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PSY399 PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE: PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE (Capstone unit for psychology)
UNIT OUTLINE
SESSION 2: 2016
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Faculty of Human Sciences
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PSY399 UNIT OUTLINE: SESSION 2, 2016
UNIT CONVENOR: DR WAYNE WARBURTON
We know it is common for students not to read their unit outlines.
HOWEVER, FOR THIS UNIT IT IS CRUCIAL THAT STUDENTS READ THIS UNIT
OUTLINE VERY CAREFULLY AT THE START OF SEMESTER.
If anything is unclear please consult one of the unit teaching staff.
PREREQUISITES AND CO-REQUISITES
Prerequisites: (18cp from PSY units at 200 level and admission to BPsych(Hons) or BA-Psych or
BA-PsychBEd(Prim) or BA-PsychBHlth or BA-PsychLLB or BBABA-Psych or BBABPsych(Hons)
or BComBA-Psych or BComBPsych(Hons) or BPsych(Hons)BHlth or BPsych(Hons)LLB or BSc-
Psych or GDipPsych) or (6cp from (PSY234 or PSY235 or PSY236 or PSY246 or PSY247 or
PSY248) and admission to BA or BSc or BSocSc).
Co-requisite: (3cp in PSY units at 300 level).
ABOUT THIS UNIT
PSY399 is a 3 credit point unit undertaken during the third year of an undergraduate psychology
degree (preferably in the final semester) in preparation for either leaving to find employment with
a psychology degree or continuing on to further study. As such, this unit has a number of
important functions. It provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their undergraduate
learning to date and on how they might use it; it encourages students to integrate and synthesise
the information from the various sub-disciplines in psychology; it encourages students to think
about how real world issues may be approached with this knowledge; it focuses on the generic
skills students will take into the workplace or further study; and it provides information on what
jobs are available in psychology, how to apply for and prepare for those jobs, and on the codes of
conduct and ethical behaviour guidelines that will inform your professional conduct in the
workplace or in further research.
It is important to note that this unit involves a different type of learning (i.e.,
learning by experience), and requires different student skills, than is usual in other
psychology units. This is because PSY399 contains a practical placement component. Students
will need to demonstrate learning from their placement experience, and will be expected to
demonstrate initiative, professionalism and a high level of self-regulation in this unit.
Students are strongly encouraged to fully participate in the unit, so that they can
gain the maximum benefit from it, especially as a preparation for activities beyond the third
year in psychology. Students should be aware that a number of participation protocols, and
possibly a new ethics procedure, will be trialled this Session and may have some teething issues.
Please be gracious and patient with the staff, who want students to gain the maximum benefit
from this unit and will help with any relevant student issues.
PLEASE NOTE: Because of the large amount of work required to administer PSY399 ALL
enquiries about the unit MUST go to the central email address [email protected] where
it will be answered by one of the Unit Administrators (the Unit Convenor, Co-Convenor or
Placement Coordinator). Please do NOT email the Unit Convenor directly. Email enquiries
related to tutorials, however, should be sent direct to your tutor.
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TEACHING STAFF
CONVENORS
Unit Convenor: Dr Wayne Warburton:
Consultation Times: Mondays, 10.00am - 12.00pm
Email: [email protected]
Office: C3A 408. Phone: 9850 8643 [email contact preferred]
Co-Convenor: Ms Niree Kraushaar
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9850 7693 [email contact preferred]
OTHER LECTURERS
Dr Michaela Baker
Email: [email protected]
Dr John Franklin
Email: [email protected]
A/Prof. Judi Homewood
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9850-8652
Dr Julia Irwin
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9850 8006
Ms. Justine McKenna (Career Development Officer)
Email: [email protected]
OTHER STAFF
Placement Coordinator
Ms. Niree Kraushaar
Email: [email protected]
Tutors
Ms. Niree Kraushaar (Head Tutor)
Email: [email protected]
Ms. Bree Tebbutt
Email: [email protected]
Ms Chanelle Tarabay
Email: [email protected]
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CLASSES
Lectures: 1*1hour lecture each week on Tuesdays, 5.00pm – 6.00pm, in the W6D Lotus Theatre
(See lecture timetable and readings at the end of this guide). All lectures are recorded in iLecture.
Tutorials: 2-hour tutorial fortnightly. Students will be divided into an A and a B Stream. The A
Stream will begin tutorials in the second week of semester, and the B Stream in the third week.
The timetable for classes can be found on the University web site at
http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au.
TUTORIAL TIMES AND ROOMS:
Day Time Room Tutor
Monday 9.00am – 11.00am E3A166 Niree Kraushaar
Monday 12.00pm – 2.00pm X5B138 Niree Kraushaar
Monday 4.00pm – 6.00pm X5B039 Chanelle Tarabay
Monday 6.00pm – 8.00pm E5A140 Niree Kraushaar
Tuesday 2.00pm – 4.00pm E6A131 Chanelle Tarabay
Thursday 10.00am-12.00pm E3B113 Bree Tebbutt
Thursday 12.00pm – 2.00pm E6A131 Bree Tebbutt
Friday 9.00am – 11.00am C5C236 TBA
Tutorial Attendance: There are no marks allocated for tutorial attendance, but, in line with
Psychology Department policy, tutorial attendance is compulsory.
Placement Attendance: This is compulsory. Students will be expected to facilitate and attend
their placement, to keep a log book for that placement, and to perform satisfactorily as volunteers.
Students who do not get a grade of satisfactory for the placement component of this
unit will FAIL the unit. The Placement section of the Assessment section of this guide provides
some general guidance, but detailed instructions are provided in a separate Student Placement
Guide.
STUDENTS MUST READ THE ENTIRE STUDENT PLACEMENT GUIDE CAREFULLY
PRIOR TO COMMENCING THE PLACEMENT PROCESS.
Managing Classes: Changes to all units can be done on-line via eStudent. After the designated
last day to add units, no further changes will be allowed unless supporting documentation about
the reason for changing is provided and there is space in the tutorial you wish to change into. All
requests for changes after the last day to add units should be directed to the concerned tutors.
PLEASE NOTE: It is University policy that the University issued email account (ie.
[email protected]) will be used for all official University communication.
All students are required to access their University email account frequently. In
PSY399 you should check this account at least weekly. Emails from within the unit will
primarily be sent via the iLearn internal email system, which should be checked often.
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UNIT WEB PAGE AND LEARNING RESOURCES
ILEARN
The iLearn Webpage for PSY399 is at: https://iLearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/. Lecture outlines
(and, when applicable, tutorial handouts) will be uploaded to iLearn each week. Sometimes there
will be unavoidable delays. Please DO NOT contact the Unit Chair to request that the
lecture notes be uploaded.
Tutors should be emailed directly rather than through the iLearn email system. Other staff can
be emailed via iLearn, but all queries related to the administration of PSY399 should be sent to
Please check the Unit iLearn page and the Unit Outline carefully BEFORE
telephoning or emailing the unit administrators with queries.
Important messages will be posted as announcements on the iLearn site and announced
during (recorded) lectures. Please check the iLearn webpage, your web page email account,
and your general student email account regularly (i.e., at least weekly).
Use the Discussion Page to communicate with other students during the semester. This is a
student-to-student page: staff will NOT monitor the Discussion Page for enquiries.
MLEARN
In 2016 we will be trialling the MLearn app. This app is still under development but currently
allows mobile access to iLearn and is being extended to allow mobile diarising of experiences on
placement. There will be more information and a download link on the PSY399 iLearn page.
STUDYWISE
Once logged into iLearn, StudyWISE can be found in the Student Support section. StudyWISE is a
fabulous resource with dozens of tutorials, videos and resource materials available under five
headings relevant to tasks students undertake in their undergraduate units (e.g. essay/report
writing, note taking, critical analysis, reflection, locating readings etc.). Access StudyWISE direct
at www.mq.edu.au/studywise.
REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND/OR MATERIALS
There is no required text for this unit. However a set of readings is listed at the back of this unit
guide along with the lecture and tutorial schedule. Most items are available from e-journals or
from websites (urls provided). Other items will be in the Unit Readings section of the Macquarie
University Library webpage. Only the starred items are mandatory readings.
The lecture and tutorial program are summarised at the end of this document.
LEARNING OUTCOMES AND GRADUATE CAPABILITIES DEVELOPED
This unit aims to provide specific knowledge about psychology as a profession and to assist
students to consider how their theoretical understanding of psychology applies to the wider
world. It aims to assist students to develop a range of generic skills that are important in both the
workplace and further study. Below is a list of learning outcomes and graduate capabilities that
this unit can help you to develop. Next to each is the component of the unit that most directly
addresses these skills (noted in italics).
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LEARNING OUTCOMES (LO)
On completion of this unit it is anticipated that students should be able to:
1. Identify a social issue and devise practical solutions that are supported by sound psychological
theories and evidence (Tutorials, Reflection, Volunteer Placement, Project Report)
2. Use skills and knowledge acquired over the psychology degree in a ‘real world’ context and
develop new practical skills and knowledge over the course of a volunteer placement
(Volunteer Placement)
3. Critically evaluate a body of literature on a social issue in relation to relevant psychology sub-
disciplines (Tutorials, Literature Review)
4. Integrate and synthesise knowledge from various psychology sub-disciplines (Lectures,
Tutorials, Reflection, Literature Review)
5. Critically reflect on how the different sub-disciplines in psychology link within the whole
person and apply to wider social contexts, including the placement organisation’s activities
(Lectures, Tutorials, Reflection, Literature Review, Project Report)
6. Reflect on their learning in psychology (including practical learning), and its application to
professional and ethical practice (including at their volunteer placement) (Lectures, Tutorials,
Reflection, Project Report; Ethics Modules)
7. Demonstrate effective oral, written and visual communication skills that are appropriate to the
purpose, medium and audience (Tutorials, Literature Review, Project Report, Volunteer
Placement).
GRADUATE CAPABILITIES (GC)
It is anticipated that as a result of attending/listening to lectures, participating in tutorials,
reading, and completing the unit projects, students will:
1. Have reflected on their undergraduate studies, on how the different sub-disciplines in
psychology link within the whole person and apply to wider social contexts, and on ways
that they will use their psychology major in their future endeavours, be they in the
workplace or in future study. (Reflection time)
2. Further develop critical, analytical and integrative thinking skills: Students will be
encouraged throughout the unit to integrate and synthesise their knowledge from the
various sub-disciplines of psychology and to use this integrated knowledge to examine a
real world issue. In addition, students will be expected to critically analyse what they read
and experience in order to produce high quality reports. (Lectures, Readings, Tutorials,
Reflections, Literature Review, Project Report)
3. Further develop their communication skills. Communication skills and teamwork are key
graduate skills. It is anticipated that students will (1) develop oral skills through
communicating within small groups during tutorials, and arranging and completing their
volunteer placement, and (2) develop written skills through the Literature Review and
Project Report, and through lectures on key skills such as how to prepare a CV (Lectures,
Volunteer Placement, Tutorials, Literature Review, Project Report)
4. Further develop problem solving skills: It is anticipated that students will develop problem
solving skills through being asked to identify a real world issue, research it, and use their
synthesised/integrated knowledge about psychology to put forward a potential solution.
(Tutorials, Volunteer Placement, Project Report)
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5. Further develop creative thinking: It is anticipated that students will use creative thinking
to produce innovative solutions to the social issues addressed at their volunteer placement
(Volunteer Placement, Project Report)
6. Become more socially and environmentally active and responsible: Students are expected
to engage with placement organisations as volunteers. In doing so, it is expected they will
learn more about the social issues addressed at the organisation and that their work will
‘make a difference’ in real terms. Students in this unit will be encouraged to approach all
their endeavours in an environmentally responsible way. (Volunteer Placement, Project
Report; Ethics Modules)
7. Become more engaged local and global citizens: Students are expected to volunteer their
time to, and engage with, a placement organisation, in order to tackle a significant social
issue. Students are encouraged to reflect on and learn about the wider, global issues
addressed, and to produce solutions with wider implications. (Volunteer Placement,
Project Report; Ethics Modules)
8. Become more capable of ethical, professional and personal judgement and initiative: This
unit bridges undergraduate learning and professional life for many students, and so it is
anticipated that students will use the unit to develop skills in:
o Producing a CV detailing their achievements
o Understanding the various career paths available in psychology
o Understanding the laws, ethical practices and codes of conduct that govern the
professional behaviour of psychologists
o Understanding the underlying principles of ethical and professional practice
o Understanding the applications of psychology in a range of situations
o Using their initiative (eg. to facilitate a volunteer placement and complete the
placement in an ethical and professional manner)(Lectures, Tutorials, Readings,
Volunteer Placement, Project Report; Ethics Modules).
9. Demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning: Students are expected to reflect
on how they can apply their learning in other contexts, and it is hoped students will
better understand the practical and ethical importance of continuing education for
psychologists. (Lectures, Tutorials, Reflection, Readings)
TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGY
Lectures: Introduce students to material relevant to the transition from undergraduate student
to psychology graduate, or to further study. As the majority of students in this unit will be moving
to the workforce, the main focus of lectures will be on preparation for a profession that has at its
core a psychology degree. Thus, lectures will cover areas relevant to integrating a knowledge of
psychology, preparing for and applying for a psychology-based job, professional practice and
ethical conduct, Readings extend rather than duplicate the lecture material, and students should
be self-directed in reading and integrating readings with the lecture material.
The final exam questions will test learned facts, the student’s integration of ideas, and their
understanding of underlying concepts.
Tutorials: Tutorials are not necessarily linked with the concurrent lecture material. They are
primarily concerned with (1) guiding students through the process of producing their major
projects, (2) using a ‘problem-based learning’ approach to examine dilemmas in professional
practice, (3) providing ongoing assistance with the process of arranging and completing the
practical placement, (4) providing guidance on practical skills such as knowledge integration and
reflection, and (5) debriefing about placement experiences.
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Placements: Students will need to develop their ability to learn from practical experience during
the placement component of the unit, and will be expected to show initiative and be quite self-
regulated before and during placement, and throughout the unit. Practical learning during
placement will be partly assessed in the major project.
Ethics Module: The Ethics Module is in Section 14 of the iLearn website and has the function of
educating students about what constitutes good ethical practice (with a focus on research ethics),
in order to inform their behaviour on placement. In this module students must complete a key
reading, watch some videos, and think about and respond to some ethical dilemmas. The Ethics
Module is mandatory and examinable and ideally should be completed PRIOR to placement. If
you have any concerns about the way research is being conducted on placement, Section 15
provides instructions about how to seek assistance or make a report.
Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Module (4 parts): The four parts of this module are
in sections 16-19 of the iLearn website and contain a series of readings, videos and activities
designed to assist students to undertake their volunteer placement safely. This Module contains
important information on safe professional practice, is fully examinable, and should be completed
PRIOR to starting placement.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASSESSMENT AND LEARNING OUTCOMES, GRADUATE
CAPABILITIES
There are four summative assessment tasks which require different modes of performance and
assess different learning outcomes/graduate capabilities. There are also three formative (practice)
assessment tasks to allow students to monitor their own learning progress, but that are not
marked.
Summative Assessment Tasks: These tasks DO count towards the final grade.
1. Placement. This task involves engaging as a volunteer with an organisation in the wider
community to find out, first hand, about a significant social issue. This task receives a
grade of Complete or Incomplete but is not given a mark (LO: 1, 2, GC: 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8).
Please note that all of the remaining summative tasks are given a mark and a
grade.
2. Literature Review: This task involves identifying a significant social issue, and integrating
existing knowledge from various disciplines in psychology to understand the issue. (LO: 3,
4, 5 and 7; GC: 2-3).
3. Project Report: Students will have a choice of two tasks:
a. A five-part project report which includes a written report on:
i. planning for the placement
ii. development of professional skills during placement
iii. using academic skills during placement
iv. reflecting on undergraduate experience and the placement, and
v. devising practical solutions to a social issue
OR
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b. A critical experience analysis of an experience during placement that had a profound
impact on their thinking and may have been defining in regards to their future life
direction:
i. planning for the placement
ii. the critical experience: context, events, thoughts, feelings and actions
iii. what did you learn from the critical experience?
iv. reflecting on undergraduate experience and the critical experience at
placement; and
v. devising practical solutions. (LO: 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7; GC: 1-9).
4. Final Examination: A key outcome for this unit is for students to learn and understand the
various codes of ethical conduct for psychologists and allied professions, and the
professional standards enshrined in the governing legislation that affects psychologists.
Students are also expected to gain knowledge of ethics as taught in the Ethics Modules. The
final examination will test students’ knowledge in these areas, their ability to integrate
knowledge across the psychology disciplines and other lecture material, and their
understanding of the principles underlying professional practice (LO: 4-7; GC: 1, 2 and 8).
Formative (Practice) Assessment Tasks: These tasks do NOT count towards the final grade.
1) Ethics and WHS Modules. All students are expected to undertake the Ethics Module and all
four parts of the Workplace Health and Safety Module. These two modules are fully
examinable but the tasks themselves do not count towards the final grade and will give
students a sense of the types of ethics and safety issues that may be encountered in
professional practice, and the sorts of ethics scenarios that might be examined later in the
unit. Students should note that even when WHS modules are completed they do not show up
on iLearn as complete. This is because these modules will be assessed in the final exam. (LO 6;
GC 6, 7 and 8).
2) Reflection: Students will be expected to spend at least 30 minutes per week (or equivalent)
reflecting on their undergraduate coursework, on how the different sub-disciplines in
psychology link within the whole person and apply to wider social contexts, and on ways that
they will use their psychology major in their future endeavours. Some guidance on setting up a
personal reflection time will be provided in Tutorial 1. Please note that the project report has
an assessed section in which students describe their personal reflection practices during the
semester (LO: 1, 4, 5 and 6; GC: 1 and 9).
3) Self-Reflection on Critical Analysis and Writing Skills. Essay marking grids are provided to
students in this unit guide, outlining the standards against which their Literature Review and
Project Report will be assessed. Students are encouraged to examine carefully these criteria
and bring any questions to tutorials, where further guidance will be given. Students will also
engage with the tutors fortnightly to discuss their progress with their placement and major
projects, and to receive feedback about how they are progressing, along with practical advice
(LO: 3, 4 and 7; GC: 2 and 3).
A table detailing each summative assessment task along with the marks allocated, the due date,
and linked learning outcomes/graduate capabilities follows:
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SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT TASKS – THESE DO COUNT TOWARDS YOUR FINAL GRADE.
Task Weight Due Date Graduate Capabilities Learning outcomes
1. Placement. Log books must be handed in by the due date, and signed by the placement organisation Students MUST gain a grade of Satisfactory to PASS this unit
S/NS* Friday, November 11. (Close of Business)
3. Develop communication skills. 5. Develop creative thinking: 6. Become more socially and environmentally active and responsible: 7. Become engaged local and global citizens: 8. Become more capable of ethical, professional and personal judgement and initiative:
1. Identify social issue and possible solutions 2. Use existing skills and knowledge on placement and learn practical skills and knowledge
2. Literature Review
20%
Friday September 1. (Close of Business) (Week 5) Marked online by Week 9 if submitted on time
2. Develop critical, analytical and integrative thinking: 3. Develop communication skills.
3. Critically evaluate literature across disciplines 4. Integrate/synthesise knowledge across disciplines. 5. Critical reflection on links between sub disciplines and whole person/society 7. Oral, written and verbal communication skills.
3. Project Report
40% Monday October 17. (Close of Business) (Week 10) Marked online by Week 13 if submitted on time
1. Have reflected on undergraduate studies 2. Develop critical, analytical and integrative thinking: 3. Develop communication skills. 4. Develop issue solving skills 5. Develop creative thinking: 6. Become more socially and environmentally active and responsible: 7. Become engaged local and global citizens: 8. Become more capable of ethical, professional and personal judgement and initiative: 9. Commitment to continuous learning
1. Devise practical solutions to social issue 2. Use existing skills and knowledge on placement and learn practical skills and knowledge 5. Critical reflection on links between sub disciplines and whole person/society 6. Reflect on learning in psychology, professional and ethical practice 7. Oral, written and verbal communication skills.
Final Examination 80 questions 90 minutes
40% Formal Examina-tion Period See Examina-tion Timetable
1. Have reflected on undergraduate studies 2. Develop critical, analytical and integrative thinking: 8. Become more capable of ethical, professional and personal judgement and initiative:
4. Integrate/synthesise knowledge across disciplines. 5. Critical reflection on links between sub disciplines and whole person/society 6. Reflect on learning in psychology, professional and ethical practice 7. Oral, written and verbal communication skills
* S/NS = Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory
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DETAILED ASSESSMENT INFORMATION AND PROCEDURES
1. PLACEMENT
Students will be expected to undertake a 32 hour placement as volunteers. Students who do not
achieve a grade of Satisfactory for completing the placement will FAIL the unit.
A comprehensive Student Placement Guide and an iParticipate Student Guide have been
prepared and can be downloaded from iLearn.
You must take the Student Placement Guide with you on EVERY occasion you
attend placement.
It is CRUCIAL that students download the Student Placement Guide and READ IT VERY
CAREFULLY FROM COVER TO COVER. Failure to do so could result in making an error that
results in FAILING the Unit due to non-completion of the placement.
It is very important that, from day 1 of Semester 2, students check the following regularly (ie, at
least once a week):
MQ student email account (e.g., [email protected])
the PSY399 iLearn website, including the iLearn internal email.
Placement Coordinator (PC) and Faculty Participation Manager (FPM) and PACE
Officer (PO)
This year Ms Niree Kraushaar is the placement coordinator (PC) for PSY399, Ms Linda Barach
([email protected]; 9850 7907) is the Faculty Participation Manager (FPM) and Ms Kerry
Lancaster is the Faculty PACE Officer. The FPM is responsible for managing the relationships
between the university and placement organisations. If students have significant problems with
the placement organisation or the placement organisation has a problem with a student, they
should contact the FPM, who would facilitate a resolution.
The PC is the person who ultimately matches students to their placements and deals with a range
of non-serious placement-related issues. The PO will assist unit staff and the FPM in a range of
capacities.
Students, once matched with a placement organisation, will be FULLY responsible
for contacting the placement organisation and facilitating everything that needs to
happen before, during and after the placement.
If students have minor issues with their placement, they can approach the PC for assistance. The
PC can also provide general advice on placements and placement processes. If the student has a
significant issue with the placement, or is injured or involved in a serious incident, they should
contact the FPM. A flow chart detailing how to deal with Workplace Health and Safety issues
while on placement can be found in the Student Placement Guide (SPG) on page 19.
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IMPORTANT: Students need to complete the Workplace Health and Safety Modules in
s.16-19 of the iLearn website as soon as possible in the Session in order to be fully prepared for a
safe placement. This is examinable and should take less than 2 hours.
MATCHING PLACEMENTS TO STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC NEEDS
There may be par t icu l ar circumstances that limit the kind of placement PSY399 students
can be allocated to. These circumstances fall into three different categories:
Practical Considerations
This category includes those students that may have carer responsibilities, such as
looking after young children or a family member who is unwell. This category also
includes students who have work obligations that may restrict their availability.
Physical/Religious/Cultural or Mental Health Considerations
This category includes students who cannot participate in certain activities for a
variety of physical, cultural/religious and mental health reasons. Certain activities or
placement environments may cause trauma or distress to students because of their
past experiences (e.g., placement in a rape crisis centre may be distressing for a
survivor of sexual assault; placement in a mental health crisis centre may be
problematic for a student with a history of psychotic illness etc.). Other activities may
be unsuitable to some people on religious or cultural grounds, or because the person
has physical limitations to what they can do (and they are not registered with
Macquarie’s Disability Services and are thus not in the next category).
Students that are already registered with Macquarie University Disability Services
This category is for those students who have previously registered a disability, a
medical condition, or other considerations with Macquarie University’s Disability
Services. This may impact their capacity to undertake some tasks or to travel to
certain placements. Examples may include students with vision impairment or
students with a diagnosed disorder.
If you need your placement to be matched to specific needs, you should complete the Students
with Specific Needs form in the student placement guide (it is also available in ilearn), and submit
it to the PSY399 Placement Coordinator no later than 18 July 2016. Supporting documentation
(such as a letter from a counsellor or doctor) is helpful, if available.
TYPES OF PLACEMENTS
There are different types of placements available in 2016 for PSY399 students. The vast majority
of students will undertake university-initiated placements, but several other options are also
available to students.
University-initiated placements
PSY399 and PACE staff have established a substantial number of interesting and varied
psychology placements scheduled to start in Session 2. These placements are listed in the
university placement management system iParticipate. If students wish to undertake a placement
organized by the University, they can enter iParticipate at the start of Session 2 to see what
placements are available, and then rank their top ten preferred placements from the many
placements offered. Early in Session 2 those students will be matched with a placement by
iParticipate and allocated to that placement. Students choosing this type of placement must
attend the placement they are allocated to.
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To pursue a University initiated placement follow the steps outlined in University initiated
placements below, then complete stage (2) Managing your placement.
Student-nominated placements
Students who have an interest in or are passionate about a particular organisation, can begin
the process of arranging their own placement. In this instance it is crucial that students
have parts of this process in place by May 29 2016 at the latest. For student-initiated
placements, students should make contact with the organisation following the steps detailed in
section (1b) Student nominated placements, and using the link sent by email in March
2016. The PACE Officers and PACE Manager will then take over and continue negotiations on
behalf of the university and the student. The initial contact information needs to be submitted
by May 29, 2016, because it often takes a significant amount of time to organise all of the
required paperwork and approvals. If you are currently volunteering with an organisation and
would like to complete your participation activity with this organisation, you can provide
information about your role and the PACE Officer and PACE Manager will attempt to finalise the
placement in the same way as with other student nominated placements.
To submit a student nominated placement you need to follow the steps outlined in stage 1b,
Student nominated placements below, then complete stage 2, Managing your placement.
Special university-initiated placements/early starting placements
There may be some University initiated placements that require early commencement and/or a
longer term commitment. Students are advised of these opportunities by email in Session 1, and
can apply with a special application form. Examples of these Special University Initiated
placements are the Benevolent Society Fostering Friends Project, Lifeline (fee-based) and a
number of other projects.
Before attending a Special University-Initiated placement for PSY399 students MUST read the
PSY399 Unit Guide thoroughly. Key assessment tasks revolve around planning for, attending, and
reflecting on the placement, and students will struggle to adequately complete these tasks unless
they have kept the appropriate diaries and notes, and are aware of what issues they should be
cognizant of whilst on placement. As this will usually occur prior to Session 2 starting, students
are best to obtain the previous year’s Unit Guide as the current year guide will still be under
development. This can be obtained from the Faculty PACE website here. Students undertaking
early commencing placements need to apply for Early Commencement via iParticipate and should
read the University and PSY399 Early Commencement Guides.
To pursue a Special University- initiated placement follow the steps outlined in the invitation
email, then complete stage (2) Managing your placement.
International placements
Students have the opportunity to undertake approved projects with PACE International. These
are projects run overseas, which have activities available that are suitable for psychology students,
and which meet the learning outcomes for PSY399. Most run in the winter break (prior to
semester starting). Availability of such placements are made known to students via an email to
students enrolled in PSY399, or thought to be eligible to undertake PSY399 in that year.
Applications for 2016 have now closed and successful students have been notified.
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Before attending a PACE International placement for PSY399 students MUST read the PSY399
Unit Guide thoroughly. Key assessment tasks revolve around planning for, attending, and
reflecting on the placement, and students will struggle to adequately complete these tasks unless
they have kept the appropriate diaries and notes, and are aware of what issues they should be
cognisant of while on placement.
IPARTICIPATE
All types of placement are managed in iParticipate, an online interactive database to which all
PSY399 students have access (see the iParticipate User Guide on ILearn or available here).
iParticipate will be used to match all students to their participation activity.
Students who choose university-initiated placements will be able to preference ten placements on
iParticipate and the system will automatically allocate a placement based on the order of students’
preferences and other matching criteria such as location. Where student nominated placements
are successfully finalised they will be visible in iParticipate and the student who nominated the
placement will be allocated this placement.
STAGE 1: ARRANGING PLACEMENTS
University initiated placements
1. Previewing placements: iParticipate provides a portal for students to access
information about university-initiated placements. From 9am Monday 25 July until 11pm 7
August, students will be able to research the organisations and placements that are
available on iParticipate. The information given includes: address, website, activity details,
and required screening checks. Students should note any special requirements that the
organisation may have such as extended duration of placement, any checks needed or
specific attendance patterns.
2. Preferencing Placements: From 9am 8 August until 11pm 14 August, iParticipate
will be open allowing students to access the application and preference placements – that
is, to nominate in order their top ten placement preferences. Students who do not
nominate their preferences within this period lose their right to preference.
3. Allocating placements: In week 3 of session 2, Monday 15 August to Wednesday 18
August, iParticipate will automatically allocate students into placements based on student
preferences and other criteria such as location. These automatic allocations are final: they
cannot be altered and no discussion will be entered into.
REMEMBER – students who have specific needs or cannot undertake a particular type of
placement activity due to cultural or religious requirements, or mental/physical health
issues, need to submit a Students With Specific Needs Form to the Placement Coordinator
by 5pm Monday 18 July (see p 23).
4. Notification of placements: During week 4 of session 2 (Monday 19 August)
students will be alerted at their university email address to check iParticipate so that they
can view their placement allocation.
Please do NOT phone or email the PACE Faculty Team to enquire about progress. There are a
large number of students and the team will be managing a high workload during the
placement allocation period. iParticipate and iLearn and MQ student email accounts will be the
platforms for communication and sharing information.
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Student Nominated, International, and Special University Initiated placements
These processes are detailed in the Student Placement Guide (pp 7-9). Please note these types of
placements must be finalised in Session 1 (see above). STAGE 2: MANAGING YOUR PLACEMENT
1. Once you are matched with a placement (whether student-nominated or university-
initiated) you must contact the Host Supervisor from the organisation within 7 days to
arrange a time to meet and discuss the terms of your placement. The contact information
will be available on iParticipate.
2. Some organisations will require an interview. Students should arrange the interview time
and place with the placement organisation, and turn up appropriately dressed and
prepared. Should you be unsuccessful at the interview stage (which is not uncommon when
special attributes are sought in applicants) you need to contact the PC IMMEDIATELY to
progress the placement process. If your interview is successful, you also need to contact the
PC as soon as possible so your placement can be progressed.
3. Once your placement has been confirmed with the organisation, you will need to complete
any mandatory screening checks listed on iParticipate AND the Student Undertaking.
Please refer to the Activity Statement on iParticipate for information about required checks
and who is responsible for you organising these (you or the organisation). When ALL the
required checks are complete and have been approved by the partner organisation,
complete and submit the Student Undertaking via iParticipate and upload the details of all
checks into iParticipate and e-mail the PC to notify that this has been done.
4. The PC will then ensure that you have met all of the above requirements and give you final
approval to commence the placement via an email.
Under no circumstances is a student permitted to commence their placement
without final approval by the Placement Coordinator.
5. Students working in groups will be given the contact details for other group members by
the PC, and should contact other group members to arrange a meeting regarding the
project within 3 days (ie. between August 22 and August 24). Each group should
nominate a leader who will take responsibility for making sure the group understands what
is expected of them by the host organisation, for coordinating tasks within the group, and
for delivering the outcomes the group is expected to deliver. Only the group leader should
directly contact the Host Supervisor. Groups should arrange to meet their Host Supervisor
(as a group) within 7 days of being notified of the placement. It is crucial that groups,
having consulted with their Host Supervisor, examine their nominated project carefully,
make a strategy for completing the project, share out the tasks equitably, and meet as a
group regularly to progress the activity.
6. Regularly update your placement organisation Host Supervisor about your progress on
projects throughout your placement, to make sure that what you are doing and achieving,
and what the partner organisation wants you to be doing and achieving, are aligned. In
groups, this task will fall to the group leader.
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7. Make a strategy for timely completion. Remember that placements should be completed
before the session 2 exam period begins, and that any plan should take into account work
that may be due in PSY399 and in other units.
8. Keep a logbook of every session attended at placement and have the host supervisor sign it
on every occasion. On completion of your placement, submit your completed log book as
detailed in the PSY399 Unit Guide (the log book sheet is also reproduced on page 22).
PLACEMENTS AND RESEARCH ETHICS
The majority of PACE placements do not involve research activity. However, there are some
placements that involve research within Macquarie University and some that involve conducting
research with, and on behalf of, a PACE partner. How research ethics is managed will depend on
whether the project is facilitated by Macquarie University or the placement partner.
Research projects facilitated by Macquarie University
Some placements involve activities that will require ethics approval from the Macquarie
University Human Research (or Animal Research) Ethics Committees. These are generally
research projects undertaken within the university, or conducted externally in collaboration with
Macquarie University researchers. In most instances these projects will have existing approval
from the relevant Macquarie Research Committee, and in this case the student will need to be
added to the personnel list and, if the student will have access to the data, listed as having data
access in a revised information and consent form. This is facilitated by the chief investigator on
the project submitting an ethics amendment form asking for approval for these changes. Other
projects may require students to work with the researcher to submit an ethics application. What is
important here is that the parts of research activities that require ethics approval (e.g., collecting
data or undertaking interviews) cannot be undertaken until you have approval to do so from the
relevant Ethics Committee.
Research projects facilitated by the placement organisation
When students undertake research at a placement organisation, that organisation rather than
Macquarie University takes responsibility for making sure the research is undertaken ethically.
For this reason, we want to ensure our PACE students know how to conduct themselves and have
a good grounding in what it means to be a good researcher and how to do research responsibly. To
this end, ALL students must complete the Ethics Module (Section 14 in iLearn), preferably PRIOR
to starting their placement.
If you have any concerns about the way that research is being conducted on placement, we
encourage you to discuss this with the appropriate person (see Section 15 in iLearn). When the
issue is minor or you just want clarification, you would normally ask your tutor for advice (see
Minor Issues, below). For other issues, you should contact the Faculty Participation Manager and
Unit Convenors (see More Serious Issues below). They will then work with you to decide the best
response. Most issues that arise are likely to be minor, and thus resolved with the help of your
tutor.
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Minor issues
- You want clarification as to whether something happening on a placement research project is ethical or not; and/or
- The issue you are concerned about is fairly minor; and/or - Your level of concern is low; and/or - The ethical issue has little potential to cause harm to participants or any others involved.
Examples
- You are unsure whether participants will be giving informed consent. - You are unsure whether the research method is appropriate. - You have concerns about the way that research is being reported. - You are unsure whether research is being conducted in a culturally sensitive way.
What to do Just email, ring or talk to your tutor to get advice. More serious issues
- You have a clear issue with how a placement research project is being conducted; and - You consider the issue to be greater than minor, and/or - The research ethics issue is causing you concern; and/or - You believe that this issue has the potential to cause harm to participants, yourself, others,
or the reputation of the university. Examples
- You have concerns that questions in an interview or questionnaire could be distressing to participants or cause psychological harm.
- You have concerns that participants from a vulnerable population are being put at risk because of a research project.
- You have concerns for your own safety or the safety of others in a planned research project. - During research a participant has disclosed illegal activity
What to do Report the issue to all of the following: the Faculty Pace Manager; the Unit Convenor; and the Unit Co-Convenor. Faculty Pace Manager Linda Barach 9850 7907 [email protected] Unit Convenor Wayne Warburton 9850 8643 [email protected] Co-Convenor Niree Kraushaar 9850 7693 [email protected] A decision will then be made by the PSY399 and PACE team regarding where this issue falls within the PACE Incident Response Plan and what the best course of action is.
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Other contact numbers that may be helpful There are a range of other people who may be able to help if you are struggling to get hold of the FPM and convenors, or are distressed: FoHS Academic Director of PACE Kath McLachlan 9850 8446 [email protected] FoHS PACE Officer Kerry Lancaster 9850 1460 [email protected] FoHS PACE Officer Deni Filipova 9850 1460 [email protected] Campus Wellbeing: 9850 7497 Campus Wellbeing 24 hour Emergency Phone: 0429 229 798 Macquarie University Emergency Number 9850 9999 9850 0000
Students MUST adhere to all ethical guidelines, to behave professionally and ethically at all
times, and to report immediately to the unit convenor and the Faculty Participation Manager any
ethics issues that arise. THE PENALTY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE MAY BE SEVERE.
STUDENT CONDUCT WHILST ON PLACEMENT
This unit involves your attendance at a host organisation. We require students to maintain the
highest standards of behaviour and personal presentation; abide by and cooperate with the
organisation's rules, requirements, and procedures, including those dealing with workplace health
and safety, equal employment opportunity and security; and comply with all confidentiality,
privacy, ethics and intellectual property requirements.
In addition, students should read the Placement Log sheets and Student Agreement to
understand (a) the specific behaviour standards expected when you agree to the Student
Agreement, and (b) the behaviours that will be assessed by your supervisor in the placement
organisation. In general, as an absolute minimum standard, students are expected to:
Be punctual, courteous and respectful at their placement
Be appropriately dressed whilst on placement
Behave professionally while on placement
Complete the tasks provided by the Host Workplace in a diligent and professional manner
Abide by all the reasonable rules, requirements, and procedures of the Host Workplace,
including those dealing with workplace health and safety, security, and confidentiality
Approach their placement tasks with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
Where there is a perceived breach of this expected code of conduct, we will investigate the breach
in accordance with Macquarie University Student Discipline Procedure for General Conduct.
Ultimately, the matter may be referred to the Macquarie University Hearing Committee. The
outcome of any investigation will depend on the findings. Students should note that penalties can
include: a fail grade; suspension from studies; permanent exclusion from MQ; a payment as
compensation for any damage to, or removal of, property; and issuing a reprimand and/or
applying a period of disciplinary probation.
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INSURANCE
Students are covered for Third Party Public Liability Insurance (TPPL) and Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) for the duration of their enrolment in PSY399, beginning day 1 of Session 2 and ceasing on the last day of Session 2. Please note that some excesses apply to claims1.. Insurance covers participation activities on-site and off-site. Students are not covered by insurance when working at home. Hours worked past PSY399 enrolment or after the last day of session 2 are NOT covered. For further information about insurance, students can go to the following website: https://staff.mq.edu.au/teaching/professional_and_community_engagement/risk_management/. If your placement organisation requires a note providing proof of insurance, this can be obtained by emailing the PC, PO or the FPM at pace.humansciences.mq.edu.au. If you have an accident related to your placement, you will need to (a) report it to both the FPM and the Macquarie University Tax and Insurance Officer, Maggie Feng ([email protected]) and (b) to make a WHS notification at the online Macquarie University reporting portal at: http://staff.mq.edu.au/human_resources/health_and_safety/accident-injury-hazard_reporting.
THE PSY399 OUTSTANDING PLACEMENT AWARDS
Each year the Psychology department holds an awards event where the most outstanding student
placements are showcased and recognised with awards. Students (or groups of students) who
wish to enter complete an application form found on iLearn. The top 10 entries are selected, and
each student or group of students is/are asked to give a 4 minute presentation about their
placement at the PSY399 Outstanding Placement Awards event. Presentations are judged by a
panel (typically the Dean, Head of Department and Department Manager) and four prizes are
awarded: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the ‘people’s choice’. All finalists receive certificates. Many PSY399
students have extraordinary placements and this is a great way to showcase what you have done!!
1 Please note that the following excesses apply:
a. Weekly Injury Benefit - Temporary Total Disablement. This is limited to 100% of basic income or $500, whichever is less. In addition, there is an excess of 7 days (i.e. no benefit is payable for the first 7 days). Cover is also limited to 156 weeks. b. Medical Expenses not covered by Medicare. There is an excess of $50 (i.e. the first $50 is not covered by insurance). Please note that Medicare gap amounts are not claimable, as legislated under the National Health Act.
For more information please go to: https://staff.mq.edu.au/teaching/professional_and_community_engagement/risk_management/
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WHAT TO DO IF YOU BECOME DISTRESSED ON PLACEMENT
What to do if you find yourself in a distressing situation during placement Because the practice of psychology can involve dealing with other people’s upsetting life circumstances, it can be distressing at time for psychologists and counsellors. There are some things you can do if you become distressed during placement.
1. If possible, remove yourself from the distressing situation.
2. Contact your placement supervisor and let them know how you are feeling. If your placement supervisor is not available, you can contact the following:
a. The Placement Coordinator, Niree, on 9850 7693
b. The Faculty Participation Officer, Kerry on 9850 1460
c. The Faculty Participation Manager, Linda, on 9850 7907
d. The Unit Convenor, Wayne, on 9850 8643
e. The Unit Co-Convenor, Niree 9850 7693
f. Campus Wellbeing (ask if you can speak to a counsellor) 9850 6496
g. Campus Wellbeing 24 hour emergency line 0429 229 798
h. Lifeline (24 hour counselling service) 13 11 14
i. NSW Mental Health Line (24hr crisis service) 1800 011 511
It is really important that you speak to a person, so don’t leave a message and wait for someone to return your call. If you cannot get hold of one person, try to contact another, until you reach a person you can physically speak to.
3. If you are unable to contact anyone (e.g., if you have no access to a phone), it can be helpful to try to reduce your distress by taking some of the following steps:
a. Our moods often reflect the environment we are in, so, if necessary, move to an environment that is calming, warm, and if possible, uplifting.
b. Stay warm. Rug up if you have to. c. Take a deep breath and slow down. Breathe in (to the count of 4), hold your breath (for 2
counts) and then breathe out (for a count of 4). Do this slowly, consciously and deeply. Concentrate on your counting. Focus your mind on this for 3-5 minutes. Allow your feelings to settle.
d. Once calmer, do something you would normally find soothing, such as having a cup of tea or reading the paper.
e. Decide the best way to contact the most appropriate person at (2) f. It is important that you talk to someone, even if your distress subsides and you start to feel
OK. If you are feeling OK, this may not need to be immediately, but you should try to talk to someone that day. You must also email or phone the FPM and the Unit Convenor to let them know about what happened.
WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK AND POLICE CHECK
If your placement involves contact with children under the age of 18, you will need to do a
Working With Children Check (New WWCC) prior to commencement. This requirement will be
shown in iParticipate. The application process for Macquarie PACE students is detailed in
iParticipate (go here for how to access the WWCC section in iParticipate; this is also reproduced
on p. 26 of the Student Placement Guide). Your placement may also require you to undertake a
National Criminal History Check – more information about NCH checks can be found here.
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Students who do not wish to take a WWC or NCH check, or any other particular check, should be
careful not to preference such activities on their iParticipate site when submitting their 10
preferences. By preferencing a placement that requires a check, the student commits to making
that check if they are matched to that placement.
AUDITING
In order to ensure that supervisors’ reports are genuine, log books will be randomly audited. For
audited log books, supervisors will be telephoned, and the nature of the placement, the hours and
tasks completed, and the ratings will all be confirmed, Students who have falsified their log books
will fail the unit and will also be referred to the Psychology Department Learning and Teaching
Committee for further disciplinary action.
SUBMISSION OF PLACEMENT LOGS
Placement Logs can be scanned and submitted via email to the [email protected] email
address, or submitted as paper copies to the labelled locked boxes in the foyer of building C3A or
in the single Faculty of Human Sciences Essay Box located outside the entrance of C3A after
hours. See page 11 of this guide for the due date and time.
A copy of the Placement Log sheet follows. This can also be found in the Placement Guide and will
be supplied separately as a PDF on the PSY399 iLearn site.
MOVING PAST THE WARNINGS TO HAVING A GREAT PLACEMENT
The good news about placements!
To this point there have been a lot of warnings about following instructions properly and
behaving well on placement, so it is important to note that these are simply our safeguards to
make sure you are safe and make it through your placement with a minimum of fuss.
The overall culture of PSY399 is about students having a positive and even life-changing
experience when on placement. In past years we have surveyed all available PSY399 students, and
it is consistently reported that the placement is the part of the unit most enjoyed by students and
also the part of the unit found most valuable by students.
A surprising number of students have been offered full time employment, and a number have
found the PSY399 placement experience was crucial in determining their future life direction.
The students who got the most out of the placement were those who engaged with it the most. Our
advice is to throw yourself into the placement, engage with it fully, and to give yourself the
greatest possible chance of reaping all of the benefits that a placement can provide.
Remember, above all, the staff on PSY399 want you to have the best possible experience of this
unit, and of the placement.
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PSY399 Student Placement Log Book Sheet (Append additional notes if necessary)
Student name: Student number:
Placement organisation:
Placement address:
Supervisor name: Supervisor phone number:
Date placement started:
Date placement completed:
Page Number:
Total no. Pages:
Log Book
Date Hours Tasks performed Supervisor Signature
TOTAL
Please tick the appropriate box Unacceptable Satisfactory Good Very Good
The student was punctual, arriving for all placement sessions on time
The student was courteous and professional
The student did all tasks asked of her/him and did so willingly
The student was appropriately dressed and well presented
The student was an asset to this organisation while they were here
Other comments:
Signature of placement supervisor: Date of report:
Office Use Only
Completed Satisfactorily (Tick only one) YES NO
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW (20% OF FINAL MARK).
In this assessment task you have just 700 words to write an integrated and critical analysis that will showcase your research, integration, critical analysis and writing skills. In this brief literature review you are required to:
a) Identify an important social issue that is yet to be adequately addressed in Australian society. Ideally, this issue would be one dealt with at your placement, although this is not mandatory.
b) Locate and critically evaluate a body of literature related to this social issue and communicate this clearly, coherently and concisely in your review. These are core skills specified by the Australian Psychological Society for graduate psychologists.
c) In the review, you must integrate literature from at least four psychology sub-disciplines. Some psychology sub-disciplines you may wish to consider are listed below. If you are interested in other sub-disciplines, you may want to speak to your tutor about additional ideas.
i. Animal behaviour ii. Clinical psychology
iii. Cognition iv. Developmental psychology v. Emotion
vi. Evolutionary psychology vii. Health psychology
viii. Learning and behaviour ix. Neuropsychology x. Biopsychology
xi. Organisational psychology xii. Perception
xiii. Personality psychology xiv. Psychology of relationships xv. Social psychology
d) You have just 700 words. You may choose to write about each discipline separately or to
integrate knowledge across disciplines as they relate to each point you make. Either way, there must be a critical evaluation of what you present and evidence that you have integrated the knowledge from the 4 disciplines into a more holistic understanding of the issue. Usually this would be easier to demonstrate by illustrating essay points with examples from a range of psychology sub-disciplines than by dealing with each sub-discipline separately.
Critical criteria in the assessment of your Literature Review and Proposal include the integration of knowledge from various psychology disciplines, synthesis of this knowledge, critical analysis of what you have read, and the clarity of the arguments put forward. These are all highly important graduate skills. The table below is a guide as to how this task will be assessed.
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HOW YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW WILL BE ASSESSED
The table below outlines the skills and standards which will be used to assess your work.
Skills Superior Standard Satisfactory Standard Below expected Standard
Research Skills Locating relevant, peer-reviewed literature from reputable academic journals and relevant books, and then selecting the most pertinent material in order to address the essay question.
Evidence of adequate reading from high quality sources. Provides a balanced report of research from relevant studies. Key theories and study findings directly relevant to the topic are clearly identified. Recent research is included.
Adequate source material - finds several relevant studies. Adequate reporting of recent research and research that has adequate relevance.
Limited research and reading around the topic. May use inappropriate source material e.g., opinions, non-peer reviewed material, material sourced from internet etc.
Identifying relevant theoretical issues Are pertinent theoretical/ conceptual issues in the question clearly defined and addressed?
Discusses relevant theories/proposed explanations related to the social issue of interest. These should come from a range of psychology disciplines,. Where there are differing views on a particular topic these are clearly articulated.
Refers to theories/proposed explanations, and demonstrates an adequate understanding of the issues. Some attempt to integrate theories from different disciplines. Adequately coherent.
Theories/explanatory processes are not adequately discussed. Failure to address topic across disciplines.
Critical Evaluation of Empirical Research The extent to which theories/explanations are supported by empirical research, and methodological strengths and limitations of the studies are discussed. Does the student approach the topic in a fresh and interesting way?
Brief but adequate discussion of the strengths and limitations of some studies; identification of unanswered questions which still need to be resolved. Critical engagement is analytical and incisive. May identify ways studies could be improved and argue for a possible alternate outcome if new methodology used.
Evaluates studies using basic criteria. Identifies strengths and limitations, and adequately applies these in interpreting study results and supporting the arguments being put forward.
Does not show critical discrimination in evaluating research evidence. May make sweeping criticisms that are not supported or explained adequately, may overvalue the importance of findings, or describe research in superlative terms that are undeserved.
Level of Integration, Synthesis, Analysis, Integration of research findings a) across disciplines; b) across studies; c) with relevant theories; and d) with the social issue the Literature Review focuses on
Comprehensive integration/synthesis of different theories and different research studies from several psychology disciplines with respect to how they relate to each other and to the topic.
Some attempt to synthesise/integrate information from different sources and disciplines to address the social issue of interest.
Does not integrate information from different disciplines or studies. Does not make clear the relevance of the source material reported to the social issue addressed.
Writing Style and Structuring Are issues to be addressed in the essay clearly stated? Are points/arguments a) clearly stated and b) supported by examples? Are arguments logically structured and developed? Is grammar, punctuation and paragraph structure correct? Is language appropriate to academic work?
Writing style is economical and clear; usually chooses words aptly; observes conventions of written English and academic writing in Psychology; Essay is well structured. Paragraphs logically support the developing argument with specific details and examples provided; there are smooth transitions between paragraphs, with linking sentences.
Paragraphs consist of distinct units of thought which develop the argument. Adequate clarity, grammar and succinctness, with little repetition.
Major issues with clarity of writing, spelling, grammar and academic conventions of presentation. Simplistic structure, wanders from one topic to the next. Ideas not arranged logically. Use of colloquial language, slang or jargon.
References Are references complete and correct? Are they correctly formatted? Are in text references appropriately formatted? Does reference list match in text references? Are references appropriate? Are sources of high quality? Primary citations wherever possible (rather than secondary ‘as cited in’ citations).
Judicious choice of references and accurate and complete citations in text and reference list according to APA guidelines.
Generally conforms to APA guidelines.
Major inaccuracies, omissions with referencing, failure to conform to APA guidelines. In text references do not align with reference list.
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GRADES
Within the limitation that this is a 700 word literature review, the following grade descriptors are derived from the standards in the previous table:
Pass: Satisfactory performance across most standards. Demonstrates understanding of
key issues related to the social issue of interest, reads some relevant literature from
a range of psychology disciplines and reports on that literature in an accurate way.
Credit: Draws reasonable conclusions from different sources and disciplines in psychology,
but shows limited integration, synthesis, analysis. Demonstrates superior
performance across some standards, satisfactory for others. Students must show
some evidence of critical analysis and integration to achieve this grade.
Distinction: Superior performance across all the above standards. Students must show a clear
understanding of how research from different psychology disciplines is relevant to
the social issue of interest and demonstrate superior skills in analysis and synthesis
of main ideas/findings from literature to achieve this grade.
High
Distinction: Outstanding performance across all above standards. Work awarded this grade is
distinguished by particularly concise, cogent, sophisticated critical analysis,
synthesis, and eloquent expression.
RULES, PROCEDURES AND PENALTIES FOR YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW
Word length: Your Literature Review and Proposal should be no more than 700 words and
conform to the following formatting guidelines: double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New
Roman), margin of 2.54 centimetres. The word length includes in-text referencing, but does not
include the reference list at the end or the title page. You DO NOT need to include an Abstract
with your literature review.
Word length penalty: There is a penalty of 5% (1 mark) per 100 words over length, with an initial
10% leeway for this assignment only. Thus if your essay is 770-869 words there would be a
penalty of 1 mark. An essay of 870-969 words would attract a penalty of 2 marks, and so on. There
are no exceptions. Word length and formatting will be checked by turnitin software (see details
below). Remember, most of the essays will attract a mark between 10 and 16 – that is, most
people will be separated by just 6 marks or so. For this reason, even a small penalty can make a
significant difference to your final standing in the unit.
How to submit your Literature Review. There are two steps.
All written work is now submitted online only. You are required to submit your essay to the anti-
plagiarism detection software Turnitin via the iLearn webpage for PSY399. This software also
enables us to check word length. Your essay will be automatically compared to work of your
classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, material available on the
Internet, open access and subscription-based electronic journals, and book chapters. The results
will be analysed with reference to the University's Policy on Academic Honesty.
You will need to submit your entire assignment as ONE SINGLE FILE that contains any
documentation related to extensions or other allowances made by the Faculty Office. No cover
sheet is needed.
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Submission instructions
1. Have the correct single file ready (you cannot submit multiple parts).
2. Click on the “Literature Review: Submit to Turnitin” link in the top section of the iLearn
page (above Section 1 – Introduction to PSY399)
3. Click “Submit Paper” (at bottom right of text box).
4. Type in the ‘Submission Title’ - this should be your student ID number and surname. For
example, 123456789_SURNAME
5. Click on the Add icon and ‘Browse’ to select your file to upload.
6. Choose the file you wish to upload and click Open
7. Tick the checkbox to agree to the conditions of submission.
8. Click “Add Submission”
9. The screen will now show that your assignment has been successfully submitted. A digital
receipt will be generated. Please save a copy of it and make a note of the receipt number.
10. You will also receive a confirmation email sent to your @students.mq.edu.au email
address.
11. Make sure you keep an exact copy of the submitted assignment.
12. Click ‘Close’ in the top right corner.
In the rare event that students experience technical difficulties when submitting their
assignments via iLearn, an identical copy of the FULL assignment should be emailed to
[email protected] BEFORE the assignment deadline, while the problem is reviewed.
Please include a screenshot of any technical errors. Failure to do so will result in late penalties
being applied where the assignment deadline is exceeded.
For help on using Turnitin, click here.
A Turnitin guide for students is available here and an MQ turnitin guide can be found here:
Late submission and Penalties:
Penalties will be levied for late submission of assignments. The penalty for late submissions is 5%
for every day late. Since this assignment is worth 20% of the overall assessment for the Unit, if
you submit one day late then 5% x 20 = 1 mark. That is, one mark will be subtracted from
whatever mark you were allocated for the assignment. If you are two days late the penalty is 2
marks and so on. Remember, almost all of the essay marks will fall within a range from 10-16, a
separation of just 6 marks or so. A penalty really can make a big difference, so you don’t what to
be late!
Requests for extensions
Ordinarily, no extensions of time for submission of written work will be granted since ample time
for preparation will have been given. If an extension is required for medical or other extenuating
circumstances, students may request this in writing through ask.mq.edu.au with supporting
documentary evidence (such as medical certificate, counsellor note, or similar). The staff in the
Student Centre will make all decisions regarding extensions. Neither individual tutors
nor the unit convenor will grant extensions.
All requests for extensions must be made prior to the due date for the assignment.
If an extension is granted, the approval must be uploaded together with the assignment.
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3. PROJECT REPORT (40% OF FINAL MARK)
The Project Report is 1500 words in length. You have a choice of two report formats:
a) a standard project report in 5 parts:
i. planning for the placement;
ii. development of professional skills during placement;
iii. using academic skills during placement;
iv. reflecting on undergraduate experience and the placement; and
v. devising practical solutions to the relevant social issue.
OR
b) a critical experience analysis of an experience during placement that had a profound
impact on your thinking and may have been defining in regards to your future life
direction, in 5 parts
i. planning for the placement;
ii. the critical experience: context, events, thoughts, feelings and actions;
iii. what did you learn from the critical experience?;
iv. reflecting on undergraduate experience and the critical experience at
placement; and
v. devising practical solutions to the relevant social issue.
It is understood by the unit staff that both of these report styles are different to any sort of
assignment you may have done previously in your undergraduate degree. However, as already
noted, this is a unit that requires a different type of learning due to its focus on professional
practice and practical learning. These projects are designed to stretch your learning in ways that
will assist you to be prepared for professional practice and for future endeavours with your
psychology degree. Remember, these projects are equally new to ALL students in the unit, and
that your undergraduate degree is designed to facilitate learning in ways that will sometimes take
students out of their ‘comfort zone’.
In this Project Report the student is expected to provide information on ways that they have
engaged in practical learning (learning by experience) during this unit, and should indicate
reflective practice, planning for a practical placement in a way that would maximise its benefit, a
mental shift from insular understandings of psychological theory to understanding psychological
theories as they relate to the whole person and ‘real world’ practice, as well as practical learning
through the placement itself.
Although sections should be reasonably evenly spread (ie. around 300 words per section) there
may be reports where one section needs to be larger or smaller than the others. This is OK, but as
a rule, no section should be less than 175 words or more than 500 words.
It is understood by unit staff that a small number of students may not have completed their
placement by the due date for this assignment. This assignment has been designed so that it can
be completed while the placement is still underway – you would simply write about your
experiences up to the time of writing.
28
A. Standard Project Report Format
Write 1500 words under the subheadings below.
i. Planning for the placement (about 300 words)
Describe clearly the learning outcomes you planned to achieve during your 32 hour volunteer
placement and your strategic plan for maximising the likelihood of meeting those goals during
placement (i.e., what did you want to achieve and how did you plan to achieve it?)
ii. Development of professional skills during placement (about 300 words)
A key part of the practical placement component of the unit is the development of professional
skills – knowing how to behave in a professional setting, and using that knowledge in the
placement setting to underpin appropriate professional behaviours. Describe clearly your
understanding of the key components of good professional practice and briefly describe 2
incidents that occurred during your placement, during which the importance of good professional
behaviour in the workplace was made clear to you (for example, during the working through of an
ethical dilemma). Note any additional learning about good professional practice that was acquired
during the placement.
iii. Using academic skills during placement (about 300 words)
Describe clearly and briefly the key academic skills you have developed over the course of your
undergraduate degree. Describe ways in which 3 of these skills were important to your
professional practice during placement.
iv. Reflecting on undergraduate experience and the placement (about 300 words)
Briefly and clearly describe the ways in which you reflected on your undergraduate degree and on
your placement experience during this semester. For example, you may have set aside half an
hour per week or you may have spent a half day thinking about your degree and making plans for
the future. What did you reflect on? What decisions were made, and/or what did you learn as a
result of your reflections?
v. Devising practical solutions (about 300 words)
With regard to (1) the integration of knowledge from at least 4 psychology sub-disciplines as they
apply to a social issue dealt with in a practical way at your placement (and the learning from your
earlier literature review, if this aligns with your placement), (2) your reflections on the same social
issue, and (3) what you have learned during your placement, briefly and clearly describe one
original idea of your own about how this issue could be addressed on a practical level. Include the
theoretical and practical reasons it might work.
29
B. Critical Experience Format
This format includes two of the above sections – planning for the placement and devising a
practical solution. The rest of the report will focus on a defining experience – a key aspect of your
placement (something you saw or experienced or a relationship you developed) that changed your
thinking and has been (or will be) crucial in defining your life direction. This report is NOT about
describing a minor or major crisis on placement or some other negative event. Rather, it is about
describing a part of your placement that helped define your thinking about an issue or about your
future life direction. In the past, some students have interpreted this question to be simply about
how they dealt with a crisis. This is a simplistic interpretation of the question. Although a crisis
may or may not be part of your critical experience, the key to answering this question is to
describe events or people that led to you having an ‘Aha’ moment that changed your life direction.
For the critical experience analysis, write 1500 words using these headings:
i. Planning for the placement (about 300 words)
Describe clearly the learning outcomes you planned to achieve during your 32 hour volunteer
placement and your strategic plan for maximising the likelihood of meeting those goals during
placement (i.e., what did you want to achieve and how did you plan to achieve it?). This section is
particularly crucial in your critical experience analysis, as the defining incident you write about
may have resulted in an outcome that was either congruent or incongruent with your
expectations.
ii. The critical experience: context, chain of events, your thoughts, feelings and actions (about
300 words)
This section relates to a critical experience (or relationship) that occurred during placement and
was ‘defining’ for your life direction (NOTE: From here on, the term ‘critical experience’ will be
taken to mean either events, experiences OR relationships with a person or persons that had a
profound influence on your thinking and/or your future life direction). Begin by putting the
critical experience into context. What was the placement about? What situation did the critical
experience occur in? What were you thinking and feeling prior to the experience? Then describe
the critical experience itself. How did it unfold? What you were thinking or feeling? If a
relationship, what was it about the other person that inspired you and changed your thinking?
Describe any concerns you had at the time, and any noteworthy demands on you during the
experience (if any). Describe your own actions (if relevant).
iii. What did you learn from the critical experience? (about 300 words)
In this section, describe clearly and succinctly what you learned from the critical experience. The
lessons from such experiences will be very different for each person, and so prescribing
parameters for such a description is not appropriate. What is important in this section is to be
clear, and to link what you learned to specific aspects of the critical experience. You may need to
reflect at length on what you actually did learn from the critical experience in order to answer this
question.
30
iv. Reflecting on undergraduate experience and the critical experience (about 300 words)
Very briefly describe the ways in which you reflected on your undergraduate degree and on this
critical experience during this semester. For example, you may have set aside half an hour per
week for thinking about your degree and your future, or you may have spent a half day reflecting
on the critical experience. What did you reflect on? What decisions were made, and/or what did
you learn, as a result of your reflections (you can refer to the previous section here if necessary)?
A significant portion of this section should clearly explain why, on reflection, the critical
experience was so defining for you. What decisions did you reflect on? What decisions did you
make? How will the things that you have learned, and the decisions you have made, impact upon
your future role as a psychology professional? There may be some aspects of your response to the
critical experience or your subsequent decision-making that you feel uncomfortable about
sharing. If this is the case, write that you will not be specifying these things for personal reasons,
but provide enough information so that your marker can assess your reflective practice and its
impact as regards the critical experience you are writing about. If you are unsure about what to
write, look at the rubric on the following page to make sure you are clear about what is expected in
this report, and what is expected as regards reflective practice.
v. Devising practical solutions to a social issue (about 300 words)
With regard to (1) the integration of knowledge from at least 4 psychology sub-disciplines as they
apply to a social issue dealt with in a practical way at your placement (and the learning from your
earlier literature review, if this aligns with your placement), (2) your reflections on the same social
issue, and (3) what you have learned during your placement, briefly and clearly describe one
original idea of your own about how this issue could be addressed on a practical level. Include the
theoretical and practical reasons it might work.
GRADES
These relate to the standards in the rubric on page 31 as follows:
Pass: Satisfactory performance across most standards.
Credit: Demonstrates superior performance across some standards, satisfactory for others.
Distinction: Superior performance across all the above standards.
High
Distinction: Outstanding performance across all above standards.
31
HOW YOUR PROJECT REPORT WILL BE ASSESSED
The table below outlines the skills and standards which will be used to assess your work.
Skills Superior Standard Satisfactory Standard Below expected Standard
Demonstrates integrated and holistic understanding of human psychology; Applies this knowledge to ‘real world’ practice Is human psychology presented in an holistic way? Is integrated knowledge applied appropriately to examples from placements and to ‘real world’ social issues?
Clear integration of sub-disciplines of psychology into a holistic understanding of human psychology. Clear application of this knowledge to real world examples from the placement and to the social issue of interest to that student.
Attempts to integrate theories from sub-disciplines in psychology but may fall back to looking at one aspect of psychological functioning at the expense of others in places. Limited or some inappropriate application of this integrated knowledge to placement examples and/or ‘real world’ issues
Tendency to use sub-theories of psychology to explain phenomena with little attempt to integrate them into a more holistic explanation or approach. Little or no application of integrated or multiple psychological approaches to the placement examples and/or ‘real world’ issues. Inappropriate application of psychological theories to practical examples.
Demonstrates reflective practice Is it clear that the student reflected on the unit, the placement, and the issues related to their social issue of interest? Did this reflection result in any changed understandings or course of behaviour?
Describes explicitly Ideas and/or actions that stemmed directly from reflective practice. Ideas presented are clearly well thought-through and fully developed, and suggest a more holistic understanding of human psychology
Some ideas and/or actions seem to have stemmed from reflective practice. Most ideas presented are thought-through, but may not be fully developed. Some suggestion of a holistic understanding of human psychology
Ideas presented are haphazard and may not be consistent with each other. Ideas do not seem to have been well thought-through. Descriptions of psychological processes do not seem to be suggestive of a holistic approach
Demonstrates learning by experience and acquired skills through the volunteer placement process Is it clear that the student learnt by experience during placement? What skills were acquired?
Each section clearly showcases what the student has learnt in the section topic area. Acquired skills are clearly evident in what the student has written.
Student demonstrates some learning in each facet written about, but these may be less clear or not fully articulated. Acquired skills are evident in what the student has written but not clearly articulated.
Student learning not evident from what was written, or is somewhat evident in some sections but not others. Acquired skills are not evident in what the student has written
Brevity and staying on topic Is each section concisely written? Does each section relate only to the topic area? Are there irrelevant or unnecessary facts included?
Conveys a number of ideas in each section clearly, with a minimum of words. No redundancy (repetition) of ideas or facts. Each part of the report stays ‘on topic’ dealing directly and clearly with the section topic and instructions
Conveys information fairly economically but some redundancy of ideas or facts and/or too many words used to explain some concepts. Generally ‘on topic’ but may stray once or twice into unrelated areas
Only able to deal with a small number of ideas/facts within the word count and/or multiple redundancy of ideas or facts. Long, ‘rambling’ sentences. Does not clearly answer question or follow section instructions. Wanders ‘off topic’ more than once in a section.
Writing Style and Structuring Are issues to be addressed in the essay clearly stated? Are points/arguments a) clearly stated and b) supported by examples? Are arguments logically structured and developed? Is grammar, punctuation and paragraph structure correct? Is language appropriate to academic work?
Writing style is economical and clear; usually chooses words aptly; observes conventions of written English and academic writing in Psychology; Essay is well structured. Paragraphs logically support the developing argument with specific details and examples provided; there are smooth transitions between paragraphs, with linking sentences.
Paragraphs consist of distinct units of thought which develop the argument. Adequate clarity, grammar and succinctness, with little repetition.
Major issues with clarity of writing, spelling, grammar and academic conventions of presentation. Simplistic structure, wanders from one topic to the next. Ideas not arranged logically. Use of colloquial language, slang or jargon.
References Are references complete and correct? Are they correctly formatted? Are in text references appropriately formatted? Does reference list match in text references? Are references appropriate? Are sources of high quality? Primary citations wherever possible (rather than secondary ‘as cited in’ citations).
Judicious choice of references and accurate and complete citations in text and reference list according to APA guidelines.
Generally conforms to APA guidelines, but some inaccuracies. Lower quality of source references.
Major inaccuracies, omissions with referencing, failure to conform to APA guidelines. In text references do not align with reference list. Some sources for references are dubious (e.g., websites inappropriate texts), or important sources are missing.
32
RULES, PROCEDURES AND PENALTIES FOR YOUR PROJECT REPORT
Word length: Your Project Report should be no more than 1500 words and conform to the
following formatting guidelines: double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), margin of
2.54 centimetres. The word length includes in-text referencing, but does not include the reference
list at the end or the title page. You DO NOT need to include an Abstract.
Word length penalty: There is a penalty of 5% (2 marks) per 100 words over length. Thus if your
essay is 1600-1699 words there would be a penalty of 2 marks. An essay of 1700-1799 words
would attract a penalty of 4 marks, and so on. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS. Word length and
formatting will be checked by turnitin software. Remember, most of the essays will attract a mark
between 20 and 32 – that is, most people will be separated by just 12 marks or so. For this reason,
even a small penalty can make a significant difference to your final standing in the unit.
How to submit your Project Report
1. Have the correct single file ready (you cannot submit multiple parts).
2. Click on the “Project Report: Submit to Turnitin” link in the top section of the iLearn page
(above Section 1 – Introduction to PSY399)
3. Click “Submit Paper” (at bottom right of text box).
4. Type in the ‘Submission Title’ - this should be your student ID number and surname. For
example, 123456789_SURNAME
5. Click on the Add icon and ‘Browse’ to select your file to upload.
6. Choose the file you wish to upload and click Open
7. Tick the checkbox to agree to the conditions of submission.
8. Click “Add Submission”
9. The screen will now show that your assignment has been successfully submitted. A digital
receipt will be generated. Please save a copy of it and make a note of the receipt number.
10. You will also receive a confirmation email sent to your @students.mq.edu.au email
address.
11. Make sure you keep an exact copy of the submitted assignment.
12. Click ‘Close’ in the top right corner.
In the rare event that students experience technical difficulties when submitting their
assignments via iLearn, an identical copy of the FULL assignment should be emailed to
[email protected] BEFORE the assignment deadline, while the problem is reviewed.
Please include a screenshot of any technical errors. Failure to do so will result in late penalties
being applied where the assignment deadline is exceeded.
Late submission and Penalties
Penalties will be levied for late submission of assignments. The penalty for late submissions is 5%
for every day late. Since this assignment is worth 40% of the overall assessment for the Unit, if
you submit one day late then 5% x 40 = 2 marks will be subtracted from whatever mark you were
allocated for the assignment. If you are two days late the penalty is 4 marks and so on. A penalty
really can make a big difference, so you don’t what to be late!
If substantial delays in placement affect your ability to complete the project report
Where an extension is requested on the basis of significant delays in obtaining and starting
a placement, students must apply in writing to [email protected] stating what the
delays were and providing a timeline to support their application. Extensions will be assessed on a
case by case basis. All other applications for extensions MUST be made via
ask.mq.edu.au and will be assessed by staff in the FoHS Office (see page 27).
33
4. END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION (40% OF FINAL MARK)
80 multiple choice questions
Conducted during formal Examination Period
Exam Time = 90 minutes
A key outcome for this unit is for students to learn and understand the various codes of ethical
conduct for psychologists and allied professions, and the professional standards enshrined in the
governing legislation that affects psychologists. It is also important for students to demonstrate
that they have reflected on and developed their capacity to integrate information from various
disciplines in psychology in the pursuit of a more holistic understanding of psychology. A
significant part of this learning is done through lectures and readings, and will be tested through a
final examination in the University Examination period. This examination will consist of 80
multiple choice questions.
The University Examination period in Session 2, 2016, is from November 14th to December
2nd.
You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the
University Examination Timetable. The timetable will be available in Draft form approximately
eight weeks before the commencement of the examinations and in Final form approximately four
weeks before the commencement of the examinations. See the Macquarie exams page here.
The only exception to not sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented
illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances you may wish to notify the University of
such a disruption, so that these circumstances can be taken into account. Information about
Macquarie University’s disruption to studies policy and application procedure is available here.
If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Disruption to Study process, the
examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period.
Supplementary Examinations in the Department of Psychology will be held on the 15th and 16th
of December 2016. The format of a supplementary examination is at each unit convener’s
discretion and is subject to change from the original final examination.
Supplementary Exams are only offered to students who have satisfactorily completed all other
assessments for the unit and were unable to sit the final exam because of documented illness or
unavoidable disruption.
An email will be sent to the student advising them of the outcome of their request for a
supplementary exam. Students who are granted the opportunity to sit for a supplementary exam
must make themselves available to sit for the supplementary exam on the specified date. There
will only be one time. It is the student’s responsibility to email the Student Centre to confirm
attendance at the supplementary exam.
You are advised that it is Macquarie University policy not to set early examinations for individuals
or groups of students. All students are expected to ensure that they are available until the end of
the teaching session, which is the final day of the official examination period.
34
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Academic honesty is an integral part of the core values and principles contained in the Macquarie
University Ethics Statement. The Policy covering Academic Honesty is available on the web here.
You must read the University's Policy on Academic Honesty.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is an example of dishonest academic behaviour and is defined by the Policy on
Academic honesty as: “Using the work or ideas of another person and presenting this as your own
without clear acknowledgement of the source of the work or ideas”.
Plagiarism is a serious breach of the University's rules and carries significant penalties.
Collusion
As a good student, you are responsible for ensuring academic integrity practices are followed at all
times. Your first step is to read the University's Academic Honesty Policy, and make sure you
know what constitutes good practice. Then make sure you know how to reference and cite
correctly. There are other practices we need to consider and one of these is the potential for
collusion.
Informal study groups are encouraged as a good way to assist your learning, but please remember
that all your independently assessed assignments must be totally independently completed.
Unless you are doing a group project where each member contributes to producing one piece of
work, for which you get the one mark, using part or all of someone else's work constitutes
collusion and breaches the University's Academic Honesty policy.
Do not collude with any other student by selling, giving, lending, explaining or showing all or
parts of your independently assessed work/answers/past or current assignments, and do not ask
to buy, borrow, see and use all or parts of the work of another student.
Academic Honesty
In terms of academic honesty, students should note the following responsibilities:
Act in accordance with the principles of the Academic Honesty Policy.
Become familiar with what academic dishonesty is, what are appropriate referencing
techniques and the consequences of poor practice.
Seek assistance from the unit convenor (or their nominee) to remedy any deficits or if you
are unsure of discipline specific practice.
Submit only work of which you are the author or that properly acknowledges others.
Do not lend your original work to any other person for any reason.
Keep drafts of your own authored work and notes showing the authorship or source of
ideas that are not your own.
The Student Discipline Rules and Student Discipline Procedure to be used in cases of academic
dishonesty area available here.
The penalties can range from applying a fail grade for the assessment task or requiring the
student to re-submit the assessment task for a mark no greater than 50, to applying a fail grade to
the unit of study and referral to the University Hearing Committee.
35
UNIVERSITY POLICY ON GRADING
Academic Senate has a set of guidelines for the achievement of grades across the range from fail
to high distinction. Your final result will include one of these grades plus a standardised
numerical grade (SNG).
On occasion your raw mark for a unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may
not be the same as the SNG which you receive.
For more information please refer to the Macquarie University Handbook.
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these
services can be accessed here.
On matters pertaining to the regulations, the Registrar’s Office should be consulted or, within the
Department of Psychology, Dr Julia Irwin, Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students with
disabilities who have problems within the Department should consult Dr Eugene Chekaluk,
the Disability Liaison Officer. If your difficulties cannot be resolved by these members of staff,
you should consult the Head of Department.
If you have a major difficulty associated with learning skills, you could enrol in a short course. For
details go to:
http://students.mq.edu.au/courses/writing_skills_services/ .
APPEALS AGAINST GRADES
Please refer to the Grade Appeal Policy
APPLICATIONS FOR A RE-MARK
Applications for a re-mark should be made within 14 days of students receiving their mark for a
piece of work. Applications made after this elapse of time are unlikely to be considered.
Students who wish to apply for a remark for an individual assessment task must first discuss the
reasons for the original mark with their marker/tutor.
Following this meeting, if the student still wishes to apply for a remark, they will need to email
[email protected] stating their case for a remark, and attaching the original marked
version and a new, clean version of the submitted piece of work.
The reason for the remark must be valid – you should provide evidence supporting your claim
that your work is of a higher standard than the mark or grade suggests, by demonstrating that the
work meets criteria for a higher standard based on the published rubric for that piece of work. It
is not uncommon for students to submit re-mark requests that lack any valid reasons for a re-
mark, and such requests are declined. For example, applying for a re-mark because “I always
receive Distinctions for my work and didn’t this time” is never a valid reason for a re-mark.
36
Once the Unit Convenors have contacted the tutor to ascertain (a) that the student has met with
the tutor and (b) that the tutor agrees with the request, they will then decide whether a remark is
appropriate. If a remark is deemed appropriate, the piece of work will be marked by an alternate
marker. Once the second mark has been received, the student will be notified of the second mark.
No further appeals will be considered.
Students should be aware that the new mark may be higher, the same or lower than the original
mark. Before making an application for a remark, students should understand that it is
reasonably common for re-marked work to receive a lower grade, and be prepared to accept all
possible outcomes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In setting up this unit for 2016, the unit staff acknowledge the wonderful contribution of the
following people: Ms Linda Barach, the Faculty Participation Manager, and Ms Judy Hutchison in
setting up placement partnerships and placement protocols; Kath McLachlan, the Academic
Director for Participation (Faculty of Human Sciences), Kerry Lancaster and Deni Filipova, the
Faculty Participation Officers and Niree Kraushaar the PSY399 Co-Convenor for their assistance
in setting up placements, A/Prof Judi Homewood and Dr Mitch Parsell for assistance and
encouragement throughout the course development process; Dr Gail Whiteford for assistance
with the critical experience analysis component; Ms Liz Moore, Ms Niree Kraushaar and Ms
Melissa Dickinson for positive and helpful suggestions about course improvements; and Ms Lee
Bevitt, Ms Irma Knuistingh-Neven and Ms Niree Kraushaar for their analyses of the strengths and
weaknesses of the 2010-2015 offerings of this unit. Your enthusiasm, hard work and gracious
attitude are greatly appreciated.
37
KEY DATES AND READINGS
The following Table provides the Lecture and Tutorial Timetable, and the readings for each week.
Only the starred readings are compulsory. Please note that this timetable is subject to change. If
new versions are uploaded to the PSY399 iLearn website, announcements will be posted.
Week, Topic, Related Text Lecture
Date
Week 1: Introduction to the Unit. Dr Wayne Warburton 2.8.16
No readings No Tutorial
Week 2: Finding a job: Creating a CV, preparing for interviews and other practical
advice for job seekers. Ms Justine McKenna 9.8.16
See lecture notes provided on iLearn
No readings
Tutorial 1
Stream A
Week 3: Research Ethics at Macquarie University. Dr Michaela Baker 16.8.16
Students should complete the Ethics Module, which has one reading. Tutorial 1
Stream B
Week 4: Psychological literacy. A/P Judi Homewood 23.8.16
Readings
*Cranney, J. & Dunn, D.S. (2012) The Psychologically Literate Citizen. New York:
Oxford University Press. Chapter 1 Psychological Literacy and the Psychologically
Literate Citizen (pp. 3-12). Library call number BF77 .P754 2012 (in e-reserve)
Tutorial 2
Stream A
Week 5: Pathways to registration; Masters/professional programs; Career
opportunities in psychology. Dr John Franklin 30.8.16
Readings
1. Psychology Board of Australia. 4+2 internship for registration guidelines
http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Standards-and-Guidelines/Codes-
Guidelines-Policies.aspx
Tutorial 2
Stream B
38
Week 6: Integrating psychology disciplines. Case Study 1: Aggressive Behaviour.
Dr Wayne Warburton 6.9.16
Readings
1. Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human Aggression. Annual Review
of Psychology, 53, 27-51.
2. Raine, A. (2008). From genes to brain to antisocial behavior. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 323-328.
3. Huesmann, L. R., Dubow, E. F., & Boxer, P. (2009). Continuity of aggression
from childhood to early adulthood as a predictor of life outcomes: Implications for
the adolescent-limited and life-course-persistent models. Aggressive Behavior,
35, 136-149.
4. Jockin, V., Arvey, R. D., & McGue, M. (2001). Perceived victimisation
moderates self-reports of workplace and aggression and conflict. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 86, 1262-1269.
5. Warburton, W. A., & Anderson, C. A. (2015). Social psychology of aggression. In
J. Wright & J. Berry (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 2nd Edition, Vol. 1 (pp. 373- 380). Oxford, England: Elsevier. Available
online at: https://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2015-2019/15WA.pdf
Tutorial 3
Stream A
Week 7: Integrating psychology disciplines. Case Study 2: Mass media influences.
Dr Wayne Warburton
13.9.16
Readings
1. Krahé, B., Berkowitz, L., Brockmeyer, J. H., Bushman, B. J., Coyne, S. M., Dill,
K. E., Donnerstein, E., Gentile, D. A., Huesmann, L. R., Kirsch, S. J., Möller, I., &
Warburton, W. A. (2012). Report of the Media Violence Commission. Aggressive
Behavior, 38, 335-341.
2. Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J.,
Linz, D., Malamuth, N., & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on
youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4, 81-110.
3. Murray, J. P., Liotti, M., Ingmundson, P., Mayberg, H. S., Pu, Y., Zamarripa, F.,
Liu, Y., Woldorff, M., Gao, J. H., & Fox, P. T. (2006). Children’s brain activations
while viewing televised violence revealed by (fMRI). Media Psychology, 8, 25-37.
4. Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B.J., Sakamoto,
A., Rothstein, H.R., & Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on
aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries.
Psychological Bulletin, 136, 151-173.
5. Anderson, C. A., Bushman, B. J., Donnerstein, E., Hummer, T. A., &
Warburton, W. A. (2015). SPSSI research summary on media violence. Analyses
of Social Issues and Public Policy, 15, 4-19. DOI:10.1111/asap.12093
6. Warburton, W. A., & Braunstein, D. (2012). Growing up fast and furious:
Reviewing the impact of violent and sexualized media on children. Sydney: The
Federation Press. Available at http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Growing-Up-
Fast-Furious-Wayne-Warburton/9781862878235
Tutorial 3
Stream B
Mid-Semester Break from Classes 17.9.16 to 4.10.16
39
Week 8: Integrating psychology disciplines. Case Study 3: Driver Behaviour. Dr
Julia Irwin 4.10.16
Readings
*Job, S. R. F. (1999). The driver: The psychology of road safety. In J. Clark [Ed.],
Safe and mobile: Introductory studies in road safety (pp. 21-53). Armidale: Emu
Press.
This reading is in e-reserve.
Tutorial 4
Stream A
Week 9: Integrating psychology disciplines. Case Study 4: Substance use. Ms
Niree Kraushaar. 11.10.16
Readings
*1. Executive summary only (pp. iv-xv). Spooner, C., & Hetherington, K.
(2004). Social determinants of drug use. National Drug and Alcohol Research
Centre. Sydney: University of NSW. Available at:
http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/TR.228.pdf
2. Wise, R. A., & Koob, G. F. (2014). The development and maintenance of drug
addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39, 254-262. Available at:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v39/n2/full/npp2013261a.html
Tutorial 4
Stream B
Week 10: Professional organisations. The Australian Psychological Society 18.10.16
APS presentation will be uploaded to iLearn
No Readings
Tutorial 5
Stream A
Week 11: Professional organizations and accreditation. National Practice
Standards, and professional behaviour in psychology. Dr Wayne Warburton 25.10.16
Readings
*1. Australian Psychological Society Code of Ethics, as adopted 2007. Available
from: http://www.psychology.org.au/about/ethics/#s1
2. The Counsellors’ and Psychotherapists’ Association of NSW (CAPA) Code of
Ethics and Good Practice. Available from:
http://www.capa.asn.au/files/CAPAGoodPractice.pdf
3. National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce. Available at:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/5D7909E8230
4E6D2CA257C430004E877/$File/wkstd13.pdf
4. The Australian Financial Counselling Code of Ethical Practice. Available at:
http://www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/FCA/media/CorporateMedia/C
ode-of-Ethical-Conduct-Final-Pdf-feb-2012.pdf
Tutorial 5
Stream B
40
Week 12: Legislation: The Mental Health Act [2007], Health Practitioner
Regulation National Law Act [2009], Privacy, Human Rights, Discrimination
laws. Dr Wayne Warburton
1.11.16
Readings
1. NSW Mental health Act 2007. Available from
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/mha2007n8155.pdf
2. Understanding the NSW Mental Health ACT 2007. Available here.
3. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Psychology Board
of Australia. Codes and guidelines
3a – Mandatory Reporting Guidelines
3b - Area of Practice Endorsement Guidelines. Both are at:
http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Standards-and-Guidelines/Codes-
Guidelines-Policies.aspx
4. Federal Privacy Act [1988]. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A03712
Quick reference tool for the 13 Privacy Principles at
http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-resources/privacy-guides/app-quick-
reference-tool
Information sheets at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-resources/privacy-
fact-sheets/
5. Human rights, discrimination, equal opportunity resources at
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/
Tutorial 6
Stream A
Week 13: Professional development: Self care in a high burnout profession and
maintaining professional competence. Dr Wayne Warburton 8.11.16
Readings
1. Psychology Board of Australia. Continuing professional development guidelines
http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Standards-and-Guidelines/Codes-
Guidelines-Policies.aspx
Tutorial 6
Stream B
* Mandatory Readings. There are only four mandatory readings you will need to study for the
final exam.
Note: Unstarred readings are not mandatory and thus not examinable BUT they will be helpful for
students wishing to extend their understanding of the subject matter, and a helpful resource to all
students wishing to become psychology professionals.
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