Please note: there may be some adjustments to the teaching arrangements published in the course catalogue for 2020-21. Given current circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic it is anticipated that some usual arrangements for teaching on campus will be modified to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff on campus; further adjustments may also be necessary, or beneficial, during the course of the academic year as national requirements relating to management of the pandemic are revised.

Service Learning: Supporting Schools with Effective Learning Strategies PGT (Conv) PSYCH5100

  • Academic Session: 2021-22
  • School: School of Psychology
  • Credits: 10
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Available to Erasmus Students: No

Short Description

Service Learning is a teaching strategy that bridges knowledge obtained at university with real-life problems in the community. Here specifically the aim is to teach students various learning strategies from Cognitive Psychology.

Timetable

15 hours of teaching sessions over ten weeks (one hour in weeks 1, 9 and 10, three hour sessions in weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5). There is also a 3 hour placement during week 6 to 8.

Requirements of Entry

2:1 honours degree in a science subject

Excluded Courses

None

Assessment

Reflection report (3000 words) that will ask students to review the literature of the strategies that they have implemented, provide a detailed description of the tutorials, and reflecting on how their implementations connect with the literature.

Course Aims

The aim of this Service Learning course is to teach students a range of successful learning strategies from Cognitive Psychology and discuss theoretical explanations. This is the learning component. During the service part, student will create and deliver how-to-study tutorials for pupils. These tutorials can take different formats from in-person tutorials, to podcasts, or online, live videos. This is done to foster creativity in students.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically evaluate a range of learning strategies from Cognitive Psychology and their theories and obtain a critical understanding of empirical findings and the research methods used to obtain the findings.

■ Translate research findings/theory into applicable learning strategies fostering thinking about implementation, challenges, practical issues on how to teach other people.

■ Enhance science communication, presentation, and team-working skills through in-class presentations and delivery of tutorials to pupils in the schools.

■ Critically reflect on the service experience to gain awareness of their role and the role of others in the success of an implementation through application of knowledge in the 'real-world', building resilience.

■ Exercise autonomy on how they design their tutorials for pupils and how they present research findings to their peers; building confidence.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.