PSYC20037 - Introduction to Positive Psychology: Perspectives on Wellbeing

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will introduce you to the paradigm of positive psychology, and explore the development of this specialist area over the past 20 years. In this unit, you will explore the discipline's emphasis on flourishing and strengths-based approaches, and examine how these differ from traditional psychological frameworks. The unit examines conceptualisation and measurement of wellbeing and the application of positive psychology at the individual, group, community, and organisational level.

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 No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 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 20%
2. Essay 40%
3. Presentation 40%

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 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 32.56% 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 Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses, My Experience responses, and emails.
Feedback
Students appreciated the support provided by the Unit Coordinator, including encouragement, prompt communication, and provision of useful resources.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will continue to utilise this supportive communication approach.
Action Taken
This communication approach was maintained throughout the term in this unit.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and My Experience responses.
Feedback
Students appreciated the comprehensiveness and the variety of the unit content and resources, indicating that the unit content was relevant and interesting, but some students requested more video resources instead of reading.
Recommendation
The Unit will continue to provide diverse and comprehensive unit content and maintain the currency and structure of the content. The course team will review unit material and consider adding more audio-video resources to complement the readings.
Action Taken
The unit content and structure was maintained, and the content was updated at term commencement to include current developments in the field. More audio-visual resources were added to the unit content.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses.
Feedback
Students found the zoom tutorials valuable and enjoyable, with some students suggesting more opportunities for zoom discussions would be beneficial.
Recommendation
The Unit will continue to provide these zoom tutorials, and the course team will consider additional opportunities for online interactions between staff and students.
Action Taken
The zoom tutorials were continued, and activities requiring interactive small-group discussion were added. Additional drop-in Zoom sessions were provided to students.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses, SPA responses, and student emails.
Feedback
While many students valued the chance to work and learn collaboratively with fellow students in the final group assessment, some students found it frustrating due to unequal contributions, scheduling challenges, and varied technology skill-levels.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will facilitate the establishment of groupwork expectation guidelines and undertake regular check-ins with students to help address any challenges that arise in groups during assessment preparation.
Action Taken
Based on projected student numbers and discussion with the positive psychology teaching team and the Office of DDLT, the decision was made to convert the presentation task from a group assessment into an individual assessment. This change was well-received by students and the same learning outcomes were addressed.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and My Experience responses.
Feedback
While many students stated they found assessment expectations clear and explicit, a few students felt there was some ambiguity in assessment task instructions and that they needed larger word-limits for written work.
Recommendation
The course team will revisit the assessment task instructions to ensure clarity and consistency between the task description and the assessment criteria, and evaluate the appropriateness of word limit requirements.
Action Taken
The assessment task instructions and assessment rubrics were revised to increase clarity and consistency, and the word limit was increased on the written assessments.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students appreciated the encouragement provided by the Unit Coordinator, including prompt support and guidance.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will continue to use this supportive communication approach.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students valued the detailed and constructive feedback provided on their assessment pieces.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will continue with the provision of detailed and constructive assessment feedback.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and tutorial discussions.
Feedback
Students reported the assessment tasks were clearly explained and facilitated the application of knowledge gained from the unit content.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will maintain the use of the assessment tasks and instructions.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses.
Feedback
Students found the unit content relevant and the zoom tutorials and drop-in sessions beneficial, with a few students suggesting they would like more visual demonstrations on topics such as evaluating measurement tools.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will continue providing drop-in sessions and tutorials, and will add more visual demonstrations to the unit, particularly in relation to evaluating measurement tools.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Analyse the key theoretical and empirical developments in positive psychology
  2. Apply the major principles and theories of Positive Psychology in an applied context
  3. Identify and evaluate ways to conceptualise and measure wellbeing in an applied context.

N/A - no external accreditation requirement.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Written Assessment •
2 - Essay • • •
3 - Presentation • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Knowledge • • •
2 - Communication • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research • • •
5 - Self-management •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8