Students

PSYC105 – Introduction to Psychology II

2018 – S2 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Kim Curby
Contact via email
4 First Walk. Room 409
by appointment
Alissa Beath
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit continues with the introduction to core areas of psychology commenced in PSYC104, Introduction to Psychology I. This unit introduces the areas of health psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, organisational psychology, perception, and cognition. This unit also introduces basic statistics, following on from the research methods lectures in PSYC104. Importantly, this unit also provides first-hand experience with conducting and reporting on a research project. You will report on this research project following guidelines presented by the American Psychological Association.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

General Assessment Information

How to apply for a late submission of an assignment

All requests for special consideration, including extensions, must be submitted via  ASK.mq.edu.au and provide suitable supporting documentation

 

Late Assignment Submission

  • Late submissions without an extension will receive a penalty of 5% of the total mark available for the assignment per day
  • Late submission of an assignment without an extension will not be permitted after marks have been released to the rest of the class.
  • Extensions will only be given in special circumstances, and can be requested by completing the Special Consideration request at ask.mq.edu.au and providing the requisite supporting documentation.
  • For more information on Special Consideration, see the university website https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration
  • Assignments submitted after the deadline, regardless of the reason, will be marked and returned at a date determined by the unit convenor.
  • Extensions cannot continue beyond the start of the following semester, and students should be aware that long extensions may impact graduation dates.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Research Participation 5% No Week 13
Research Report 30% No Week 8
Group Presentation 5% No Week 6 (in class)
Online Statistics Quizzes 10% No weekly
Final Exam 50% No University examination period

Research Participation

Due: Week 13
Weighting: 5%

Students are required to participate in research studies.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Research Report

Due: Week 8
Weighting: 30%

Students are required to write a psychology report based on data that they have been involved in collecting.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Group Presentation

Due: Week 6 (in class)
Weighting: 5%

Students are required to work together and independently on developing and delivering a 10 minute presentation.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills

Online Statistics Quizzes

Due: weekly
Weighting: 10%

Students are required to complete one quiz a week related to the statistics stream.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Information technology skills

Final Exam

Due: University examination period
Weighting: 50%

The final exam consists of a series of multiple-choice questions covering all of the course content.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Critical thinking skills

Delivery and Resources

This course is delivered in a lecture and tutorial mode with required online activities.

Lecture streams

There are two lecture stream each week which includes a 2-hour psychology lecture (face-to-face / online) and 1-hour statistics lectures (online only). 

 

Tutorials

Each week of session, starting Week 2, students must attend their assigned (enrolled) tutorial class.

 

Prescribed Resources

Students must access the statistical computer program Stata to complete their assessments and follow along with lectures. Students can purchase this software themselves or access it through Macquarie’s online laboratory iLab. Information will be given in the Week 1 statistics introduction lecture and on iLearn. 

Each week students must read the prescribed textbook chapters. These textbook chapters cover and extend material noted in the lectures, tutorials, and statistical teachings.

  1. American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  2. Lilienfeld, S., Lynn, S., Namy, L., Woolf, N., Jamieson, G., Marks, A. & Slaughter, V. (2014). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.
  3. Online Statistics Textbook (see iLearn for details)

To understand and sufficiently complete unit requirements, students must regularly access the prescribed unit materials through iLearn and follow instructions in announcements.

Unit Schedule

Week

Psychology Lecture

Statistics Lecture

Tutorial

1 Introduction & Developmental Psychology 1 Why Statistics? no tutorial
2 Developmental Psychology 2 Intro to Stats + Using Stata in iLab Group presentation prep
3 Developmental Psychology 3 & Health Psychology 1 Data Input in Stata Research ethics and framing effects
4 Health Psychology 2 Summarising data Writing a research report
5 Social Psychology 1 Fundamental concepts Overview of research study
6 Social Psychology 2 T-tests 1 Group presentations
7 Organisational Psychology 1 T-tests 2 Methods and Results in reports
  Mid session break    
8 Organisational Psychology 2 Mid-semester revision Online tutorial exercise
9 Perception 1 Correlations Statistics
10 Perception 2 Chi-square tests Correlations and T-Tests
11 Cognition 1 Examples Study week
12 Cognition 2 Communicating Statistics Exam Preparation
13 Unit Summary and Exam Preparation Summary Report feedback

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Communication and interpersonal skills

Assessment tasks

  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Research and study skills
  • Information technology skills
  • Critical thinking skills

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Communication and interpersonal skills

Assessment tasks

  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Preparation for further study in psychology
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report
  • Group Presentation
  • Online Statistics Quizzes
  • Final Exam

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Appreciation of ethical issues

Assessment tasks

  • Research Participation
  • Research Report

Changes from Previous Offering

Unit guide simplified as per policy