PSY1012 : Introduction to Psychology for Joint Honours
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Billie Moffat-Knox
- Lecturer: Dr Sophia Daoudi-Simison, Dr Barbara-Anne Robertson
- Owning School: Psychology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 5.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
The aims of the module are.
•To introduce research, study, and IT skills that are essential for a degree in psychology.
•To teach, through practical experience, research methods and data analysis techniques for psychology
•To describe different approaches that have been taken historically to answering key questions in psychology
•To support the transition into the academic environment through study groups
Outline Of Syllabus
Workshops will cover several topics, including:
• IT and library skills
• Literature searching, referencing and plagiarism
• Essay writing for psychology
• The history of psychology
• An introduction to research methods, data analysis, and ethical principles
• Writing research proposals
• Open science framework and the importance of scientific practice
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | Preparation and completion of essay |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | Preparation and completion of thematic map and theme write up |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | Reading of essential and recommended sources |
| Guided Independent Study | Skills practice | 8 | 1:00 | 8:00 | Independent work to practice and improve skills relevant to the learning outcomes |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 4:00 | 4:00 | Enterprise Challenge PIP |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 10 | 2:00 | 20:00 | PIP interactive lecture/workshops with guided discussions/activities to support skill development and complete the in-class portfolio components. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | Present in-person presentation skills sessions. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | PIP workshops (shared by PSY1001 & PSY1012) to take place at start of the semester. This intensive induction week will cover several knowledge & skills outcomes & their accompanying portfolio components; providing students with key skills relevant to other skill & content modules early in the prog |
| Total | 100:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The weekly 2 hour interactive workshop/lectures are the primary teaching mode, where we introduce key skills in psychological enquiry, the history of psychology and the basics of research methods and analysis . The workshops will also be used to plan and conduct Thematic analysis for the thematic map and theme write up assessment. The workshops encourage peer interaction, support and discussion. Peer mentors (psych enquiry and history components) and demonstrators (research skills component) will attend these sessions and help to support the students’ transition into the academic environment, whilst encouraging group work related to other aims of the module such as essay writing and data analysis. Guided independent study allows students to carry out reading on the topics covered in lectures and practicals, and then prepare and complete the two module assignments.
Enterprise Challenge – introduces students to the challenges of generating an enterprising solution to a real-world problem while working in a team.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 1 | M | 70 | 5 components: 1000-word summative essay. The 4 additional components will be completed in-class: plagiarism understanding, 5min oral presentation, feedback reflection, and EDI/cultural competency. |
| Report | 1 | M | 30 | Thematic map (figure on A4) and write up of one theme (500 words incl. quotes) following a thematic analysis of qualitative data. |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | M | Essay draft to be submitted for formative feedback (1000 words) |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The essay is designed to assess (and provide feedback on) students’ knowledge of a key feature or historical aspect of psychology, and the skills of sourcing relevant literature, writing essays, and referencing in APA style.
Students will be encouraged to complete all of their portfolio components, with the exception of the draft and summative essays, in scheduled workshop sessions, the aim being that students work alongside their mentors and peers to ensure they have achieved the appropriate skills over the course of the module and demonstrate concept threshold of the assessed competencies. The critical thinking task will develop skills in evaluating the credibility of evidence and/or scientific communication. The presentation will help develop basic competencies in presentation skills and public speaking. The feedback reflection exercise will encourage them to utilise their formative essay feedback to build on their essay writing skills. The EDI/cultural competency exercise will develop their understanding of ethical and inclusive practices in psychology and decolonising initiatives.
The thematic map and theme write up assess students understanding and application of qualitative analysis methods and ensures students taking this module have comparable data analysis skills to those taking the single honours programme ahead of PSY1014 in semester 2.
The module mark will be derived from the mark awarded to the summative essay (70%) and thematic theme map and theme write up (30%), however failure to demonstrate all 4 portfolio competencies (in addition to the oral presentation, summative essay) will result in the essay mark being capped at 40.
If the module is failed students will resit failed assessments in the same format during the August resit period.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- PSY1012's Timetable