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Duration of programme: 4 years (where students join the programme in year 1)
Award on successful completion: Bachelor of Science with Honours
Accreditation: British Psychological Society – eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartership.
Location of delivery: Abertay University, Bell Street, Dundee
Composition of the programme: 120 SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) credits in each academic year, delivered largely in modules of 20 credits each, with 3 modules taken in term 1, and 3 in term 2 each year. First and second year of the programme includes a choice of microcredential modules worth a total of 20 credits per year. All students complete a 40-credit individual research project in the final year.
The programmes are:
Psychology
Psychology with Development and Education
Psychology with Forensic and Investigative Psychology
Psychology with Forensic Scene Investigation
Psychology with Health Sciences
Students will be given the option to register with a pathway at the beginning of their degree programme, or to register for the BSc (Hons) Psychology (with no pathway). They will be given another opportunity to register for a pathway at the start of Year 2 when they make the first option module choices that will affect pathway availability, and again the start of Year 3 providing they have taken the required Year 2 pathway module.
Finally, if a student initially chooses a pathway but subsequently changes their mind, they can choose to graduate with a BSc (Hons) Psychology as they will have completed all the core psychology modules.
Contact hours and workload: Each academic year typically requires 1200 hours of student effort; on average across the 4 years of this programme, 20-25% of that time is in seminars, practicals and accessing online content (lectures, activities, etc.); the remainder is independent study.
Assessment methods: Assessment is by a range of methods including reports, case studies, essays, exams/class tests, vivas and student presentations.
Academic staff: This programme is delivered by staff in the Department of Sociological and Psychological Sciences in the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences. Staff profiles can be viewed at https://www.abertay.ac.uk/schools/school-of-applied-sciences/
BSc with Honours in Psychology
Core modules in the programme*:
Introductory Psychology
Comparative Psychology
Being Successful at Abertay (5 credits)
Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
Community Health and Wellbeing
Cognitive Perspectives on Psychology
Being Successful at University (For 2nd year entrants)**
Essential Research Methods and Analysis for Psychology
Psychology in the Real World
Human Variability: Psychobiology and Behaviour
Social cognition across the lifespan
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Advanced Research, Design and Analysis
Psychology Honours Project
Mental Health Psychology: Living with a Diagnosis
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Other modules that may be offered, but are subject to change over time:
Microcredentials (various)
Evidence-based thinking: advanced perspectives on human behaviour
Crime and Punishment
Essential Skills in Forensic Science
Tomorrow’s Child
Forensic Psychology: Understanding Offender Behaviour
Forensic Human Identification
Psychology for Sport and Exercise
Design thinking for research
Eyewitness Psychology
Brain Investigations
Investigative Psychology and Policing
Language, Education and the Early Years
Work-based Learning
Mindfulness
BSc with Honours in Psychology with Development and Education
Core modules in the programme*:
Introductory Psychology
Comparative Psychology
Being Successful at Abertay (5 credits)
Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
Community Health and Wellbeing
Cognitive Perspectives on Psychology
Essential Research Methods and Analyses for Psychology
Tomorrow’s Child
Psychology in the Real World
Being Successful at University (For 2nd year entrants)**
Human Variability: Psychobiology and Behaviour
Social cognition across the lifespan
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Advanced Research, Design and Analysis
Mental Health Psychology: living with a diagnosis
Psychology Honours Project
Language, Education and the Early Years
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Other modules that may be offered, but are subject to change over time:
Microcredentials (various)
Evidence-based thinking: advanced perspectives on human behaviour
Crime and Punishment
Essential Skills in Forensic Science
Forensic Psychology: Understanding Offender Behaviour
Forensic Human Identification
Psychology for Sport and Exercise
Design thinking for research
Eyewitness Psychology
Investigative Psychology and Policing
Work-based Learning
Mindfulness
BSc with Honours in Psychology with Forensic and Investigative Psychology
Core modules in the programme*:
Introductory Psychology
Community Health and Wellbeing
Comparative Psychology
Being Successful at Abertay (5 credits)
Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
Cognitive Perspectives on Psychology
Psychology in the Real World
Being Successful at University (For 2nd year entrants)**
Forensic Psychology: Understanding Offender Behaviour
Essential Research Methods and Analysis for Psychology
Human Variability: Psychobiology and Behaviour
Social cognition across the lifespan
Eyewitness Psychology
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Advanced Research, Design and Analysis
Psychology Honours Project
Investigative Psychology and Policing
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Other modules that may be offered, but are subject to change over time:
Microcredentials (various)
Evidence-based thinking: scientific approaches to studying human behaviour
Crime and Punishment
Essential Skills in Forensic Science
Tomorrow’s Child
Forensic Human Identification
Mental health psychology: living with a diagnosis
Scene examination and Management
Language, Education and the Early Years
Work-based Learning
Mindfulness
Interpretation and presentation of evidence
Brain Investigations
BSc with Honours in Psychology with Forensic Scene Investigation
Core modules in the programme*:
Introductory Psychology
Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
Essential Skills in Forensic Science (year 1 entry students only)
Comparative Psychology
Community Health and Wellbeing
Being Successful at Abertay (5 credits)
Cognitive Perspectives on Psychology
Forensic Human Identification
Being Successful at University (For 2nd year entrants)**
Essential Research Methods and Analyses for Psychology
Psychology in the Real World
Human Variability: Psychobiology and Behaviour
Social cognition across the lifespan
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Advanced Research, Design and Analysis
Scene Examination and Management
Psychology Honours Project
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Interpretation and Presentation of Evidence
Other modules that may be offered, but are subject to change over time:
Microcredentials (various)
Introduction to human resource management
Evidence-based thinking: advanced perspectives on human behaviour
Tomorrow’s Child
Forensic Psychology: Understanding Offender Behaviour
Psychology for Sport and Exercise
Design thinking for research
Eyewitness Psychology
Investigative Psychology and Policing
Work-based Learning
Mindfulness
BSc with Honours in Psychology with Health Sciences
Core modules in the programme*:
Introductory Psychology
Comparative Psychology
Being Successful at Abertay (5 credits)
Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
Community health and wellbeing
Cognitive Perspectives on Psychology
Public health nutrition and health promotion 1
Essential Research Methods and Analysis for Psychology
Being Successful at University (For 2nd year entrants)**
Human Variability: Psychobiology and Behaviour
Social cognition across the lifespan
Human Development Across the Lifespan
Mental health psychology: living with a diagnosis
Advanced Research, Design and Analysis
Food and Behaviour
Psychology Honours Project
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Other modules that may be offered, but are subject to change over time:
Microcredentials (various)
Social science for sport and exercise
Fundamentals of nutrition
Nutrition through the lifespan
Introduction to pluralistic approaches to mental health
Psychology for sport and exercise
Medical physiology
Evidence-based thinking: advanced perspectives on human behaviour
Public health and nutrition and health promotion 2
Work-based Learning
Global perspectives in public health
Clinical nutrition
Lifestyle management
Mindfulness
Developments in the discipline: The discipline of psychology is continually evolving, with most new developments coming in experimental and statistical methods. The use of neural imaging techniques is one of the most significant advancements in understanding the links between brain and behaviour of recent times, along with advances in open science practices. However, the core subject disciplines are unlikely to change ( *core modules are correct at the time of writing but are subject to annual review and may change because of this). This keeps the curriculum relevant and maintains a real-world connection as new policy, practice, employability, and professional approaches come to the forefront. New developments are readily incorporated into the core curriculum without having to fundamentally change the programme structure.