KEY QUESTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: PEOPLE & PLACE - 2019/0

Module Overview

This module to introduces students to the philosophy, historical foundations and development of the sub-discipline of environmental psychology; to expose students to the major theoretical formulations and models in the area of environmental psychology in order to provide a conceptual underpinning to inform their approach to research and practice; and to provide the students with an awareness of the array of qualitative and quantitative methods employed in environment-behaviour research.

Module provider

Psychology

Module Leader

GATERSLEBEN Birgitta (Psychology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes an overview of some of the key questions in environmental psychology and will address: environmental aesthetics, privacy and personal space, crowding and territoriality, perspectives of place, identity and place, place attachment, favourite places and environmental restoration.

The module will also enable students to apply these topics to the specific environments such as residential environments, work environments, hospitals, public spaces by analysing such environments and drawing on environmental psychology theories and evidence to support their analyses.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Assessment 1 – submission of the presentation slides with a 1,000 word outline

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

• 
  their knowledge of the historical and philosophical development of environmental psychology place theories.
  


• 
  Their ability to evaluate theoretical and empirical works critically
  


• 
  To communicate research results to those within the social sciences and other cognate disciplines
  


• 
  To self-reflect in support of personal and professional development via constructive feedback.
  


• 
  To link theoretical and empirical questions to social and environmental issues with a view to understanding the practical applications of environmental psychological theories and empirical findings
  


• 
  To evaluate assessments and interventions across a range of people and place settings
  


• 
  To develop an understanding of how to conduct empirical research of your own
  


• 
  To identify procedures and practices for the ethical conduct of research.
  

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

 

Oral presentation and reflection analysing a space from an environmental psychology perspective (assesses learning outcomes 1-7) Submission: Week 7

Essay (2,000 words) discussing selected theoretical theories and empirical evidence in environmental psychology literature (assesses learning outcomes 1-7) Submission: Week 11

Formative assessment

Throughout the module students will be asked to critically discuss topics, to examines and analyse existing environments and design interventions and present their ideas to the class.

Feedback

Feeback will be given in class through discussions and responses by peers and teaching staff on formative presentations and discussions.

Module aims

• Provide students with an awareness of the Key Questions in Environmental Psychology literature
• To provide students with insight into the key theoretical formulations on people-environment issues and the quantity and quality of evidence available for those theories
• To enable students to develop evidence based design interventions grounded in environmental psychology theory and research

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• 
  provide students with an awareness of the Key Questions in Environmental Psychology literature.
  


• 
  provide students with insight into the key theoretical formulations on people-environment issues and the quantity and quality of evidence available for those theories.
  


• 
  enable students to develop evidence based design interventions grounded in environmental psychology theory and research.
  

The learning and teaching methods include:

2 hour seminar x 11 weeks. This will involve a combination of lecturing and discussion.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PSYM066

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2019/0 academic year.