Psychology with Foundation Year BSc (Hons) - 2023/4

Other information

In line with Surrey's Curriculum Framework this programme is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. The programme contributes in the following ways:

Digital Capabilities: Throughout the programme students learn to navigate and use SurreyLearn, the University's Virtual Learning Environment. They are also introduced to other digital resources and software, to support their development as independent learners. A key focus of the programme is on developing academic skills, to ensure students develop a strong foundation ahead of joining the undergraduate programme. They are therefore introduced to, and required to use, specific digital techniques, including online searching, using search mechanisms including Google Scholar and the university's search engine, SurreySearch. Students are also required to engage with a variety of digital media, for example, Teams, Zoom, Padlets, Wakelets, Google Jamboard. In addition, students will be required to use cloud/file sharing platforms such as GoogleDocs, SharePoint when working collaboratively. Module assessments require students to draw on their experience of using a wide range of digital platforms and resources. In line with university policy, assessments are submitted through SurreyLearn.

Employability: During the year students are taught by a range of academics from within the School of Psychology and guest speakers, introducing them to a range of applied areas of psychology and raising awareness of other areas of work in which psychologists skills are valued. A key skill which underpins psychology as a discipline, and hence the programme, is a focus on developing the ability to critically evaluate evidence and to discuss the appropriate application of knowledge within the limitations of the research design and data collection methods. Thus specific transferable skills developed that are utilised in many areas of employment include the ability to evaluate sources, to critically engage with material, and to evaluate data. In addition, the tasks and assessments undertaken across modules are specifically chosen both to prepare students for the assessments they will take on the undergraduate programme, and also to prepare them for tasks they might undertake as psychologists, or in other forms of employment. For example, students are required to develop an academic argument in academic essays, but also to provide evidence-based recommendations in a report, requiring research and application of knowledge. They are also required to write reflectively, a skill required in many practitioner-based fields.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: A key issue explored within the programme is that of ethnocentrism within Psychology, the tendency for universal assumptions to be made, inappropriately, from culturally-specific research. Students are introduced to the concept of WEIRD Psychology (research conducted by, and using participants from, Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic societies), and the associated notion of the missing 95%, the proportion of the world population not represented in psychological literature. In addition, attention is drawn to examples of research conducted by Black psychologists, for example classic research into racial identification by Clark and Clark (1947), as well as more contemporary research. Students are also introduced to ways of addressing ethnocentrism, including avoiding making claims of universality and conducting cross-cultural research. In addition, students are provided with the opportunity to listen to speakers who have an interest in related areas, for example inequalities in health and educational experiences, or specific research focused on other cultures.

Resourcefulness and resilience: The key aim of the programme is to support the development of students in their journey to becoming resourceful, resilient and independent learners. Over the course of the programme students are introduced to a range of academic skills and positive psychology interventions to support (i) their development as learners and (ii) their overall resilience. A key theme is the importance of wellbeing and resilience for academic achievement, as well as for us all as individuals. The programme adopts an embed, but foreground approach to the development of academic skills, where key academic skills are clearly identified, with opportunities for developing the skills embedded within psychological content. Opportunities to develop these skills are mapped both within and between modules, and chronologically across the academic year. Teaching and learning activities, and assessments (formative and summative) have been developed at a programme and module level to enable students opportunities to develop and demonstrate their capabilities in a learning spiral format. Students are also introduced to a range of psychological interventions so that they will have a repertoire of positive psychology skills and knowledge related to personal and academic resilience. Students are required to reflect on their learning journey in relation to these areas in an end of year summative assessment, thus encouraging engagement with this material. In addition, the programme utilises a programmatic approach to assessment, with the student assessment journey mapped across modules. This ensures students have the opportunity to process and to act on feedback, further strengthening their development as independent learners. Further, students have a dedicated session on engaging with feedback, in which strategies for dealing with the emotional impact of feedback are discussed alongside engaging with feedback effectively. The student assessment journey is shared with students at the start of the academic year to provide clarity, and to support development of time management strategies.

Sustainability: Students are introduced to applied areas of psychology that explore how psychology may be used in ethically, socially and environmentally responsible ways, within the context of the UN Sustainable Goals, to support the development of a more sustainable future society. Students will therefore understand how psychologists might work towards developing potential solutions for the promotion of inclusion, social justice, and environmentally sustainable behaviour. Examples of topics students may be introduced to which support the development of this knowledge and understanding include environmental psychology (e.g. psychology of energy consumption), applied social psychology (issues of gender inequality and leadership), health psychology, and psychology & education. In addition, one summative assessment requires students to produce recommendations for good practice within one of the applied areas of Psychology, thus providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of how psychology may be used to support the development of a more sustainable future society.