General assessment Information

Grade descriptors and other information concerning grading are contained in the Macquarie University Assessment Policy.

All final grades are determined by a grading committee, in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Policy, and are not the sole responsibility of the Unit Convenor.

Students will be awarded a final grade and a mark which must correspond to the grade descriptors specified in the Assessment Procedure (clause 128).

To pass this unit, you must demonstrate sufficient evidence of achievement of the learning outcomes, meet any ungraded requirements, and achieve a final mark of 50 or better.

Further details for each assessment task will be available on iLearn.

Late Submissions

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE MARK) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

 For example:

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Delivery

As a student enrolled in this unit, you will engage in a range of learning activities, including tutorials, readings, online modules, and lectures. Details can be found on the iLearn site for this unit.

PSYX2239 (OUA) version

For the OUA unit offering (PSYX2239): Tutorials are self-directed, and can be accessed via iLearn. A tutor will be available for consultation at set times during each tutorial week to allow for clarification when it is needed. Lectures will run live online at the time and day indicated in the timetable, and will be recorded for later viewing.

Weekly drop-in session for OUA students:

For OUA students, your tutor will be available one hour a week for weeks 2-13 for a “drop-in” session. This drop-in session will be an opportunity for you to talk to your tutor (and any other students who attend) live, via zoom. You could come to this drop-in session to ask about course content or assessments, or just to pop in and have a chat! These sessions will not be recorded and will be a safe space for you and fellow students to connect in a live format.

Drop-in session details:

Please refer to the iLearn unit homepage for detail.

The drop-in sessions are entirely voluntary. If you cannot make the drop-in session, there are many other ways that you can connect with your tutor. Please use the discussion board to post your questions to your tutor (and other classmates), and your tutor will respond in a timely manner. Please email your tutor (or the unit convenor, as appropriate) if you have any questions or concerns that are sensitive in nature.

What does it take to do well in this unit?

Students are expected to pay close attention to all lectures and to take notes to aid their retention of the material covered. Reading assigned each week should be completed close to the date of the relevant lecture. Review of the material (individually, or in group sessions) in the student’s own time will be essential to consolidate knowledge and enhance understanding. Participation in tutorials is also mandatory. For the perception component of the course, online tutorial worksheets are assessed and need to be completed on time.

It should be noted that according to Senate guidelines, workloads should involve 1 hour per credit point per week. This means 10 hours per week (including lectures and practicals) for a 10 credit point unit such as this.

Note: Assessment will be based on the successful understanding of the material from lectures, practicals and from the assigned reading. Please note that rote learning alone will not be a successful strategy, as the assessments will test for deeper appreciation of the course material in a variety of formats. Simply remembering the “facts” will not suffice. Students need to demonstrate their understanding of the principles and demonstrate the ability to apply such understanding in new contexts.

What material is examinable?

Obviously, the exact details of the questions to be asked in the examinations will not be released in advance. However, questions will come from topics covered during lectures and tutorials. Where additional information on these topics is supplied in the assigned reading, this should also be considered examinable. The examinations will not feature questions on topics not covered during lectures even if they are included in the assigned reading.

Resources

Tutorial Equipment

Active participation in the learning activities throughout the unit will require students to have access to a tablet, laptop or similar device. Students who do not own their own laptop computer may borrow one from the university library. Although some computers will be available for those attending face-to-face tutorials, it is recommended that you bring your own device if possible.

Note that for Perception tutorial #3 students will require anaglyph 3D glasses (either red-blue or red-green). Although pairs will be available for students in face-to-face practicals, students completing online tutorials will be required to source their own. Anaglyph glasses can be purchased from many stores online or can be constructed at home very cheaply.

It is University policy that the University-issued email account will be used for official University communication. All students are required to access their University account frequently.

Recommended Texts

Perception

Snowden, R., Thompson, P., & Troscianko, T. Basic Vision: an introduction to visual perception 2^nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Cognition

Eysenck, M.W. & Keane (2020).  Cognitive psychology: A student's handbook.  8th edition

Access to Assigned Reading Material

These texts are available for purchase, but there are also hard copies available at the library in the main collection as well as those available for download as eBooks. Where availability is limited, students should consider using previous editions of each book which are are just as good for most topics.

Basic Vision, 2nd Edition (2014)

Basic Vision, "Revised" Edition (2012)

[Note: As far as I can see, these are identical, and either could be referred to as the 2nd Edition.]

Basic Vision, First Edition, (2006), available in print only

Overview

The course will comprise lectures and tutorials supported by assigned reading. Although some of the material from these separate components may be related to each other, different concepts and topics will be contained in each. While lectures are useful principally for introducing new concepts and knowledge, practicals allow a hands-on approach to various phenomena and their explanation.

Lecture Topics and Assigned Reading:

Weekly lectures will be delivered on Fridays 10am-12noon in the Macquarie Theatre, 21 Wally's Walk. Perception lectures will be delivered by Kevin Brooks in Weeks 1-7, and the cognition lectures will be delivered by Sachiko Kinoshita in Weeks 8-13.  For the up-to-date lecture schedule, refer to the iLearn unit homepage.

Tutorials

The tutorial program will run from university session weeks 2-13 inclusive. During this period, students will complete a practical in each of 6 separate periods, in weeks 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13, as set out on iLearn. Practicals can be accessed online and will be supported by experienced tutors via scheduled sessions. These tutors will be your first contact if you have problems with this unit. The schedule and topics to be covered are displayed below.

The tutorial activities for this unit have been developed entirely online and are fully self-directed. All of the tasks will be completed within iLearn, and released to you in weeks 2, 4, 6, 9 & 12.

For each of the three Perception tutorials, students must complete an assessed tutorial worksheet. These must be submitted by the end of each tutorial period, i.e. 11.55 pm of Sunday in weeks 3, 5, & 7. The Cognition tutorial content are assessed in the final exam (i.e., there are no cognition worksheets to complete separately).

Participating in both Perception and Cognition tutorial exercises is compulsory.

Weekly drop-in session for OUA students:

For OUA students, your tutor -- Emma Gardiner (emma.gardiner@mq.edu.au) -- will be available one hour a week for weeks 2-13 for a “drop-in” session. This will be an opportunity for you to talk to your tutor (and any other students who attend) live, via zoom. You could come to ask about course content or assessments, or just to pop in and have a chat! These sessions will not be recorded and will be a safe space for you and fellow students to connect in a live format.

See iLearn for times and dates for drop in sessions.

The drop-in sessions are entirely voluntary. If you cannot make the drop-in session, there are many other ways that you can connect with your tutor. Please use the discussion board to post your questions to your tutor (and other classmates). 

Social inclusion at Macquarie University is about giving everyone who has the potential to benefit from higher education the opportunity to study at university, participate in campus life and flourish in their chosen field. The University has made significant moves to promote an equitable, diverse and exciting campus community for the benefit of staff and students. It is your responsibility to contribute towards the development of an inclusive culture and practice in the areas of learning and teaching, research, and service orientation and delivery. As a member of the Macquarie University community, you must not discriminate against or harass others based on their sex, gender, race, marital status, carers' responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, age, political conviction or religious belief. All staff and students are expected to display appropriate behaviour that is conducive to a healthy learning environment for everyone.

In the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, professionalism is a key capability embedded in all our courses.

As part of developing professionalism, students are expected to attend all small group interactive sessions including practical, laboratory, work-integrated learning (e.g., PACE placements), and team-based learning activities. Some learning activities are recorded (e.g., face-to-face lectures), however you are encouraged to avoid relying upon such material as they do not recreate the whole learning experience and technical issues can and do occur. As an adult learner, we respect your decision to choose how you engage with your learning, but we would remind you that the learning opportunities we create for you have been done so to enable your success, and that by not engaging you may impact your ability to successfully complete this unit. We equally expect that you show respect for the academic staff who have worked hard to develop meaningful activities and prioritise your learning by communicating with them in advance if you are unable to attend a small group interactive session.

Another dimension of professionalism is having respect for your peers. It is the right of every student to learn in an environment that is free of disruption and distraction. Please arrive to all learning activities on time, and if you are unavoidably detained, please join activity as quietly as possible to minimise disruption. Phones and other electronic devices that produce noise and other distractions must be turned off prior to entering class. Where your own device (e.g., laptop) is being used for class-related activities, you are asked to close down all other applications to avoid distraction to you and others. Please treat your fellow students with the utmost respect. If you are uncomfortable participating in any specific activity, please let the relevant academic know.