PSYC14053 - Pre-Professional Practice of Psychology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will learn practical skills and develop your knowledge relevant to the professional practice of psychology as an evidence-based scientific discipline and how these skills can be applied across multiple contexts. You will develop an understanding of how social, historical, professional and cultural factors influence the science and practice of psychology. This will include knowledge of psychometric theory applied to diverse assessment scenarios, and demonstration of culturally responsive interpersonal and interviewing skills. You will learn about the application of relevant legal frameworks and codes of ethical practice relevant to the discipline of psychology and the importance of these frameworks for working in professional practice and allied health settings.

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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode

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. Practical Assessment 40%
2. Group Work 40%
3. Online Quiz(zes) 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 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 33.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 55.1% 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: In Class
Feedback
Students suggested that releasing Learning Material in advance would better support students who work full-time to manage their learning.
Recommendation
Weekly learning content will be released in advance.
Action Taken
To support students to manage their work better, Learning Material was released in advance.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Students reported that the written instructions provided for assessments were not clear however stated that the clarification of assessments provided in tutorials when requested was clear.
Recommendation
Assessment Information documents will be updated in order to provide additional clarity.
Action Taken
To increase clarity, an update to Assessment Information documents was completed.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
In relation to Assessment 3 (online Quiz) students reported that they struggled with the time limit.
Recommendation
The teaching team will review the assessment time limit, and the suitability of the quiz items to ensure appropriate time is provided.
Action Taken
The time limit associated with Assessment 3 (Quiz) was reviewed and increased from 30 minutes to 35 minutes.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Students reported that they would like more assistance with Assessment 1.
Recommendation
Additional teaching time and working time will be set aside during Residential School for students to receive support for Assessment 1.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Students reported that they would like teaching content related to teamwork to be presented earlier in the term.
Recommendation
The teaching content specifically related to teamwork will be presented earlier in the term.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Students stated that they would like more examples of how to complete Assessment 2.
Recommendation
An example of Assessment 2 will be uploaded to Moodle for students to access to provide an illustration of what is required alongside already existing information sheets, marking criteria and an assessment instruction video.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Demonstrate appropriate professional judgement in the selection and application of psychological assessment within diverse contexts
  2. Critically evaluate the application of principles of professional psychology practice within diverse contexts and communities
  3. Competently apply relevant interpersonal and interviewing skills in situations appropriate to psychological practice
  4. Apply and evaluate ethical decision-making strategies across multiple professional contexts, particularly as they relate to applications of the Code of Ethics and the Ethical Guidelines of the Australian Psychological Society

Learning outcomes have been designed to address the level 2 pre-professional competencies required by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). The learning outcomes also meet the study criteria as specified by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and are appropriate for study at Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 8 . The specific APAC competencies which will be demonstrated by students in completing this unit are:

2.2 Demonstrate appropriate interpersonal communication and interview skills in situations appropriate to psychological practice and research. This includes active listening, clarifying and reflecting, effective questioning, summarising and paraphrasing, developing rapport, appropriate cultural responsiveness and empathic responding.

2.3 Demonstrate basic assessment strategies in situations appropriate to psychological practice and knowledge of psychometric theory and principles of the construction, cultural considerations, implementation and interpretation of some of the more widely used standardised psychological test instruments.

2.4 Explain how basic psychological intervention strategies can be applied across a range of contexts.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Practical Assessment • •
2 - Group Work • • • •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
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 • • • •
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