Course Title: Professional Practices

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Professional Practices

Credit Points: 12.00

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
BESC1112	Bundoora Campus	Postgraduate	150H Health Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006
BESC1113	Bundoora Campus	Undergraduate	150H Health Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006

Course Coordinator: Dr Lisa Negri

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 7727

Course Coordinator Email: lisa.m.negri@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Bundoora

Course Coordinator Availability: Wednesday - Friday

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Students enrolling in the course will have completed a 3 three degree and have an undergraduate, APS approved major in Psychology.

Course Description

This unit aims to provide students with an introduction to the professional practice of psychology. Legal and ethical issues fundamental to the practice of psychology will be discussed and the formal legislative and organisational frameworks reviewed. Issues in managing a psychological practice will also be considered.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Through course activities students will gain skills related to the following capabilities:

• Reflective Practice
• Evidenced based practice
• Critical analysis & problem solving
• Communication
• Personal and professional awareness
  

At the end of this course students will be expected to be able to:
1. describe the regulations and procedures for the registration of psychologists in the State of Victoria
2. describe the function and membership requirements of the Australian Psychological Society.
3. demonstrate an understanding of the major legal, philosophical, and ethical issues associated with the teaching of, and research and practice in, psychology across a range of client groups and settings.

Overview of Learning Activities

Lectures: Students will acquire a framework of relevant knowledge and underlying theoretical and conceptual bases of the subject through attending lectures.

Personal study: Students will acquire a deeper and broader understanding of the subject by engaging in a program of recommended reading and guided research .

Class discussion: Students will consolidate and broaden their understanding of basic concepts and develop problem solving skills through class discussion and debate

Specialist Psychologists: Practicing psychologists expert in their specialist fields will provide students with an overview of their positions and lead students in discussion about ethical and practical issues relevant to their professional activities.

Overview of Learning Resources

Various electronic resources including material on the RMIT online learning hub, the worldwide web (sites as directed), and both hard copy and electronic library resources will be available as appropriate to support this course.

Appropriate reading material will be advised at the beginning of semester. The APS Code of Ethics is particularly relevant to this course.

Overview of Assessment

Essay: Students will write an essay selected from a set of specific topics which will involve a critical analysis of the ethical and professional issues relevant to a specified professional practice issue.

Exam: examination will cover material from all topics discussed in the course.

Participation: Students will be expected to actively participate in class discussions, activities and debates.

Reference resource: Each student will research and contribute three published articles to a resource folder on a topic to be chosen from a list made available in class.