Assessment 1: Fortnightly online quiz

Percentage weighting: 10%

Due date: Due by start of each scheduled class

Description: These quizzes encourage you to keep a regular routine of watching the lecture videos each fortnight, and to provide you with feedback about how much of the video content you remember and understand.

Requirements: You can access quizzes via the unit iLearn website. Quizzes must be completed independently, without any collaboration with others. Each quiz will be available for a limited time – typically it will expire at the start of the relevant class. It is not possible to re-open the quiz for individual students who missed the quiz deadline.

Standards:  Each quiz (5 in total) comprises five questions, each worth .4 marks. Each quiz is worth 2 marks in total. You can only take each quiz once. Each quiz result will be added together to yield a total mark out of 10.

Feedback: Feedback on each quiz will be available shortly after the closing date.

Assessment 2: Intervention proposal

Percentage weighting: 55%

Due date/time: May 7 11:59pm

Description:  This exercise has been designed to develop your capacity to independently research and plan an organisational intervention, and to assess its impact appropriately. Working from a client request, each student will identify an appropriate program of interventions. You will then focus on one specific intervention that you consider to be the most critical and effective, and present a clear and convincing justification for why that intervention should be effective (i.e., the evidence supporting your approach). You must also describe an appropriate method for evaluating the impact and effectiveness of your whole intervention program.

Requirements: Intervention plans must be no more than 1700 words (word count must be listed on a title page that also includes name and student ID number). Documents must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx), not as Adobe PDFs.

It is recommended that you follow the structure listed below (you can adjust the section titles).

1. Client Needs: Describe your interpretation of the client’s situation and needs.
2. Intervention Summary: Describe a broad program of interventions you would implement (not too many, or you won’t have room to describe them all) to address the client’s needs, with brief justifications.
3. Rationale: Provide a thorough justification of one of your proposed interventions.
4. Evaluation: Describe your planned methods for evaluating the program’s effectiveness.
5. References: These should be listed in APA format (although in-text references should use superscript numbering).

Standards: Proposals will be assessed on these criteria:

• a) Assessment of situation and client needs (20%): Clear, justified and professional identification of the key problems and issues facing the client;
• b) Clarity and coherence of intervention plan (20%): Clear description of your intervention program’s approach, procedures, and expected outcomes (what, how and why), including how the interventions relate to one another and to the identified client needs;
• c) Utility (20%): You will be evaluated for the overall suitability and likely effectiveness of the intervention program as described in your plan;
• d) Rationale and evidence (20%): Focus on just one intervention from your program and present theoretical, empirical and logical justifications for this approach to this situation, referring to evidence from both the case study and relevant published research literature; and
• e) Evaluation method (20%): Propose a specific, appropriate and effective method for evaluating the impact of your overall intervention approach.

Feedback: Feedback will be available within approximately three weeks after submission.

Assessment 3: Open book examination

Percentage weighting: 35%

Due date/time: 60 min duration, final class (week 13)

Description: There will be a 60-minute written exam (excluding reading time) held in the final class for the unit (currently scheduled as Week 13). This exam is designed to test your understanding of content covered in the unit and your capacity to apply this knowledge meaningfully when handling practical workplace problems. You will be presented with situations based on real consultancy work and decision-making experiences encountered by organisational psychologists, and you will need to use your knowledge of I/O psychology (particularly that gained from this unit) to answer questions. Examinable content includes on-campus classes, required lecture videos, and the reading set for each week. “Optional resources” are not formally examinable (but may nevertheless prove useful).

Requirements: The only acceptable basis for not sitting the examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption (see below). All disruption to studies requests must be submitted with supporting document/s through ask.mq.edu.au within five (5) working days of commencement of the disruption. Information about unavoidable disruption and the special consideration process is available at https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration  

If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Special Consideration process, the examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period. Supplementary Examinations in the School of Psychological Sciences are usually held in July. The format of a supplementary examination is at each unit convener’s discretion and is subject to change from the original final examination.

Supplementary Exams are only offered to students who have satisfactorily completed all other assessments for the unit and were unable to sit the final exam because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. If a supplementary exam has been granted, it is the student’s responsibility to confirm information relating to the date and location of the supplementary exam. Students who are granted to sit for a supplementary exam must make themselves available to sit for the supplementary exam on the specified date. There will only be one time. It is the student’s responsibility to email the Student Centre to confirm attendance at the supplementary exam.

You are advised that it is Macquarie University policy not to set early examinations for individuals or groups of students. All students are expected to ensure that they are available until the end of the teaching semester, which is the final day of the official examination period.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Advice

In the days just before the assignment deadline, there is often an increase in the number of emails requesting information about the assignment. Some students wind up doing much of the work in the last day or two before the assignment. While I do my best to answer questions about the assignment (except where I feel doing so undermines the assignment learning objectives), I will only respond to questions posted up until 24 hours before the assignment is due. This applies to email queries as well as discussion postings.

Submission

All assessments must be submitted as a word document NOT pdf, online via the unit website. In the case of presentations, PowerPoint files should be emailed to the lecturer for uploading onto unit webpage. Assessments submitted via email will not usually be accepted. Students submitting assessments online are also endorsing a declaration relating to originality, appropriate academic conduct, and conformity to assessment requirements. Assessments may be evaluated for originality using the Turnitin database. A copy of the assessment must be kept as proof that the assignment was completed and submitted.

Request for Extensions

Extensions are granted by the unit chair. Ordinarily, no extensions of time for submission of written work will be granted since ample time for preparation will have been given. All extensions need to be formally requested in line with the special consideration policy. If an extension is required for medical or other extenuating circumstances, students may request this in writing through ask.mq.edu.au with supporting documentary evidence (such as medical certificate, counsellor note, or similar). All requests for extensions must be made prior to the due date for the assignment.

Assessment submissions will not be accepted after the return of marked assignments

Plagiarism

As described in the Academic Integrity Policy, plagiarism is a particularly serious case of unprofessional and unethical academic misconduct. All written assignment submissions are evaluated using the Turnitin database system to determine if material has been copied from other students, published academic papers, or other online sources. If evidence of plagiarism is found it will be reported to the appropriate university authorities. Do not take the risk.

Late submissions

Late submissions will receive a 5% per day penalty including weekends and public holidays, unless an extension has been granted through special consideration. No late submissions will be accepted more than 5 days after the submission deadline, unless special consideration has been granted. No further submissions will be accepted after the marked assignments are returned and feedback is released to students.

Word count penalties

Word count penalty: 5% of the possible mark will be deducted per 100 words over the word limit for the assessment task. An additional 99 words beyond the limit can be written without penalty.

Classes

This unit is taught via online lecture videos and scheduled on-campus classes (7 x 2 hours classes). The time and venue information for on-campus classes can be obtained through the university’s timetable site. Importantly, in line with Public Health guidelines, this approach may be revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in alignment with University policy. 

At the time of publishing this unit guide, the scheduled classes for each topic will be delivered face-to-face on the Macquarie University campus (North Ryde). Changes or updates will be communicated via iLearn and/or emails sent to student email accounts. Students should stay up to date with the latest University advice at the following website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs/information-for-students

Class resources (e.g., lecture slides) are provided on iLearn prior to classes. Learning and skill development will be facilitated by involvement in class activities, with individual assessment items.

Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes. Learning objectives and assessment activities are based on the requirements of a minimum 80% class attendance.

If there are exceptional circumstances where a session must be missed, this will need to be arranged with the unit convener in advance.

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Online lecture videos (iLearn)

At the end of a long workday, many people find it difficult to absorb and retain lots of new information. To reduce the amount of class time spent covering new information, some of the lecture content is provided in videos that you can watch at a convenient time (provided it is done before the relevant class). These video lectures explain key points, provide concrete examples linking theory to practice, and some present perspectives of other experts.

On-campus classes

This unit involves a single class roughly every second week of the semester (see topic schedule for precise dates). You are responsible for checking the timetable to determine the dates, times and venues when/where you should be attending classes. While some of each class will involve presentations by the relevant instructor, much of the time will be spent on interactive discussions and activities designed to facilitate improved understanding of the unit topics and in particular to apply them. These will include some skill-development activities performed in class, often in groups. To ensure that you can perform these activities competently, you should prepare thoroughly for each class.

Readings

To supplement the video content, papers have been assigned to each pre-class preparation package ('Pre-Class Resources') in iLearn to develop your understanding of each topic. To get the most out of the online videos and on-campus classes, you should read the set reading before viewing lecture videos for that class, and explore the supplied online resources associated with the unit topics. Those who do so are more likely to understand the content, remember it and apply it competently. You are encouraged to consult textbooks and other journal articles. This will be valuable for developing knowledge, and essential for completing assessment tasks. High quality journals relevant to this unit include the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and Work and Stress.