Learning outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology in Australia
Presented by Peter Wilson on behalf of the team

Learning Outcomes and Curriculum
Development in Psychology
Funded in 2004 by The Australian Universities
Teaching Committee (AUTC)
Funding continued in 2005/06 by the Carrick
Institute for Learning and Teaching
Ottmar Lipp, Project Leader
Steve Provost, Project Officer

Team Members
Ottmar Lipp, Deborah Terry
Steve Provost, Peter Wilson
Frances Martin, Greg Hannan, Gerry Farrell
Debra Bath
Denise Chalmers

Learning Outcomes and Curriculum
Development in Psychology
Universities involved in team:
Southern Cross University
University of Queensland
University of Tasmania
Griffith University
[some team members have since moved]

Australian University System
•38 universities –funded by Federal Government
•All have psychology departments/schools
•Independent sources of income (fees etc.)
•2 private universities
•Different “types” of universities
•Group of 8 (Go8), regional, other metropolitan

Psychology Education in Australia
Standard model is a 4-year undergraduate degree which includes a final Honours year
(or equivalent) Pass + Hons = 3+1
•Undergraduate degrees provide coverage of all main topic areas in psychology
•Honours year involves a supervised research project + advanced coursework

Postgraduate Psychology Education in
Australia
•Professional programs: clinical and others
•2-year Masters degree is typical
•Professional Doctorates are increasing
•PhD degree is a “pure” research degree

Some features of Australian Psychology
•Different Faculty locations:
•Science, Arts, Health Science, Behavioural
Sciences; Social Sciences
•Psychology is a science and a profession
•Service provider for other areas
•Strong accreditation framework – U/G and P/G
•Quality assurance / consistency across Australia

Accreditation of Psychology in Australia
•Australian Psychological Society
•Registration Boards in each State
•Aust Psych Accreditation Committee Council (APAC)
•Strong standards requirement – consistency
•Curriculum, staffing levels, facilities, names of degrees
•Special off-shore and distance-education requirements
•5-year cycle of reviews – linked to Registration

Goal: to identify strategic directions for Psychology in order to enhance learning and teaching
Results presented in a Report and other forms of dissemination

Aims of the Project
•Review models and methods of teaching, curriculum development and learning outcomes
•Identify innovative practice in teaching
•Dissemination of material
•Develop platform for future scholarly discussion on teaching of psychology

Network Meetings
•Almost all departments nominated a representative to participate in the project
•Interviews with nominated academic
•A series of Network Meetings were held
•Focus on issues such as: models of education and training; graduate attributes
•Cross-cultural; indigenous; international

Scientist-Practitioner Model
•Basis for accreditation of departments
•Applies to the overall model of education and training – not just postgraduate
•Different interpretations / views of science
•Separation between U/G and Professional
•The model has served Australia well but there is lively debate about value and consequences

Factors affecting content of curriculum
Based on interviews – factors with high influence:
•Accreditation requirements
•Collective academic value of staff
•Individual staff interests and skills
•Personal academic values of individual staff
•School teaching and learning committee
[Individuals within schools were also seen as the main driver of innovation ]

Factors affecting content of curriculum
Interview results – suggested low influence:
• University Teaching and Learning Committee
• Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee
•Pressure from undergraduate students
•Feedback from professionals

Factors affecting content of curriculum
•Middle ranked influences:
•Head of Department and
Feedback from students
•Student feedback was also seen as affecting

Innovative Practices - 1
•On-line teaching support for on-campus teaching
•Textbook + Resources being more widely used
•Problem-based learning
•Education around Plagiarism
•Focus on the First-year experience –tutor training / peer mentoring
•Live video-conferencing across campuses

Innovative Practices - 2
•Cross-cultural and indigenous issues
•Research methods -integration
•Topical issues – e.g., environment
•Overall curriculum – more psychology included and new topic areas
•Note: not much focus on internationalisation

Indigenous Issues
•Need to increase participation rate
•Differences of views in regard to curriculum
•Inclusion of more material – but where and how?
•Some very good examples from some universities
•Use of Indigenous Learning/Support Centres
•Professional programs are stronger - but not all adequate
• Project highlighted needs in this area

Internationalisation Issues
•Incoming international students
•International experience for Australian students
•Curriculum issues – cross-cultural focus
•Bologna Process

Graduate Attributes
•University and Departmental Attributes
•Sometimes poor link with curriculum and assessment
•Some excellent examples
•Portfolio system - UNSW
•Impact on accreditation standards

Graduate Attributes
•Knowledge and understanding of psychology
•Research methods in psychology
•Critical thinking in psychology
•Values in psychology
•Communication skills
•Learning and the application of psychology

Graduate Attributes at
Southern Cross University - 1
•Scientific report writing
•Poster preparation
•Psychological survey construction/evaluation
•Quantitative data analytic skills
•Competence in statistical software

Graduate Attributes at
Southern Cross University -2
•Ethics and integrity
•Communication skills Awareness of global, cultural and social responsibilities
•Recognition and respect for diversity
•Intercultural competence

• Collected after course completion (~ 6 months)
• 5 Scales, 24 items
• 3 scales are mandatory (public info):
– Good Teaching (6 items)
– Generic Skills (6 items)
– Overall Satisfaction (single item)
• Items scored on a 5-point Likert scale, then rescaled on -100 to +100 point system
• psychology data at the project website
<www.psy.uq.edu.au/carrick>

• Does the CEQ matter?
– Yes to Universities, Deans and Heads of Dept.
– Often our only real source of quantitative information about our students
– Can have funding implications
• Problems
– Results are released too late – sometimes changes often already made for other reasons
– Self-nominated Fields of Study

• With whom do you compare Psychology?
– There are 328 separate Pass Bachelors Fields of
Study listed, and 263 Honours Fields
– Professional programs such as nursing?
– Social sciences such as sociology?
– Natural sciences such as biology?
• The core 4-year degree in Psychology with
Honours is unique

3-year Pass level 2005
CEQ Subscale
Good Teaching
Generic Skills
Overall Satisfaction
Aust
Mean
SD Psych
Mean
17.7
17.2
14.8
35.7
13.8
40.6
38.1
19.3
39.0
At the level of fields of study,
Correlation between GTS & GSS r = .54
Correlation between GTS & OSI r = .68
Correlation between GSS & OSI r = .60

Honours level 2005
CEQ Subscale
Aust
Mean
SE Psych
Mean
Good Teaching Scale (GTS)
Generic Skills Scale (GSS)
28.7
45.6
25.0
20.4
23.2
48.1
Overall Satisfaction Item (OSI) 47.0
26.5
44.5
At the level of fields of study,
Correlation between GTS & GSS r = .72
Correlation between GTS & OSI r = .77
Correlation between GSS & OSI r = .72

10 largest Pass degrees in ascending order
(Psychology n=2,043 out of N=59,824 or 3.5%
ASCED Field of Study
History
Law
Business Management
Computer Sciences
Banking and Finance
Marketing
Psychology
Teacher Education: Primary
General Nursing
Accounting
GTS GSS OSI
40.8 42.6 57.5
10.8 40.7 40.7
15.5 39.2 38.2
8.7
29.2 28.7
5.7
26.8 31.2
15.4 40.4 42.1
14.8 40.6 39.0
14.1 31.5 33.1
10.2 33.6 29.1
7.0
27.1 33.8

10 largest Hons degrees in ascending order
(Psychology n=599 out of N=7,658 or 8.0%
ASCED Field of Study GTS GSS OSI
General Medicine
15.7
44.7
48.0
Computer Engineering
0.2
36.2
30.5
Economics 21.5
35.6
38.4
Computer Sciences
20.1
41.2
38.7
Biochemistry and Cell Biology 29.5 49.5 50.3
Mechanical Engineering
7.6
45.4
35.5
Political Science
37.7
45.0
52.2
History
52.1
52.6
66.1
Law
15.1
43.9
42.4
Psychology
23.2
48.1
44.5

Pass Bachelor
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
GTSmean
GSSmean
OSImean

Honours Bachelor
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
GTSmean
GSSmean
OSImean

• As a discipline psychology performs well on the CEQ.
• Overall improvements have occurred over time
• 3-year Pass students provide less positive feedback than Honours students. There are about 4,000 3-year
Pass graduates each year, and we need to find ways to obtain better results.
• More detailed results are available for types of universities – can be seen on website
• We still don’t know what drives CEQ performance – research is needed on this subject.

• Increased focus on teaching of psychology within departments/schools
• This focus is very notable in some universities
• Network of educators has been established which should have a permanent role
• Indigenous, international and graduate attributes are issues now receiving more attention
• Accreditation standards changed to reflect graduate attributes

• The rest of the Psychology Project Team
• Profs Nigel Bond and John O’Gorman
• Professor Ian Johnston and the rest of the contributors to the Steering Committee
• The AUTC and Carrick Institute
• But most of all to all of the wonderful people who came and contributed to the Network
Group Meetings