SP0471 - Fundamentals of Psychology

A range of teaching styles are used to enhance your knowledge acquisition and comprehension. Weekly lectures provide an overview of the key concepts and theories. A programme of seminars and practical workshops support the lead lectures and provide you with the opportunity to participate in more in-depth class discussions to enhance practical understanding and application. You will be introduced to case study material to generate group discussion and have the opportunity to work in a team to explain behaviours within sport and exercise context.

Resources to support your learning will be available via the e-learning portal, including lecture slides, related supplementary materials and links to recommended readings to enhance learning and application of research. Tutors will provide you with directed independent learning tasks to supplement course content.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

On successful completion of the module you will be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the application of fundamental principles and perspectives in psychology to sport, exercise or health contexts;

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
2. Creatively articulate academic findings from research using IT or media formats;
3. Demonstrate and undertake team work to explain athlete behaviours using appropriate psychological theories;

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
4. Identify and evaluate key studies from your own enquiry to explain an area of interest within a sport, exercise or health psychology context.

There are two pieces of assessment on the module, one in each semester. The first component (50%) is 10-minute oral presentation that you will complete in small groups. All of your group members must provide a significant contribution to the composition and delivery of the presentation and you will be awarded a total group mark on assessment completion. You will be provided with a scenario within the sport and exercise context and will be asked to justify and provide an explanation of that scenario using psychological perspective(s) that have been studied in semester 1 (MLO 1, 3, 4). The purpose of the assessment is to check your knowledge and understanding of the key concepts, and to assess your ability to integrate different explanations of human behaviour in sport and exercise context.

The second component (50%) is a written assessment that is completed individually. You will be required to produce two posters on content studied in semester 2. Each poster must contain theoretical underpinning and an interpretation of evidence informed by independent wider reading. (MLO 1, 2, 4).

In this module you will be provided with feedback on your own written and oral communication skills. Both assessments will give you an early indication of your ability to understand, evaluate and reference research.

Formative Feedback
Formative feedback is provided in the seminars to supplement both summative assessments. You will be provided with the opportunity to practice working in groups and writing/orally presenting explanations using the various fundamental perspectives. You will receive both peer and tutor feedback on your efforts. There will be a dedicated assessment session in each semester of the module in which information will be provided about the assessments and you will have the opportunity to ask questions.

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Psychology is a science dedicated to understanding the mind and behaviour; throughout this module you will be introduced to some of the core areas of psychology and relevant underpinning theories. The module will foster your individual curiosity to understand, identify and explain some of the most commonly identified and reported athlete behaviours using appropriate theories and empirical research. The module provides an opportunity to work as part of a team during seminars and workshops to undertake your own review of the evidence to solve applied case study material across a range of behaviours for different groups. You will also be given the opportunity to work individually and creatively to produce a poster to explain applied research using a non-traditional academic format.

On this module you will acquire the underpinning knowledge and understanding of fundamental psychological principles and theories. You will be introduced to key concepts and approaches in psychology that have relevance to sport, exercise and health contexts. You will compare, contrast and integrate a range of different psychological perspectives that can be used to understand and explain human behaviour. You will have the opportunity to study the biological basis of behaviour, learn about how humans think perceive and remember, understand the cognitive processes instrumental in motor development, gain an insight into the nature of social interaction and group processes and study individual differences in personality and behaviour.