Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2008-2009 (archived)

Module PSYS3181: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Department: Psychology (Applied Psychology) [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

PSYS3181: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Type Open Level 3 Credits 20 Availability Available in 2008/09 Module Cap None. Location Queen's Campus Stockton

Prerequisites

  • Modules to the value of 100 credits from Level 2 Applied Psychology (C810) OR Social and Developmental Psychology (PSYC2021)

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • To introduce students to questions in the application of psychology to education, educational technology and science

Content

  • The Psychology of Education
  • Psychology in the classroom - theories of: Promoting learning - motivation, metacognition; Increasing attainment - learning styles, working memory
  • Behaviour problems - bullying, comorbidity
  • Psychology and Educational Technology
  • Designing representations for effective learning
  • The psychology of multimedia design
  • The psychology of graphs and diagrams
  • The Cognitive Science of Science
  • Taxonomic thinking in the real world
  • Lay scientific thinking
  • Science in the laboratory
  • The module will also cover related conceptual and historical issues in psychology

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • At the end of the module students should be familiar with a range of issues in Educational Psychology, the Psychology of Educational Technology and the Psychology of Science
Subject-specific Skills:
  • Students passing this module should be able to:
  • Locate, read and review a body of research evidence
  • Adopt and critically evaluate different theoretical perspectives and see the relationships between them
  • Interpret and evaluate the significance of empirical work
Key Skills:
  • Students passing this module should be able to:
  • Undertake critical evaluation of the quality and evidence of arguments
  • Communicate complex ideas effectively in their written work producing a clear, well-written essay
  • Demonstrate independent learning

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Knowledge and understanding is developed through the weekly 2 hour sessions involving a variety of learning modes including lectures, video based material, and student presentations
  • This knowledge will be assessed in the summative assignment, and the written examination. These assessments will be essay based, providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to appraise and apply empirical evidence and theoretical claims in a critical manner
  • Preparations fro the summative assignments will promote students' abilities to locate, read and evaluate a body of evidence. These abilities are assed via written examination. Feedback is provided for the summative essay
  • All modes of teaching are designed to promote critical evaluation of evidence and arguments, to adopt different theoretical positions, and to interpret empirical work in terms of theory. These abilities are also assessed via written examination. Feedback is provided for the summative essay

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Lecture and seminar sessions 22 1 per week 2 hours 44
Preparation and Reading 156
Total 200

Summative Assessment

Component: Examination Component Weighting: 75%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Examination two-hours 100%
Component: Assignment Component Weighting: 25%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Assignment 2000 words 100%

Formative Assessment:

Student Presentations


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University