PSYCHOL 1100 - Introductory Psychology

North Terrace Campus - Summer - 2018

This course provides an introduction to the basic concepts and core topics within contemporary psychology through a mixed delivery mode. Core topics covered during the course will include the development of the individual over the lifespan; the study of the person in a social context; differences between people with respect to their intelligence and personality; issues related to individual adjustment and maladjustment; the biological bases of behaviour; the interpretation by the brain of sensory signals from the external environment; the mechanisms underlying learning; the encoding, storage and retrieval of information; the nature of motivation and emotion; and an introduction to psychological assessment. The courses will also provide an introduction to the methodological approaches employed by psychologists to study these topics. Major findings to emerge from psychological research will be presented, and the practical significance of such work will be discussed. Practical work will address the conventions of psychological report writing and the ethical principles underlying psychological research and practice.

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Course Details

Course Code	PSYCHOL 1100
Course	Introductory Psychology
Coordinating Unit	Psychology
Term	Summer
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 2 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	Completed undergraduate degree
Incompatible	PSYCHOL1000: PSYCHOL 1001, PSYCHOL 6100
Restrictions	Only available to students in the graduate entry stream of the BPsychSc
Assessment	Written Exam, online exercises and written assignments

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Clemence Due

Course Coordinator: Dr Lynn Ward, Room 517 (Hughes Building), Phone: 8313 3182, Email: lynn.ward@adelaide.edu.au

The telephone number for the Psychology Office on Level 5, Hughes Building is 8313 5693

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of Introductory Psychology, students will have:

an introductory knowledge of selected areas of basic psychological enquiry
an ability to discuss and enter into debate on psychological topics
basic review skills in critically evaluating knowledge claims regarding psychological theory and in formulating research questions on the basis of that review
an elementary understanding of research methods in the discipline of Psychology
elementary skills in the quantitative analysis and interpretation of psychological data
an introductory knowledge about conventions for presenting written reports and essays that cover topics introduced within the program.

Students will also be given opportunities within the program:

to discuss psychological topics
for their enquiries to be addressed.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	2
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	4, 5, 6
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1, 2
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	2, 3, 4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

1. The Textbook:

Passer, M., et al. (2012 or 2015). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. McGraw Hill

This text comes as a package available from the bookshop on campus (Co-op) or online, together with a writing guide, an e-version of the textbook and a code to access the online interactive content ("Connect"). It is preferable that you purchase a copy of this text (either hardcopy or e-book) because the course is based on its content. However, if you choose not to purchase the textbook there are some copies available for loan from the library. You can purchase an access code to Connect separately if you don't wish to buy the text. Further information will be provided in your first tutorial.

2. Barr Smith Library – Psychology on the Web

The Library is a major resource centre for students. The Research Librarian for Psychology, Maureen Bell, provides some useful information through the Internet. She has a Psychology web page with a list of databases for Psychology students.

Online Learning

As this course is based around on-line learning, much of the communication within it will occur on-line. It is therefore important that you are aware of these communication methods, and access them regularly.

MYUNI

Students are required to access MyUni regularly. In addition to containing your course materials and the Dropbox where you will submit your research report, important notices and information regarding the course will also be placed on MyUni. MyUni also contains Discussion Boards, and you are encouraged to use these to discuss aspects of the course or any concerns you have. Your tutor will monitor these Boards regularly and will respond to any questions or concerns that have been raised.

STUDENT EMAIL

MyUni also allows staff and other students to send emails to your student address. It is important that you check your student email regularly. Your email address is firstname.lastname@student.adelaide.edu.au. If you wish, it is possible to have your student email forwarded to another email address. Instructions on how to do this can be found at http://webmail.adelaide.edu.au/userguide/vacation_fwd.shtml#forward
As this course is based around on-line learning, much of the communication within it will occur on-line. It is therefore important that you are aware of these communication methods, and access them regularly.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

All materials for this course are available on the Introductory Psychology course pages on MyUni.

The course consists of six modules each on a different topic. Each module comprises a Study Guide which includes commentary, readings from the course text book, various interactive materials, and self-test quizzes. There are also three audio-narrated presentations for each module. It is expected that students will, over the course of a week, work through the Study Guide and listen to the audio-narrated presentations for that topic. It is also expected that students will complete the modules in the order they appear on MyUni at a rate of one-per-week. Adherence to this program of study will facilitate group discussion of materials during tutorials.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The information below is provided to as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

7X2hr tutorials = 14 hours
Exam = 1.5 hours
Research report = 20 hours
Summative tests = 14 hours
Literature review = 5 hours
Weekly readings and other study = 35 hours
Tutorial preparation = 49 hours
Exam prepartation = 20 hours

Total = 158.5 hours

Learning Activities Summary

Details will be made available on MyUni.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

The final mark in Introductory Psychology is determined as follows:

Module assessment exercises     15%

Research Report                        35%

Examination                               50%

Total                                       100%

Successful completion of Introductory Psychology is a pre-requisite for entry to the Bachelor of Psychological Science, beginning in Semester 1. Therefore, it is expected that all submission dates will be strictly adhered to so that all marking can be completed in a timely manner.
Please note that should the research report be submitted late it is the School of Psychology’s policy that a penalty of 5% per working day be applied. If the module assessment exercises are not completed by the due date they will not be included in the final mark for the course.

Assessment Detail

MODULE ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

To help you further develop your independent learning skills, a small part of the assessment requires you to complete assessment exercises relating to each module. These will be available for the duration of the course but you can only complete them once.

Each of the six assessment exercises is worth 2.5%, and therefore, in total, the exercises constitute 15% of your final mark for the course. The aim of these exercises is to encourage you to get into the habit of engaging with psychological information.

RESEARCH REPORT

A major aspect of studying Psychology is learning how to conduct research and report it. You will take part in a study on personality, the data from which will be used to write a research report. This part of your assessment will help you to develop skills in psychological report writing, synthesizing previous research, developing arguments, and analysing and interpreting data. There will be a tutorial on how to write a research report, and other tutorials will be devoted to helping you understand the statistics involved and write the research report. Detailed information about the nature of the research report will be provided in your Tutorial in Week 2.

The research report is submitted electronically via the Digital Dropbox on the Introductory Psychology MyUni site. Details will be provided on MyUni and during tutorials.

END OF SEMESTER EXAM

The end of semester exam will consist of 72 multiple choice questions.

The end of semester exam MUST be passed, that is you must achieve at least 50% in the examination, to pass the course. Students who do not pass the final exam may be offered a supplementary exam on academic grounds but will not be given a grade of more than 50%. The reason for this is that there is a requirement that students demonstrate adequate knowledge of all content areas studied in the course, not just those in the research report and module assessment exercises.

Submission

Details will be made available on MyUni.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator