychology and communicate these in written and oral formats
  • Competency 1.4: Demonstrate an understanding of appropriate values and ethics in psychology
  • Competency 1.5: Demonstrate interpersonal skills and teamwork
  • Competency 1.6: Demonstrate self-directed pursuit of scholarly inquiry in psychology.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Group Work • • • •
2 - 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 • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice •
9 - Social Innovation • •
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