EDF5175 · Science: Psychology in secondary years A

Overview

This unit explores the learning and teaching of psychology in secondary schools. It enables you to develop your professional knowledge to teach psychology, offering a strong foundation for you to become an innovative and purposeful curriculum-maker. You will become familiarised with psychology curriculum policy in Australia and internationally, including an understanding of the subject's place within schools, in junior and senior years and within whole school programs. You will learn about contemporary developments and traditional views regarding the educational purposes of psychology education. You will explore the complexities of teaching to enhance student learning of psychology and use these understandings to design and enact purposeful, inclusive and meaningful learning activities within a range of contexts for differing needs. This unit encourages you to consider the purpose, nature and value of psychology education as a subject in schools and engage with the research literature and positions you as an innovative and purposeful curriculum-maker to meet the current and future needs of your school students in an ever changing and uncertain world. The unit emphasises a view of learning about teaching as an ongoing, collaborative process that is developed through engaging with theory, research and critical reflection on experience.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. demonstrate an appreciation of the nature and scope of psychology as a subject in secondary schools and consider its purpose, relevance and appropriateness as a standalone or integrated subject across all year levels and embedded within whole school programs
2. demonstrate an understanding of the principles of curriculum-making, psychology’s place in the curriculum and the psychology content of current curriculum policy and contemporary future-focused directions, the pedagogical perspectives and issues, forms of assessment and the implications for your classroom teaching of psychology
3. demonstrate an awareness of the ways in which psychology education research helps inform teacher practice to enhance student’s learning of psychology, including a critical awareness and understanding of the complexities of teaching and learning psychology, and the barriers raised by traditional curriculum
4. develop competence in planning purposeful and relevant learning experiences, including selecting and utilising purposeful, ethical and inclusive pedagogical procedures and assessment strategies that inspire students to learn and act in positive, sustainable and ethical ways and meet the current and future needs of your students and society in an ever changing and uncertain world
5. reflect critically on the development of your own teaching and learning to teach psychology.

Workload

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per teaching period comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Usually, you can expect to engage with: • 24 hours* of scheduled learning delivered on campus via weekly/regular directed learning activities; and • the remaining hours to be allocated towards self-directed/independent study Scheduled learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement. *Subject to variation due to professional experience requirements.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.