PSYC14048 - Advanced Psychological Assessment

General Information

Unit Synopsis

The aim of this unit is to provide basic theoretical, empirical, and practice knowledge necessary to acquire the skills required to conduct and evaluate psychological assessment. Lectures and readings are aimed at conveying the basic assessment process that occurs within psychological contexts, regardless of therapeutic orientation. The general expectations of this unit are to demonstrate theoretical, empirical, and practice-focused knowledge of assessment frameworks and techniques. As a student, you should expect to gain an increased understanding of basic frameworks and specific assessment procedures involved in psychological assessment (and therapy) contexts.

Details

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

Students must be enrolled in CC42 Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours).

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 - 2023

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 1 - 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).

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 40%
3. Online Test 45%

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 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4.6 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 65.96% 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: 1) Have your say - student evaluation
Feedback
Feedback was given by students that the volume of reading and additional material provided was too much.
Recommendation
Additional recordings such as interviews with psychologists in the field (e.g., with Neuropsychologists and Forensic Psychologist) and additional readings (such as ethical scenarios relating to testing) will continue to be used to support learning; however, resources that are in addition to core material will be clearly noted as such. It will be clearly noted on the Moodle site and reinforced in tutorials that this information is there to enhance / deepen learning. If the material is not directly assessable this will be noted.
Action Taken
All material on Moodle was identified as either core and assessable or for interest only.
Source: 1) Have your say 2) Discussions with students 3) email
Feedback
Request for greater clarification of what will be assessed and examples how the types of questions that will be asked (particularly for online quizzes where past exam questions are not available).
Recommendation
A distinction between what is assessable and what is additional material to support learning and contextualise the practice of assessment will be made in the Moodle site. Examples of quiz questions and final exam questions will be given in each tutorial and discussed. Time will be allocated in tutorials to discuss / answer questions about the assignments.
Action Taken
Assessments were clarified and examples of quiz and test questions were discussed in tutorials.
Source: 1) Have your say - student evaluation 2) Discussions with students
Feedback
A further suggestion was made to more clearly differentiate the material that was essential to the unit (and directly assessable) and what was optional.
Recommendation
The Moodle site will be organised so as to clearly distinguish material that is core/essential and additional readings. A statement regarding this will be made on the Moodle site and in the first tutorial.
Action Taken
All material on Moodle was identified as either core and assessable or for interest only.
Source: 1) Have your say - student evaluation
Feedback
A low rating for Moodle site navigation (particularly when students may need to search for this information under exam conditions).
Recommendation
Logical grouping of resources and material under relevant subheadings will be undertaken to facilitate the location of this information under exam conditions.
Action Taken
The Moodle site was revamped and sub-headings used to make finding specific materials easier. The transition to the Moodle tile template was used to improve the ease of navigation through sections of the Moodle site.
Source: Student evaluation feedback.
Feedback
Having the first few weeks discussing the testing in general before honing into more specific contexts was helpful.
Recommendation
Retain the general structure of the unit, with more specific material presented after an overview of the issues around testing.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student evaluation feedback.
Feedback
The tutorials were very informative and put the content into practical sense.
Recommendation
Continue using the tutorials as an opportunity to discuss the material presented in lectures, with a practical focus.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student evaluation feedback.
Feedback
The content between the two units PSYC14048 Advanced Psychological Assessment and PSYC14049 Professional Practice of Cognitive Therapies were thought to be quite similar.
Recommendation
At the beginning of each unit a clear description of the content of the PSYC14048 Advanced Psychological Assessment and PSYC14049 Professional Practice of Cognitive Therapies units will be provided, and the differences between the units will be highlighted.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Use effective strategies and decision-making processes in psychological assessment
  2. Select and integrate psychological assessment processes across a number of themes and paradigms
  3. Apply the core principles of ethical and professional assessment practice
  4. Use psychological assessment data and decision-making strategies in case-study presentations.

Learning outcomes fulfil the level 2 pre-professional core competencies required by the updated Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) guidelines. The learning outcomes also meet the study criteria as specified by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and as appropriate for study at level 8 as stated by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
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 • •
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 • • • • •
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •