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Description

Programme Specification for the 2018/9 academic year

BSc (Hons) Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science

1. Programme Details

Programme nameBSc (Hons) Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science Programme codeUFS3PSYPSY04
Study mode(s)Full Time
Academic year2018/9
Campus(es)Streatham (Exeter)
NQF Level of the Final Award6 (Honours)

2. Description of the Programme

Psychology is the systematic and scientific study of behaviour, experience and expertise. As a discipline, it plays an important role in drawing together techniques, theories, findings and professional practice from several areas of expertise to address complex and socially and economically important questions about behaviour. Psychologists study people at all stages in their lives from birth to old-age, assessing how people perceive the physical and social world around them, how they think and use ideas, how they vary in intelligence and personality and how they are influenced by particular environments such as work, school and family. One fruitful application of Psychology is in understanding the necessary ingredients for developing high-level skill and expertise, such as those required in Sports. On the other hand, psychologists are also studying the effects of physical activity and exercise on behaviour, cognition, interpersonal interactions and mental health. The latter two applications of Psychology are the focus of our BSc Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science undergraduate programme.

The programme is taught jointly by the School of Psychology and the Department of Sport and Health Sciences Based in the Washington-Singer Laboratories on Exeter’s Streatham campus, The Department of Psychology is an expanding centre for academic teaching and research, committed to providing its staff and students with a friendly and stimulating intellectual environment. It is one of the UK's top Psychology departments, providing high-quality undergraduate programmes for intelligent and highly-motivated people, whatever their background. Its teaching staff are recognised internationally for their academic excellence and world-leading research investigating mood disorders, human cognition, animal behaviour, and social, environmental and organisational psychology. You also benefit from the establishment of the Mood Disorders Centre, funded by the Wellcome Foundation, a variety of neuropsychological testing laboratories, including Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, eletroencephalography and eye-tracking. Based on the St Luke’s Campus, the Department of Sport and Health Sciences has dedicated laboratories for sport and exercise physiology, sports biomechanics, and health and performance psychology. Its staff are active researchers whose work informs public policy on exercise and health. For example, they provide scientific support and consultancy services to national and international athletes and teams including Rugby Football Union, England and Wales Cricket Board, and the Football Association.

Our BSc Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science degree has been designed to be stimulating, flexible and relevant to the needs of a career in psychology, with a strong reputation for intellectual rigour, academic excellence and practical value. Our undergraduate students benefit from the active research environment and our teaching standards are considered to be excellent. The degree provides a solid grounding in all major areas of psychology, with particular emphasis on sports and performance psychology, and our teaching is inspired and informed by our internationally-rated research. Our graduates are widely recognised as being thoroughly prepared for employment or for entry into postgraduate research and professional training courses, and the programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society for Graduate Membership and Graduate Basis for Registration.

A BSc Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science degree from the University of Exeter would be an excellent foundation for a career in Sports Psychology. Because the degree is BPS accredited, it could also be your first step towards becoming a clinical, educational, or occupational psychologist (although entry into all these professions also requires postgraduate training). It will also give you valuable academic, personal and professional skills that can be used in a variety of sectors such as education, business, health and the media. Our programme is designed to provide a fantastic platform for many future career paths.

3. Educational Aims of the Programme

We aim to promote the values described by McGovern et al (2010), providing an intellectual environment that allows you to develop into, ‘critical scientific thinkers and ethical and socially responsible participants in their communities’ (p.10).

Specifically, the aims of the undergraduate Psychology programme are:

  • To provide an education of high quality in a stimulating and supportive environment that is enriched by research and/or current practice in the discipline;
  • To provide training in scientific skills of problem analysis, research design, evaluation of empirical evidence and dissemination;
  • To provide a range of academic and key skills that will prepare you confidently for employment, future study, or training for professional practice;

Additional aims specific to this programme are:

  • To provide a thorough grounding in a range of skills, including statistical analysis and research design and methodology, necessary to satisfy the criteria for accreditation as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Registration under the scheme administered by the British Psychological Society
  • To promote specialist capabilities in specific areas of psychology congruent with the research focus of the College.

In doing so, we aim to encourage you to develop into individuals who, on graduation, will:

  • Have a well-defined vocabulary and basic knowledge of the critical subject matter of Psychology, with special emphasis to its application to sports, exercise and performance
  • Value the intellectual challenges required to use scientific thinking and the disciplined analysis of information to evaluate alternative courses of action
  • Take a creative and amiable sceptic approach to problem solving
  • Apply psychological principles to personal, social and organisational issues in work, relationships and the broader community
  • Act ethically
  • Be competent in using and evaluating information technology
  • Communicate effectively in different modes and with many different audiences
  • Recognise, understand and foster respect for diversity
  • Be insightful and reflective about your own and other’s behaviour and mental processes

4. Programme Structure

5. Programme Modules

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.

www.exeter.ac.uk/psychology/currentstudents/modules/ug/

www.exeter.ac.uk/sshs/students/modules/ug/

You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

You may take elective modules up to 30 credits outside of the programme in each stage of the programme as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

You are also permitted to take the five-credit module PSY3910 Professional Development Experience. Registration on this module is subject to a competitive application process. If taken, this module will not count towards progression or award calculation.

Stage 1


60 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional modules

a The written Statistics examination component of PSY1205 must also be passed at 40%.

b You must choose modules to the value of 15 credits from this list of Psychology modules.

c You must choose modules to the value of 45 credits from this list of Sport and Health Sciences modules.

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY1202 Introduction to Biological Psychology 15No
PSY1205 Introduction to Statistics [See note a above]15Yes
PSY1206 Introduction to Research Methods 15No
PSY1207 Cognition, Emotion and Development 15No

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY S1 BSc Psy-SES - Psy opt 2018-9 [See note b above]
PSY1203 Introduction to Social Psychology 15 No
PSY1204 Introduction to Clinical Psychology 15 No
PSY1208 Workplace Learning 15 No
PSY S1 BSc Psy-SES - SHS opt 2018-9 [See note c above]
ESS1006 Human Anatomy and Kinanthropometry 15 No
ESS1007 Human Physiology 15 No
ESS1605 Foundations of Exercise and Sport Psychology 15 No
ESS1606 Nutrition and Metabolism 15 No
ESS1703 Bioenergetics 15 No

Stage 2


90 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules

d You must choose modules to the value of 15 credits from this list of Psychology modules.

e You must choose modules to the value of 15 credits from this list of Sport and Health Sciences modules.

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY2203 Social Psychology II 15No
PSY2205 Personality and Individual Differences 15No
PSY2206 Methods and Statistics in Psychology II 15Yes
PSY2303 Cognition and Emotion 15No
PSY2304 Biological Basis of Behaviour 15No
PSY2306 Development Psychology and Psychopathology 15No

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY S2 BSc Psy-SES - Psy opt 2018-9 [See note d above]
PSY2209 Cognition Practical I 15 No
PSY2210 Social Practical I 15 No
PSY2212 Cognition Practical II 15 No
PSY2213 Social Practical II 15 No
PSY2214 Observations and Experiments in Animal Behaviour 15 No
PSY2216 Qualitative Methods and Interview Skills 15 No
PSY2217 Wild Behaviour 15 No
PSY S2 BSc Psy-SES - SHS opt 2018-9 [See note e above]
ESS2001 Exercise Physiology 15 No
ESS2710 Sport Psychology 15 No

Stage 3


60 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional modules (subject to an overall total of 120 credits)

f All students must take a research project module. This can either be PSY3401 Research Project in Psychology (45 credits) or ESS3302 Dissertation (45 credits) offered by Sport and Health Sciences. In the latter case, it is a requirement of BPS accreditation that the project involves a Psychology topic and that the work be supervised by a Psychologist within Sport and Health Sciences.

If you choose PSY3401 then you must take 60 credits of optional modules comprising at least 15 credits of Sport and Health Sciences modules with the remainder chosen from either Psychology or Sport and Health Sciences modules.

If you choose ESS3302 then you must take 60 credits of optional modules comprising at least 15 credits of Sport and Health Sciences modules, at least 15 credits of Psychology modules with the remainder chosen from either Psychology or Sport and Health Sciences modules.

g When choosing PSY modules you must select modules from three different groups – Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3. The groupings may vary slightly from one year to the next and so prospective students should contact Psychology before making any firm decisions.

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY3401 Psychology Research Project [See note f above]45Yes
ESS3302 Dissertation [See note f above]45Yes
PSY3402 Methods and Statistics in Psychology III 15Yes

Optional Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
PSY SF BSc Psy-SES - SHS opt 2018-9
EDU3013 Learning for Teaching: School Experience 15 No
EDU3014 Learning for Teaching: School Experience 30 No
ESS3705 Sport, Physical Activity and Health 15 No
ESS3707 Physiological Determinants of Exercise Performance 15 No
ESS3804 Clinical Exercise Prescription 30 No
ESS3808 Sport Psychology 30 No
PSY SF BSc Psy-SES - Psy Group 1 2018-9 [See note g above]
LAW3169 Equality and Diversity at Work 15 No
PSY3410 Stereotypes and Stereotyping 15 No
PSY3411 Psychology and Law 15 No
PSY3412 The Psychology of Gender 15 No
PSY3413 Communication and Social Groups 15 No
PSY3416 Work and Organisational Psychology 15 No
PSY3424 Applied Social Psychology: Health, Environment and Society 15 No
PSY3432 The Moral Mind 15 No
PSY SF BSc Psy-SES - Group 2 2018-9 [See note g above]
PSY3417 The Associative Mind 15 No
PSY3418 Processes of Human Memory 15 No
PSY3419 Studying Cognition and Emotion with Brain Imaging 15 No
PSY3420 Brain Plasticity and Language Learning across the Lifespan 15 No
PSY3423 The Evolution of Social Behaviour and Social Organisation 15 No
PSY3431 Comparative Approaches in the Study of Brain and Behaviour 15 No
PSY3437 The Psychology of Addiction 15 No
PSY SF BSc Psy-SES - Group 3 2018-9 [See note g above]
CSC4003 Psychology Applied to Health 15 No
PSY3403 Contemporary Issues in Psychology 15 No
PSY3411 Psychology and Law 15 No
PSY3425 Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to Mood Disorders 15 No
PSY3426 Parental Psychiatric Disorders and Children's Development 15 No
PSY3427 Compulsive Behaviour 15 No
PSY3430 Women's Mental Health 15 No
PSY3433 Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to Working with Children with Common Mental Health Disorders 15 No
PSY3434 Mindfulness-based Interventions: Practice, Theoretical Backgrounds and Findings 15 No
PSY3436 Neuropsychology of Ageing and Dementia 15 No

6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods

Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge about a range of core subject areas as defined by the British Psychological Society, with in-depth specialisation at the forefront of the subject in certain areas
2. Apply a range of methodological skills, including a variety of statistical and research techniques, to carry out empirical research both individually and collectively.
3. Apply skills of scientific writing in psychology and in sports and exercise science, through a range of methods, at a level appropriate to an honours degree.

ILO 1 is developed in Stages 1 and 2 of the programme through lectures and tutorials. In-depth specialisation is developed in Stage 3 via seminars and the dissertation (research project). ILOs 2 and 3 are developed throughout the programme, via practical classes, lectures, and the Stage 3 dissertation (research project). Independent study also forms a major part of the programme's teaching and learning methods.

ILOs 1 and 3 are assessed by a combination of written examinations, and continuous assessment essays.

ILOs 2 and 3 are assessed via practical reports and the final dissertation.

Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

4. Apply skills of scientific writing and presenting results
5. Review and critically evaluate empirical evidence using a range of defined techniques.
6. Illustrate an awareness of the wider ethical issues relating to the subject and its application.
7. Review and critically evaluate published work as well as your own work.
8. Plan, execute and present an independent and original project.

ILOS 4, 5, 6 and 8 are developed through Research Methods, Key Skills, and Statistics lectures, tutorials and practicals at Stage 1; through research practical modules at Stage 2, and through the research project at Stage 3. ILOs 4, 7 and 8 are also developed throughout the programme in lectures, seminars, and continuous assessment. Independent study and practice also forms a major part of our teaching and learning methods.

ILOs 4 and 7 are assessed by a combination of written examinations, and continuous assessment essays.

ILOs 5, 6 and 8 are assessed via written examinations, practical reports, and the final project report.

Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

9. Think independently, critically and creatively.
10. Identify and solve complex problems confidently and flexibly.
11. Use electronic information retrieval and management tools effectively; access information from a variety of sources.
12. Interact effectively within a group.
13. Manage yourself effectively including autonomy, time management, self-teaching, self-reflection, seeking and using feedback, personal responsibility, self-criticism.

ILOs 9, 10 and 11 are developed through the process of acquiring subject knowledge and core academic skills (see A and B above). ILO 12 is developed through group discussions in academic tutorials, through working in groups in practicals, through pair work and an apprenticeship teaching model on the final research project. ILO 13 is developed through you progressing through a teaching programme that is gradually more self-managed, and the personal tutorial and Personal Development Planning system. Independent study and practice also forms a major part of our teaching and learning methods.

ILOs 9, 10 and 11 are assessed primarily through continuous assessment essays, practical reports, and the final project report. ILOs 12 and 13 are indirectly assessed - in the sense that where modules require development of these skills, it would be very difficult to achieve a good mark in the assessments without having developed such skills.

7. Programme Regulations

Programme-specific Progression Rules

To progress to Stage 2 of this programme you must pass the non-condonable module PSY1205 Introduction to Statistics. If you do not pass PSY1205 you will be transferred to the 3-year BA Psychological Studies programme. If you subsequently take and pass PSY2206 Methods and Statistics in Psychology II as an optional module on the BA in Psychological Studies programme, you would have the opportunity to transfer back onto the BSc Psychology programme; you will not be permitted to transfer back to the BSc Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science.

To progress to Stage 3 of this programme you must pass the non-condonable module PSY2206 Methods and Statistics in Psychology II. If you do not pass PSY2206 you will be transferred to the 3-year BA Psychological Studies programme.

Classification

Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook. Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook.

8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning

You will be allocated two tutors - one in the Department of Psychology and one in the Department of Sport and Health Sciences. Typically, the tutor in the Department of Psychology will be their personal tutor who will remain with them throughout the programme, where possible. The two tutors will provide guidance and feedback on assessment performance and guidance in generic academic skills. The personal tutor will provide pastoral support. They are also able to refer students to more specialist support services, both within the College and elsewhere across the University.

You will have access to the computer clusters in the Washington Singer Laboratories and the Richards Building, when not in use for teaching or assessment purposes, along with the pay-per-print laser printer installed there. University IT Services provide a range of central services, including open and training clusters of PCs - available on a 24/7 basis. Network access is available from all rooms in the hall of residence on site.

9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning

Please refer to the University Academic Policy and Standards guidelines regarding support for students and students' learning.

10. Admissions Criteria

Undergraduate applicants must satisfy the Undergraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.

Postgraduate applicants must satisfy the Postgraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.

Specific requirements required to enrol on this programme are available at the respective Undergraduate or Postgraduate Study Site webpages.

11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards

Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.

The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.

(http://as.exeter.ac.uk/support/admin/staff/qualityassuranceandmonitoring/tqamanual/fullcontents/)

12. Indicators of Quality and Standards

 

13. Methods for Evaluating and Improving Quality and Standards

The University and its constituent Colleges review the quality and standard of teaching and learning in all taught programmes against a range of criteria through the procedures outlined in the Teaching Quality Assurance (TQA) Manual Quality Review Framework.

14. Awarding Institution

University of Exeter

15. Lead College / Teaching Institution

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

16. Partner College / Institution

Partner College(s)

Not applicable to this programme

Partner Institution

Not applicable to this programme.

17. Programme Accredited / Validated by

0

18. Final Award

BSc (Hons) Psychology with Sport and Exercise Science

19. UCAS Code

C8C6

20. NQF Level of Final Award

6 (Honours)

21. Credit

CATS credits ECTS credits

22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group

[Honours] Hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism
[Honours] Psychology

23. Dates

Origin Date

01/02/2012

Date of last revision

02/11/2018