Course specification for PSY4102

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PSY4102 Psychology Honours Project B

Semester 1, 2020 On-campus Ipswich
Short Description: Psychology Honours Project B
Units : 2
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences
School or Department : School of Psychology and Counselling
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 090701 - Psychology
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BSCH (Psychology major 12302) or BPSH

Other requisites

BPSH students must have completed the first 3 years with a GPA of 5.0 across levels 1 to 3 psychology courses.

Rationale

This is the second of two courses that contribute towards the Psychology Honours Project. The overall project will involve an individual piece of research in a selected area of psychology in which information concerning an approved research topic is gathered, organised, analysed and discussed in a critical and evaluative manner. The research is based upon a study which requires advanced knowledge of research methodology and appropriate techniques for analysing data.

Synopsis

This course will enable the student to further develop their evidence-based skills through presentation of their research, the completion of a research project, and production of a thesis. Students will finalise the collection and analyses of data, synthesising the results such that they can be written in a thesis and communicated to other professionals.

This course contains a mandatory residential school for both external and on-campus students. Location of the symposium will be advised in PSY4101.

Objectives

On completion of this course students should be able to

  1. apply analytical and critical thinking about the chosen research topic and related issues within the discipline of psychology;
  2. competently identify research problems, formulate hypothesis, define variables, collect and analyse data using appropriate qualitative or quantitative methods and draw conclusions from the findings;
  3. present a thesis that follows the guidelines of the American Psychological Association.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. To be determined by the student in consultation with his/her supervisor. 100.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=PSY4102)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

American Psychological Association 2020, Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edn, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Adelheid, AMN & Pexman, PM 2010, Presenting your findings: A practical guide for creating tables, 6th edn, American Psychological Society, Washington DC.
American Psychological Association 2010, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edn, American Psychological Society, Washington DC.
Cone, JD & Foster, SL 2019, Dissertations and theses from start to finish: Psychology and related fields, 3rd edn, American Psychological Society, Washington DC.
Meltzoff, J 2017, Critical thinking about research: Psychology and related fields, 2nd Revised edn, American Psychological Society, Washington DC.
Miller, AB 2009, Finish your dissertation once and for all! How to overcome psychological barriers, get results, and move on with your life, American Psychological Society, Washington DC.
Reference materials will depend on the particular topic under investigation. While different types of materials may be consulted, depending on the nature of the topic, it is envisaged that psychology journal articles will make up the bulk of the reference materials.

The references listed above are guides that may assist students in the selection of topics and writing up of their thesis project.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 309.00
Residential Schools 8.00
Supervisor Consultation 13.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Objectives Assessed Notes
Presentation 1 25 Feb 2020 1,2
ResSchool Attend&Participation 1 25 Feb 2020
Thesis 100 100 25 Feb 2020 1,2,3 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. Submission date for the Thesis will be advised in Week 1 of Semester for PSY4101. Students will be required to present their research at the Honours symposium that is held on the workshop day associated with this course. The workshop/symposium will be held in the recess period between first and second semester. Dates and other details will be advised at the first mandatory workshop for PSY4101.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    Attendance at the one-day residential school is mandatory. The residential school will be held at either the Toowoomba campus or the Ipswich campus and location of the symposium will be advised during PSY4101. It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as classes and consultation with supervisor) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To complete the workshop attendance and participation and the presentation satisfactorily students must achieve 100% for each item. To complete the thesis satisfactorily students must obtain at least 50% of the total marks available for the item

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of a Passing grade, a student must receive 100% of the marks available for the Workshop Attendance and Participation and Presentation assessment items and at least 50% of the total weighted marks for thesis

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks (or grades) obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination in this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    As there were no examinations in this course there will be no Deferred or Supplementary examinations.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Students are not allowed to begin data collection until the Ethics Application for their project has been approved in writing.

  2. APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide.

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:
1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part of the Bachelor of Science Honours and Bachelor of Psychology Honurs programs and is benchmarked against the
• internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.
• professional accreditation standards of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC).

Date printed 19 June 2020