Dr lucia vardanega

101614 Psychology and Health School of Social Sciences and Psychology│Unit Learning guide

Spring 2016

UNIT DETAILS

Unit Code: 101614 Unit Name: Psychology and Health

Level: 1 Contact hours per week:

1 hour tutorial 1 hour lecture - Online or face to face (see schedule)

STAFF

Unit Coordinators

Evelyn Smith & Daniel Talbot

Phone: 6707 Email: Evelyn.Smith@westernsydney.edu.au D.Talbot@westernsydney.edu.au

First point of contact:

As a first step, please direct any queries about this unit or associated assignments to the Discussion Board on the vUWS site. This will be responded to within 24- 48 hours. If you wish to discuss a matter confidentially, please make an appointment to see your tutor. If the issue is not resolved contact Daniel Talbot or Evelyn Smith via email.

Additional Lecturer: Fiona Calvert F.calvert@westernsydney.edu.au Tutors: Charlotte Whittingham C.Whittingham@westernsydney.edu.au Nkosi Lessey N.Lessey@westernsydney.edu.au Kym Hando 18049682@student.westernsydney.edu.au Marlee King Marlee.King@westernsydney.edu.au Lucia Vardanega L.Vardanega@westernsydney.edu.au Hanna Elkofairi H.Elkofairi@westernsydney.edu.au

CONSULTATION ARRANGEMENTS (by appointment only)

Make an appointment to see your tutor (send them an email), if the issue is not resolved contact Daniel Talbot, or Evelyn Smith By appointment only

Text Book

The required readings for this unit are listed in the unit schedule on page 7. The readings correspond to each week of the unit schedule.

© Copyright: University of Western Sydney, 2013. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission from the Dean of the School of Science & Health. Copyright for acknowledged materials reproduced herein is retained by the copyright holder. All readings in this publication are copied under licence in accordance with Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968.

mailto:Evelyn.Smith@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:D.Talbot@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:F.calvert@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:C.Whittingham@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:N.Lessey@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:18049682@student.westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:Marlee.King@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:L.Vardanega@westernsydney.edu.au

mailto:H.Elkofairi@westernsydney.edu.au

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

1. About Psychology and Health 1

1.1 An Introduction to this Unit 1

1.2 Approach to Learning 1

1.3 What is Expected of You 2

1.4 Student responsibilities and conduct 3

1.5 What You can Expect from the Teaching Team 4

2. Learning and Teaching in this Unit 5

2.1 Unit Learning Outcomes 5

2.2 Course Learning Outcomes or Graduate Attributes 5

2.3 Schedule of Activities 6

2.4 Summary of How Learning Activities Support Achievment of Unit Learning Outcomes 9

2.5 Learning Resources 10

2.6 Other Resources 11

2. Assessment 12

3.1 Assessment summary 12

Assessments 1 & 2: Quizzes (15%) and Reflective Journal (15%) 13

Assessment 2: Report (30%) 16

Assessment 3: Exam (40%) 22

3.2 General Submission Requirements 23

4. Important Information 25

4.1 Links to Policies 25

4.2 Raising concerns 25

1. About Psychology and Health

1.1 An Introduction to this Unit

This unit aims to provide an introduction to the psychology of health and behaviour as relevant to the health sciences. Half of this unit is on health psychology and its applications, and the other half is on mental illness. The first half will involve a discussion of health behaviours, teaching you behaviour change techniques and introducing you to psychological interventions as applied to illness. The second half will introduce you to different mental illnesses and outline how psychologists treat and manage these conditions.

1.2 Approach to Learning

This subject will be delivered utilising a range of teaching and learning resources. The textbook attached to this subject is not a compulsory text (you don’t need buy it!), but rather has been recommended to help you understand the lecture material. The readings for the tutorials are assessable in the final exam. Face-to-face learning activities in tutorials are intended to help you consolidate what you have learned from the lectures and provide opportunities for you to engage in deeper learning. The unit will be presented by means of one hour lecture (starting on week 1) and one hour tutorial (starting on week 2) on a weekly basis throughout the course of the semester. Material from lectures will be assessable in the final examination. This unit relies heavily on vUWS to develop a blended learning environment and you are required to use vUWS to submit your assignments. There will also be a wide array of resources, materials, and learning modules that will be available on vUWS to assist you in your study. Furthermore, it is strongly recommended that you regularly visit the vUWS site for unit updates and announcements, to see if resources have been added, and to share your ideas and queries on the vUWS Discussion board. Please note that the Discussion Board is the first point of contact for any queries relating to this unit or the assignments. If you have difficulties accessing vUWS, please contact the e-Learning Helpdesk on (02) 9852 5252 before contacting the unit coordinators. Support for vUWS is available from the IT Service Desk and Blended Learning Platforms ream from 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays and University concessional days).

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1.3 What is Expected of You

Workload This is a 10 credit point unit and you should therefore allocate 10 hours per week for this unit. Two hours will be lecture/tutorial time and the remaining 8 hours should be devoted to reading and study, assessment preparation, and revision. In this unit, you will need to devote much of this time to reading the allocated materials. Health science assignments assume development of knowledge, skills and perspectives over time as ‘deep’ learning is required. If you complete the modules, do the associated reading, listen to lectures and actively participate in the tutorials you will be rewarded with development of your knowledge, skills and approach in the area of Psychology and Health, and how this unit applies to your career. Use the lectures, tutorials, online modules and assessments to apply and deepen your understanding of the material. Every lecture, tutorial, on-line module and reading is relevant to the assessments.

Attendance Students are expected to attend all lectures, view all online lectures and attend and participate actively in all tutorial activities. Failure to do so may seriously undermine a student’s ability to complete the unit satisfactorily. Attendance records may be consulted in the assessment of any requests for extensions or Special Consideration. You should advise your tutor if you are unable to attend a tutorial due to illness or misadventure.

Lectures: This subject comprises a combination of online-delivered and face-to-face lectures. This is in line with feedback given from previous cohorts undertaking this unit. Six lectures will be delivered face to face and online, while 7 will be online only (online lectures may be accessed via vUWS (vuws.westernsydney.edu.au ) . We recommend accessing these from a computer in the IT Computer Labs to avoid bandwidth usage at home. Lectures have been recorded in advance using the university’s Lecture Online video podcasting system, and have been placed in your vUWS site to be accessed often. The online lectures have been checked for technical quality. Please see Section 2.3 for an outline of the delivery of the lectures in this subject. Everything in the lectures is assessable in the final subject examination. The readings for the tutorials are also assessable in the final exam. The proposed textbook is only recommended to help you understand the lecture material and is not directly assessable. Tutorial activities are intended to help you consolidate what you have learned from the lectures and provide opportunities for you to engage in deeper learning. Tutorials: You have a one-hour tutorial every week commencing in week 2. Most tutorials have pre- readings or online module activities available on the vUWS unit site.

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General conduct and behaviour To ensure an equitable learning environment (as per the University Code of Conduct), all students are asked to:  engage in active listening and courteous behaviour;  ensure everyone has the opportunity to hear content, ask questions and receive feedback when in face-to-face classes; and  respect the opinions of other students and contribute positively (and critically) to discussions. Breaches of this code of conduct are taken seriously. Examples of inappropriate behaviours include talking on mobile phones or using iPods in lectures or tutorials. Misconduct penalties may apply. In online interaction, similar principles apply. In the interest of practising the professional communication skills that will be required of you in the workplace, please ensure respectful etiquette standards are upheld in email and vUWS correspondence.

Policies affecting students As a health science student, it is critically important that you adhere to the policies of the University. In some professions, you must declare University policy breaches when you apply for membership or registration. Your understanding and adherence to policies can therefore be important in your future careers.

This is why every unit learning guide has a section that identifies policies – so that you cannot say you ‘didn’t know’. It is your responsibility to make yourself familiar with the policies and what that means for your behaviour and work.

UWS has a number of important policies affecting students including:  Assessment and Examinations Policy  Assessment Practice – Fundamental Code  Misconduct Policy  Enrolment Policy (includes a section on the UWS Student Email Account) The full details of policies that apply to you as a UWS student can be found at: http://policies.uws.edu.au/students.php

IMPORTANT: As a first step, please direct any queries about this unit or associated assignments to the Discussion Board on the vUWS site. This will be responded to within 24-48 hours. If you wish to discuss a matter confidentially, please make an appointment to see your tutor. If the issue is not resolved contact Daniel Talbot or Evelyn Smith via email.

1.4 Student responsibilities and conduct

Student responsibilities

Familiarise yourself with university policies on assessment and examinations. More information can be found at section 4.1 of this Learning Guide Ensure that you understand the requirements, including timetables, for examinations and other assessments tasks. Ensure you read and understand the assessment requirements and note the submission

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dates, and seek assistance from the lecturer and/or unit coordinator when needed. Notify relevant staff (e.g. unit coordinator, disability adviser) as soon as possible prior to, or at the beginning of, the semester to have special requirements accommodated. Submit your own individual and unassisted assessment work, except as otherwise permitted. Cheating, plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data will be severely dealt with as per policy. Behave ethically and appropriately, avoiding any action or behaviour which would unfairly disadvantage or advantage another student. Where group work is assigned, ensure that every group member has the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to the assignment.

Student conduct and behaviour

Attend all lectures and tutorials – not attending lectures and tutorials is often the main cause of failure and low grades. Respect the needs of other students who are participating in any class activities. Pay attention in lectures and tutorials for key information on examinable material. Do not use mobile phones during the lecture and tutorials and do not have ongoing conversations with fellow students during the lecture. Please use electronic devices for taking notes and other class activities, not surfing the net or checking email.

1.5 What You can Expect from the Teaching Team Academic staff carry out their teaching responsibilities under the authority of the Dean of the School of Science & Health. The responsibilities of staff are outlined in the following table.