PSYC20038 - Positive Psychology: Research Methods

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will introduce you to key research interests in the positive psychology domain, and the various methodological approaches to research as they relate to positive psychology. You will develop a critical understanding of the research process and its application within positive psychology research and assessment. The unit will help you to become familiar with research processes that are robust and ethical, the importance of evidence-based decision making, and the importance of measuring the impact of interventions using positive psychology research methods. You will be encouraged to consider how research evidence contributes to best practice. You will learn skills in interpreting and critically evaluating the quality of published research evidence, and consider the ways research knowledge can be used to guide intervention design and procedures. There will be an overarching focus on becoming a critical consumer and user of this scientific research literature to inform the development of future research questions, intervention strategies, and professional practice.

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 2 - 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. Research Assignment 25%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
3. Critical Review 55%

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 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 50.00% 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 and student emails.
Feedback
Many students valued the research knowledge they gained from the well-structured unit content.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will maintain the structure and organisation of unit content.
Action Taken
The structure and organisation of the unit content was maintained, and the content was updated to include current research developments.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses, student emails, moodle forum posts.
Feedback
Students appreciated how the online quiz assessments encouraged deeper engagement with the unit content, and praised the applied nature of the short-answer questions used.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to use online quizzes as an assessment tool.
Action Taken
The use of online quizzes as an assessment tool was maintained.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses.
Feedback
Many students valued the nested structure of the assessment pieces, with each assessment building on the previous one and leading to a final assessment on a topic of their own interest that required use of the learning gained from earlier assessments.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to use this nested structure to the assessment pieces, where each assessment builds on skills developed as part of previous assessments. The final assessment will continue to allow students to choose their own topic of interest to investigate.
Action Taken
The nested structure to the assessment pieces was maintained, with the final assessment building on the skills developed as part of the previous assessments. Autonomy in assessment topic-choice was maintained.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses.
Feedback
Several students indicated that they found the zoom workshops and drop-in sessions helpful, with a few students suggesting that they would benefit from more demonstrations and guidance.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator and teaching team will explore options for increasing skill demonstrations and guidance opportunities.
Action Taken
More audio-visual resources were added to the unit content, such as skills-demonstration videos modelling assessment-related skills. Workshops and drop-in sessions were maintained.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students indicated the unit content and resources were interesting and useful for their learning.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will maintain the unit content and resources.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students valued the research knowledge and skills gained in the unit.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will maintain the focus on research literacy and skills development in the unit.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students appreciated the support provided by the Unit Coordinator, such as formative feedback opportunities.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will maintain this supportive approach and will continue to offer formative feedback opportunities.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit and Teacher Evaluation responses and student emails.
Feedback
Students found the zoom tutorials enjoyable and beneficial, with a couple of students suggesting they would like more tutorial time to interact with fellow students.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will explore strategies for increasing student interactions in zoom sessions, such as group activities and informal discussion opportunities.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Locate, interpret, and synthesise appropriate peer-reviewed empirical research relevant to positive psychology
  2. Investigate and appraise research paradigms and ethical research requirements relevant to positive psychology
  3. Analyse research concepts through the critical appraisal of peer-reviewed empirical research relevant to positive psychology
  4. Develop a research question based on identified research gaps to enhance the body of knowledge in positive psychology

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Research Assignment • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
3 - Critical Review • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research • • •
5 - Self-management •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Research Assignment • • • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
3 - Critical Review • • • • •