Course Title: Psychopathology

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Psychopathology

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BESC1423

Bundoora Campus

Undergraduate

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2007,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 2 2014,
Sem 2 2015

BESC1423

Bundoora Campus

Undergraduate

173H School of Health and Biomed

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2017,
Sem 2 2018,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 2 2021

BESC1424

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2007,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 2 2014

Course Coordinator: Dr Wendell Cockshaw

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 7067

Course Coordinator Email: wendell.cockshaw@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 201.03.007


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None.


Course Description

The course is designed to focus on a number of psychological problems in the developmental context. Theoretical approaches to the explanation and management of selected psychological problems will be described and evidence for the effectiveness of the most prominent intervention approaches for selected psychological problems will be evaluated.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the development of the Program Learning Outcomes:

  • PLO 1:  Understand appropriate and relevant fundamental and applied evidence based knowledge and undertake lifelong learning to improve personal and professional practice 
  • PLO 2: Demonstrate a capacity to employ a variety of approaches and procedures to research to permit judgements and decisions to be supported by appropriate evidence that places practice within a global and local context.
  • PLO 3:  Applies knowledge to diagnose and solve problems in a wide range of diverse situations, with an ability to work independently or with others and incorporate the analysis of evidence based scientific literature to solve psychological problems.
  • PLO 4: Engage in dialogue with a diverse range of people and communicate in a broad range of forms (written, electronic, graphic, oral) to meet the circumstances of the situation and the capabilities of the audience.
  • PLO 5: Maintains tolerance and respect for individuals and  groups from diverse backgrounds, holding diverse values, adhering to professional expectations and demonstrating  ethical behaviour.


On successful completion of this course you should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an organised and coherent knowledge of selected psychological problems informed by reading and discussion.
  2. Review signs and symptoms of selected psychological problems.
  3. Critically analyse the presumed causes, assessment, implications and management of selected psychological problems.
  4. Consider the impact of these psychological problems on the individual and the wider social context.
  5. Demonstrate an ability to critically analyse research literature in areas of psychology relevant to these topics
  6. Provide examples of the applied implications of existing research on the topics covered to domains where psychologists work.


Overview of Learning Activities

Your learning activities associated with this course will be designed to meet the requirements of the course content being discussed. This may include lectures, seminars, videos, debates, and discussion to enable in-depth exploration of the topics offered. You will be expected to do any prescribed preparatory reading or other activities, to attend class, and to actively participate in discussion or debate or other activities as directed. You will also be required to reflect on the learning achieved for each topic and demonstrate an ability to synthesise key issues.  An ability to think critically about the reporting of psychological research, to develop their literacy and communication skills, and to contribute to group discussion is an integral component of this course.

Teacher Guided Hours: 24

Learner Directed Hours: 96


Overview of Learning Resources

The learning resources associated with this course will include targeted readings taken from multi-media, text book, reference and online material and a range of secondary sources. Material chosen may be digitally available to you. RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.


Overview of Assessment

This course has no hurdle requirements.

The assessment associated with this course will comprise formative and summative assessment.

Assessment Tasks

Early Assessment Task: Case Formulation

Weighting 20%

This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Assessment Task 2: Oral Presentation

Weighting 40%

This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Assessment Task 3: Psychoeducational Assessment

Weighting 40%

This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

These assessments may include use of online technology and are designed to require students to demonstrate a critical analysis of the core principles presented in the course.