CASE STUDIES OF PRACTICE: PSYCHOLOGY
Title of Practice/Project: Animal Cognition
Published: March 2008
Reason for selection: This module engages with students through an attractive WebCT package that outlines
detailed information in relation to everything that a student will need to know in order to study the module, for
example, all content to be covered, staff involved in teaching, forms of assessment, and so on. One of the
requirements of the module is a presentation for which the assessment specifically emphasises presentation
techniques and skills, and the WebCT package provides guidance and explicit criteria against which students will
be marked.
GENERAL BACKGROUND
School
PSYCHOLOGY
Subject
PSYCHOLOGY
Module Title (if applicable)
ANIMAL COGNITION
Level
Masters
Duration
10 weeks, 2 hours per week
Lead person
Professor Stephen Lea
Others involved
ABOUT THE PRACTICE/PROJECT
Type of activity
Seminars, student presentations, group discussion, private reading, written essays.
eg. Single session, project,
module, other
Focus for activity,
eg. Active learning, students
as researchers, key
skills other
Students learn in active, critical and participatory ways about the processes of
research. The module will:
Provide students with an extensive and deep knowledge of research in animal
cognition such that they are able to contribute to the further development of the subdiscipline;
Enable students to evaluate research and appreciate how theoretical issues can be
investigated empirically;
Allow students to develop their critical faculties and their ability to debate theoretical
and empirical issues by their participation in seminar discussion. They will also
develop their oral presentation skills
Size of student group
Varies from year to year
Description
The module will consist of a weekly 2-hour seminar. It will cover a range of topics such
as comparative cognition, learning, risk sensitivity, discrimination, memory, navigation
and theory of mind. Extensive reading lists will be provided and students will be
expected to read a set of core and additional reading each week in preparation for
presentations in the seminars.
Student presentations play an important role in the module seminars and hence
account for a quarter of the final module mark.
What was the rationale
for introducing the
practice?
The aim of this module is to provide students with the essential background to
previous research within the field of animal cognition, and to enable them to keep up
to date with current research. The specific requirement of a presentation is considered
to be a means of actively involving students in learning from each other, and being
able to use a variety of skills that are potentially transferable to employment.
ASSESSMENT
17a. Assessment Formative
There is no formative assessment, but students are expected to learn from each
other’s presentations and it is anticipated that quality will improve during the course of
the module.
17b. Assessment Summative
One essay (2,500-3,500 words) counting for 70% of the module mark.
One presentation (including designing a quiz) for 25% of the module mark.
8 quizzes for 5% of the module mark.
Presentations are assessed on content, but also on presentation techniques such as
audibility, style and clarity, and empathy with the audience; on organisational and
management skills such as pacing, response to questions or interruptions, and
teamwork; and on discussion skills, such as being able to raise points that stimulate
the group to work and think, as well as having the ability to handle discussion well.
17c. Assessment
criteria (web link if
available)
A screen shot is included here of the module’s WebCT pages showing the link and full
criteria/mark breakdown for the module assessment, including advice for students.