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Unit Summary
Unit type
UG Coursework Unit
Credit points
12
AQF level
Level of learning
Introductory
Former School/College
Unit aim
Develops students' understanding of the basic research methods and issues involved in a career in psychology. It extends upon the unit SCI11005 which formed the first part of the Laboratory Program in Psychology, and has been designed as a practical complement to BHS11002 Introduction to Psychology II. The unit aims to develop creative scientific skills in the context of a non-experimental research project. Its focus will be on developing a plan for a correlation-based research project - via the writing of an ethics application - and reporting on the outcomes - via oral presentation. This theme maps closely to the modules of study in BHS11002, but also includes knowledge of modules from BHS11001.
Unit content
Ethics frameworks: Preparing a research project via writing an ethics application
Discipline knowledge: Correlational research, methods and analysis, and research into personality
Discipline knowledge: Introduction to Excel and stimulus presentation software
Effective communications: Written and oral aspects of scientific communication
Learning outcomes
Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.
| On completion of this unit, students should be able to: | GA1 | GA2 | GA3 | GA4 | GA5 | GA6 | GA7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | apply ethical frameworks in scholarly practice and develop elements of an ethics application to conduct a research project | |||||||
| 2 | analyse the data obtained from the project using Excel, including finding means, standard deviations and correlations between items | |||||||
| 3 | clarify and apply the basic principles underlying the conduct a correlational research project investigating relationships between several variables | |||||||
| 4 | communicate effectively in a written context: students will synthesize the findings of the research project in a poster presentation describing outcomes of the research project | |||||||
| 5 | communicate effectively in an oral context: students will present a compelling and well substantiated argument to support the outcomes of the project in an oral poster presentation. | |||||||
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
-
apply ethical frameworks in scholarly practice and develop elements of an ethics application to conduct a research project
- GA1:
- GA2:
-
analyse the data obtained from the project using Excel, including finding means, standard deviations and correlations between items
- GA2:
- GA3:
-
clarify and apply the basic principles underlying the conduct a correlational research project investigating relationships between several variables
- GA3:
-
communicate effectively in a written context: students will synthesize the findings of the research project in a poster presentation describing outcomes of the research project
- GA2:
-
communicate effectively in an oral context: students will present a compelling and well substantiated argument to support the outcomes of the project in an oral poster presentation.
- GA2:
Prescribed texts
- Copies are available in the University Library. Older versions are fine to use: O’Shea, RP & McKenzie WA, 2013, Writing for psychology, 6th edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Vic. ISBN: 9780170214681.
- Copies are available in the University Library. Older/newer versions are fine to use: Weiten, W, 2013, Psychology: Themes and Variations, 9th edn, Thomson, Belmont CA.
- This is a recommended (though not prescribed) text only: Strunk Jr, W & White, EB, 1999, The Elements of Style, 4th edn, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA.