APAC Accreditation Assessment Summary Report

Transcription

1 APAC Accreditation Assessment Summary Report Higher Education Provider University of Adelaide, School of Psychology Date of determination 8 October 2012 s version June 2010 ver 10 Programs of Study Assessed for Accreditation Bachelor of Psychological Science Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Health Sciences Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Social Sciences Bachelor of Science Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) Graduate Diploma in Psychological Science Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Master of Psychology (Clinical) PhD/Master of Psychology (Clinical) Master of Psychology (Health) PhD/Master of Psychology (Health) Master of Psychology (Organisational & Human Factors) PhD/Master of Psychology (Organisational & Human Factors) Master of Clinical Psychology (Defence) This is a summary of the outcomes of an APAC accreditation assessment of the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide and its programs of study. This summary highlights selected key features of the assessment. Comprehensive analysis of the assessment is contained in the full APAC Assessment Team Report. The School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide is located in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Head of School has sufficient delegation regarding academic, financial and administrative control within the Faculty for a staff of 30 psychology academics. There is a supportive research climate in the School with 3 active research groups and 10 research labs. A positive teaching culture in the School is maintained by an active Learning and Teaching Committee, and Student-Staff Consultative Committee. The Assessors noted the enthusiastic engagement described by staff and students regarding discussions 1

2 resulting in content and process revisions related to staff and student experience and feedback. All s for the Psychology AOU are met. The Assessment Team visited extensive suites of individual and shared laboratory space, computer labs, postgraduate student accommodation, staff offices, and teaching rooms. All were spacious and appropriately furnished and equipped. Meetings with administrative support staff and the library liaison indicated a highly skilled, well-resourced and cohesive team of people enabling the academic programs to maintain high quality standards of services to students. Academic staff described increasing attention to augmenting course materials with web-based tutorials and other self-directed learning experiences through the MyUni online learning environment. Students reported satisfaction with the availability of detailed course outlines, recorded lectures, and the extent and timeliness of feedback on their assignments. The Assessors reviewed marked assessment materials which demonstrated detailed and considered comments from staff on written assignments. An identical 3 year undergraduate psychology sequence of 13 units is offered in 8 programs of study. These programs of study meet the s for length and course structure. The Assessment Team reviewed the content of the sequence structure and was satisfied that most of the requirements of Graduate Attributes 1-6 are contained in the core units. Students receive extensive training in the preparation, execution and reporting of various types of research methodologies and analyses, together with critical consideration of ethical matters and issues of application to current challenges in individual well-being and societal problems. Students reported confidence in the level of preparation in anticipation of the 4 th year thesis. The one exception is the second element of Attribute 5: Oral Communication Skills. The Assessors could not find evidence of students demonstrating effective oral communication skills in various formats and for various purposes in the core units is therefore not met. The Assessment Team inspected assessed samples of students work across all levels and found that s for appropriate assessment, feedback and grading were met, as well as procedures for the management of student appeals and plagiarism, and the management of credit or advanced standing. The School is commended for its attention to the progressive structure of integrated research training from year 1 to 3 with a variety of laboratory experiences, practicals and written reports. The fourth year is the final year of the Bachelor of Psychology program of study, and the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours). The fourth year program of study comprises 50% for the honours thesis which comprises a word traditional thesis, and 50% course work. s pertaining to the research project are met, including those standards relating to the research question, literature review, methodology, and supervision and student management of their project and research report length. The first three years of the four year Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) meets all the s set down for the three year undergraduate sequence with the exception of Graduate Attribute 5 dot point 2: Oral Communication. However this requirement is met in the fourth year, and as is noted above the fourth year meets all fourth year s. The School of Psychology offers a Masters in Clinical Psychology and a PhD/Masters which it has been running for some time. It also offers a Masters in Organisational and Human Factors and a Masters in Health Psychology, having recently added the PhD/Masters in both of these areas. The Masters component of the PhD/Masters is identical to the Masters programs of study. The School has also recently developed a Masters in Clinical Psychology (Defence). 2

3 The Assessment Team reviewed Agendas and Minutes from the last 2 years for Committee meetings for each area, demonstrating robust engagement from staff and student representatives with community members of the profession. Discussion with external supervisors further supported the Assessor s view that the School has developed significant and sustained networks within the city of Adelaide and its rural regions. These networks provide students with community sources for professional practice as well as research opportunities for their dissertations. A review of admission and enrolment requirements show careful consideration to entry requirement s particularly with respect to students who are already registered or who hold registration in another profession such as education. For the Clinical Defence Masters the applicant must be an ADF (including ADF reserves) psychologist or aspire to be a psychologist within Defence. Selection is carried out in conjunction with the Australian Defence Force. Documentation of unit outlines, course information guidelines, and student work samples and log books, as well as discussion with external practicum supervisors and thesis supervisors, provided evidence that all of the required domains are addressed in each of the three programs of study. The structures of all programs of study meet relevant s, with some differences between programs of study. The Clinical and Organisational programs of study are 100% psychology coursework, whereas the Health program of study is 71% Psychology coursework with the remainder Public Health units. The Clinical Defence Masters contains 50% coursework, 25% research and 25% practical placement. The staff demonstrate exceptional efforts to establish and sustain community networks with the School that enhance the scientist-practitioner experience of the students. The Assessors reviewed assessed theses across all levels of the programs of study and found the s to be met in terms of content, length and quality. All students at various levels in their programs of study reported positive experiences in the selection of supervisors, completion of proposals and data collection. The School does not have a clinic onsite at the campus, however, it has recently secured funding from several community health sources to establish partnerships within three practicum sites. These include a community mental health centre (which is located in a University owned complex on the other side of the city), a GP super Clinic and a GP training program. The Assessors visited the community mental health centre which is the location of the first practicum (except for the Clinical Defence Masters), and was very pleased with the diversity of clientele available for student training combined with the extensive and accessible supervision provided by on-site psychologists. The Assessors also interviewed students and community supervisors from various agencies, and viewed supervisor CV s and practicum documentation across all programs. This included ADF staff from Sydney and Canberra, and a supervisor and student of the Clinical Defence Masters via Skype. As the students from this program of study tend to be situated across the country, their practica are usually located outside of the Adelaide region and monitored by ADF personnel who are clinical psychologists. The Assessors suggests that the numbers enrolling in the Masters of Clinical Psychology (Defence) need to be closely monitored to ensure they get careful oversight given the external nature of some components of the course. The first cohort of students is yet to graduate from The Master of Clinical Psychology (Defence), PhD/Master of Psychology (Health) and PhD/Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) therefore APAC Rule 5.2.c iii is not met. The accreditation outcomes are summarised in the attached Accreditation Summary Checklist. 3

4 APAC Accreditation Summary Checklist for use with APAC s June 2010 Version 10 Name of Higher Education Provider : School of Psychology, University of Adelaide Date of Site Visit: August 2012 Accreditation of the AOU Rules Rule Section 5 Accreditation Status General Accreditation s The Psychology AOU Multi-Campus Institutions Degree Nomenclature Academic Staffing Resources Teaching and Materials: Managing the Learning Process Special Arrangements for Offshore Teaching Undergraduate 3-Year Sequence Programs of Study Length Program of Study Structure Program of Study Content Assessment Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing Undergraduate Fourth Year Programs of Study Entry Requirements Length Program of Study Structure Program of Study Content Research Methods and Professional and Research Ethics Research Project Assessment Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing

5 Four Year Sequence Program of Study Program of Study Structure /4.1.3 Program of Study Content (Years 1-4) / Research Methods and Professional and Research Ethics Research Project Assessment / Assessment of 4 th Year Research Project Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing Fifth and Sixth Year Masters Program of Study (Clinical) Core Capabilities Assessment

6 Fifth and Sixth Year Masters Program of Study (Clinical Psychology Defence) Core Capabilities Assessment Fifth and Sixth Year Masters Program of Study (Health) 3

7 Core Capabilities Assessment Fifth and Sixth Year Masters Program of Study (Organisational and Human Factors) Core Capabilities Assessment Authorised: Professor Trevor Waring AM FAPS Chair Australian Psychology Accreditation Council Date: 8 October