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PSYC20036 - Applied Positive Psychology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will explore how the practical application of positive psychology can be used to enhance the wellbeing and resilience of individuals, groups, communities and organisations. You will take the fundamental principles and theories of positive psychology and explore how these are used to design and develop interventions across a range of settings such as education, health, youth, organisations and families. You will examine the drivers of systems and behavioural change and explore tools for integrating change such as appreciative enquiry, behavioural insights and change management methodologies. This unit includes a compulsory residential school, conducted in Adelaide, which will provide you with direct access to national and international experts in practical settings and provide an immersive experience where you will learn about the development and application of positive psychology interventions. In addition, you will be taught, in a supportive environment, group coaching, facilitation, and training skills, to equip you to work with small and large groups, (adults and teenagers). You will also learn how to assess and increase motivation and confidence for behaviour change, develop and implement goal-setting strategies in groups, utilise a range of training room media, and learn how to apply a range of approaches for enhancing group learning, engagement, and participation.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2017

Term 2 - 2018 Profile
Mixed Mode
Term 2 - 2019 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2020 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2022 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 Postgraduate 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. Written Assessment 40%
2. Practical Assessment 50%
3. Reflective Practice Assignment 10%

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 88.89% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 40.91% 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: Student feedback (evaluations).
Feedback
Students indicated that the applied content and assessment pieces allowed them to learn practical application of positive psychology skills.
Recommendation
Maintain the applied and practical focus of unit content and assessment pieces.
Action Taken
The applied and practical focus of unit content and assessment pieces was maintained.
Source: Student feedback (evaluations).
Feedback
Students indicated that completing the group intervention assessment (Assessment 2) over a series of weeks allowed more deeper and integrated learning to occur.
Recommendation
Maintain the formative nature of Assessment 2 where completion is achieved over several weeks during the term.
Action Taken
The formative nature of Assessment 2 where completion is undertaken over several weeks was maintained.
Source: Student feedback (evaluations).
Feedback
While most students valued the group work experience of Assessment 2, some were concerned about unequal work between members and difficulties in choosing an intervention to work on together.
Recommendation
Provide more guidance to students on working in groups and addressing differences of opinion on assessment tasks.
Action Taken
More guidance to students on working in groups was provided, including specific sections in the Group Contract on how to manage difficulties and sections in the Contract requiring group members to formulate and agree to key deadlines and milestones.
Source: Student feedback (evaluations).
Feedback
Students found feedback on assessments comprehensive and useful.
Recommendation
Maintain the detailed feedback provided to students on assessments.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback (evaluations).
Feedback
Students found the second assessment particularly useful and practical.
Recommendation
Maintain the practical focus and structure of the second assessment.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Define how the principles and theories of positive psychology can be used to support individuals, groups and communities across a range of settings and cohorts
  2. Facilitate behavioural and/or systems change in individuals, groups, communities and organisations by recognising the determinants of change and implementing positive psychology tools and methods
  3. Explore how models of systems thinking, behavioural insight, motivation factors, and appreciative inquiry, can be applied to bring about lasting change
  4. Evaluate the impact of positive psychology interventions on different groups
  5. Apply effective decision making and problem solving to the application of positive psychology tools in real-world situations
  6. Design a comprehensive long-form and short-form Facilitation Plan for a 1-day Positive Psychology workshop that includes at least two wellbeing and resilience interventions, and a range of group discussion formats.
  7. Demonstrate competency in delivering a Positive Psychology intervention to a group, including small and whole group facilitation, skills acquisition testing, and introduction and conclusion sections.
  8. Develop and apply reflective-practice skills, to reflect on your ongoing development of knowledge, and practitioner skills in the positive psychology/wellbeing domain, and also reflect on your personal development during the Unit.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Knowledge • • • • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • •
4 - Research •
5 - Self-management • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • •
7 - Leadership •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • •