EDF5572 · Professional experience: in educational and developmental psychology

Overview

This unit is designed to develop your professional readiness for external clinical placements in educational and developmental psychology. You will complete professional experience hours through a structured program of in‑class skills training, professional development seminars, and approved applied experiences. These activities will support the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical skills relevant to psychological practice. You will further develop competencies in psychological assessment through applied activities such as career, sleep, and literacy assessment programs, and build your capability to design and facilitate group‑based interventions that support learning and wellbeing in community and educational settings. The unit also emphasises the development of self‑reflective practice, enabling you to accurately evaluate your level of professional competence against the core competencies outlined by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA). You will strengthen your understanding of the nature and scope of psychological practice, including the ability to engage effectively in supervision and respond to feedback to support ongoing professional development. Your development will be supported by professional experience staff and supervisors, preparing you for safe, ethical, and competent practice in external placement settings.

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

Learning outcomes

1. apply knowledge and skills in psychological assessment, consultation, counselling micro-skills, and/or intervention with clients and/or groups
2. demonstrate accurate, detailed, and timely record-keeping in a professional experience logbook
3. demonstrate ethical, legal, and professional practice consistent with regulatory requirements and professional standards
4. demonstrate Level 3 competencies across the eight domains outlined by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council as assessed by the field and/or university supervisor/s
5. independently undertake self-reflections and realistic self-assessment of one’s own initial developing professional competencies.

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.

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