PSYCHOL 7332 - Psychological Assessment

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2021

This course aims to introduce students to the principles and practice of psychological assessment. The course will focus on a small number of widely used norm-referenced tests of intellectual ability, work aptitudes, personality, vocational interests, attitudes and values, and how these tests are used individually and in combination as part of psychological assessment in organisations. Consideration will also be given to interviewing as an assessment tool and to tests of the environment and organisational culture. Students will become familiar with the strengths, limitations, interpretation and presentation of findings from a variety of assessment instruments and will learn skills in both assessment planning and report writing. Students will learn about the ethical and social implications of assessment in a variety of contexts including socially and linguistically diverse populations. Opportunities for practice administration of assessment tools will be provided.

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Course Details

Course Code	PSYCHOL 7332
Course	Psychological Assessment
Coordinating Unit	Psychology
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Assumed Knowledge	Introductory knowledge of the purpose for assessment and the basic principles and practices of psychometric testing.
Restrictions	Available to M Psych (O&HF) and PhD/MPsych(O&HF) students only or by permission of Head of School
Assessment	Assignments based on practical exercises and self-directed learning exercises

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Jaime Auton

Phone: 8313 7464
Email: jaime.auton@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Room 726, Level 7 Hughes Building

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Course Learning Outcomes

At the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.   Apply knowledge and skills in the practice of culturally responsive psychological assessment, including with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, for a variety of assessment tasks in organisational settings.
2.   Demonstrate competence in the selection, administration, and scoring of assessment measures
3.   Demonstrate competence in drawing inferences from the results within a hypothesis generating and hypothesis testing framework
4.   Demonstrate competence in writing a report of a professional standard.
5. Intergrate personal cultural positioning and the implications for competent health service delivery.
6. Draw connections between the impacts of history on contemporary Indigenous health outcomes.
7.    Explore the diversity of Indigenous identities in Australia.
8. Become familiar with basic principles and protocols underpinning ethical practice when working with Indigenous peoples and communities.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1,2,3,4,5,6
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1,2,3,4
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1,2,3,4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1,2,3,4,5,6
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1,5,6,7,8
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	1,2,3,4,5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Lecturers will provide reading material which will be made available on MyUni, prior to or at each session.

Link to MyUni:

Recommended Resources

Lecturers will provide reading material which will be made available on MyUni, prior to or at each session.
Link to MyUni: https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/

The Library is a major resource centre for students. The Research Librarian for Psychology, Maureen Bell, provides some useful information through the Internet at http://libguides.adelaide.edu.au/psychology. The website contains a list of databases, links to tutorials and help with searching methods.

For additional information please refer to the relevant Master of Psychology program handbook at the following link:

Online Learning

This course may use MyUni for one or more of the following:
- Communication with students via Announcements and Discussion Board
- Submission of assessment
- Access to resources such as forms, templates and additional readings
- Self-directed learning activities

Link to MyUni:

Learning & Teaching Modes

Lecturers will support group discussion related to the lecture content. This will include organisational case scenarios to guide the development of psychological assessment practice. Time will also be spent familiarising students with tests, as well as practice and supervision in administration, scoring and interpreting psychological tests.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Seminars: 3 hrs each week for 12 weeks = 36 hours
Video assessment: 2 hours (not including preparation time)
Independent test familiarisation and practice administration: 3 hours per week
Independent reading: 2 hours per week
Assignment 1: 20 hours
Assignment 2: 20 hours
Assignment 3: 17 hours

Learning Activities Summary

The following is a provisional program. The final program will be advised at semester commencement.

Week	Topic	Lecture
Week 1	Assessment planning and test selection	Assessment principles
Week 2	Introduction to the Wechsler Scales	Assessment of intelligence
Week 3	Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV	Assessment of intelligence
Week 4	Tests of abilities and aptitudes	Assessment of intelligence
Week 5	Report writing 1: Planning, organisation, professional standards	Communicating assessments
Week 6	Culturally responsive assessment, including with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures	Culture and assessment
Week 7	Assessment of mental health	Assessment of mental health
Week 8	Personality assessment	Assessment of personality
Week 9	Assessment of interests, attitudes and values	Assessment of interests, attitudes and values
Week 10	Assessment centres	Assessment using a battery of tests
Week 11	Interviews as an assessment tool	Interviewing for recruitment
Week 12	Measures of organisational culture	Organisational culture assessment

Disclaimer: This program is provisional and subject to change.

Specific Course Requirements

On enrolment all students MUST apply for and obtain provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. All students are required to provide a copy of their registration details to the Program Administrator on their first day in the Program: this will be required for the Summer School courses Professional Practice and Evidence-Based Practice.The application form and details of fees payable are available from the PBA website:

Candidates are required to consent to a police check as part of their application to the Psychology Board of Australia for Provisional Registration, a requirement of enrolment in the program. A satisfactory current police check is a mandatory.

Small Group Discovery Experience

Not applicable

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Learning outcome(s) being addressed
Scoring a video tesing session and editing a computerised report on an individual adult cognitive assessment.	Summative	NGP	1-4
Evaluation of a journal article and psychological test (group presentation and handout)	Summative	NGP	1-3, 5
Satisfactory completion of the online module Yaitya Parunna Indigenous Health and Medical Sciences Curriculum	Summative	NGP	1, 5-8

Assessment Related Requirements

Attendance is required for 80% of classes, with attendance lists maintained. Failure to meet this attendance requirement (i.e., absence from three or more classes in the course) may lead to exclusion from the course.

Assessment Detail

Assignment 1: This assignment involves students videoing themselves administering an adult intelligence test, and then scoring the test, entering the results into a computer program and editing the computer generated report.

Assignment 2: This assignment comprises two parts; firstly, students will select and briefly review a journal article that is relevant to any of the topics covered in this course. Secondly, students will be put into small groups and assigned a commercially available psychological test instrument. They will then be asked to give an oral presentation to the class (including a handout) that describes and critically evaluates the psychological test.

Assignment 3: This assignment involves students completing the online module Yaitya Purrana Indigenous Health and Medical Sciences Curriculum.

Further details of both assignments will be provided in class.

Submission

Assignments are to be submitted electronicallly to the Course Coordinator, along with a signed cover sheet (available on MyUni).

The School of Psychology undertakes to adhere to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, Procedure 6a, which requires that assessments are returned within 4 weeks of the deadlines for submission.

Extension of time for an assignment may be granted at the discretion of the Course Coordinator, to whom students should apply in writing (or email) before the due date and time.No requests for extensions will be considered if made after the due date and time.For further information re the Assessment Policy in the Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) Program Handbook at the following link:

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

GS8 (Coursework Grade Scheme)
Grade	Description
CN	Continuing
FNS	Fail No Submission
NFE	No Formal Examination
F	Fail
NGP	Non Graded Pass
P	Pass
C	Credit
D	Distinction
HD	High Distinction
RP	Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Please refer to the Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) Program Handbook for general course information and School policies:
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

The 成人大片 is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The 成人大片 therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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