10psych4teachers

=Year 10 Introduction to Psychology @ CCG=

Course Overview
This unit focuses on giving students an introduction to Psychology as the systematic study of thoughts, feelings and behaviour. In general, the course aims to stimulate an interest in the subject matter of psychology and to prepare students for VCE Psychology. The subject’s content will include a broad range of topics, for example: The Nature of Psychology as a science, Sports Psychology, Positive Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Non-Verbal Communication.

This is a single semester unit and usually runs during both semesters.

Report Outcomes and Grades
The following Outcomes appear on the student report. Students need to achieve an S for all Outcomes to pass the subject:


 * Demonstrates an understanding of the broad nature and characteristics of psychology.
 * Demonstrates an understanding of how research is used as a basis for psychological theory.
 * Demonstrates an understanding of key concepts relating to the range of fields of psychological specialisation studied.

There are three graded items on the semester report, which are:


 * Empirical Research Activities (ERA)
 * Multimedia presentations
 * Unit Tests

Transition
There is usually a single 100min transition session for students at the end of the previous year. The focus in this transition is to get to know the students a little and to provide information about the nature and scope of the course, with some interactive activities. The PowerPoint presentation below has been used over the past several years during the transition session:



Term Planners
The term planners for Term 1 and Term 2 2012 are presented below. These should be seen as a guide only. While units, topics and assessment tasks are common across classes, actual class activities and progression through the program varies as this subject in particular is often influenced by student interest.



Curriculum Units
Individual units use the content from specific chapters of the student textbook as a guide. The amount of actual textbook work varies from unit to unit, but ultimately the same content is covered. Where possible attempts are made to make activities more interactive and engaging than the standard textbook learning activities, while still ensuring students maintain detailed and specific workbook notes on all pertinent content. Regular use of multimedia, video clips and interactive online activities is included.

In addition, as an introductory unit, often lessons are peppered with brief asides that are not directly related to the topic at hand, but which are of interest to students. Lessons may begin with a brief focus on one of John Medina's "Brain Rules", for example, which have clear practical relevance to students, before getting down to the specific topic for the day.

__Click the links below for a page providing resources, activities and lesson ideas for each unit:__

Introduction to Psychology Human Relationships (Body Language) Sleep and Dreams Forensic Psychology Positive Psychology

Assessment Tasks
Students complete two graded projects over the semester and sit a number of closed-book tests. These are outlined below:

In the past these have been simply two tests, one at the end of each term. This year, in some classes smaller tests at the end of each unit have been used. As there is a test at the end of each unit, the test should be treated as a good guide of what needs to be covered (and what students need to have notes on in their workbook for revision purposes). Students are provided with a revision sheet outlining what they need to study and revise prior to each test.
 * Unit Tests**

Tests are usually conducted in class under test conditions, with no notes or aids, within a 50min period. The grades for all Unit Tests are averaged to provide the Tests grade on the semester report.

Purely as a reference point (actual tests for this year may vary), the tests for Term 1 and Term 2 are included below:



Students are usually given a revision sheet to help their preparation such as the one below:



In the Sleep Study ERA, students keep a personal sleep log over a consecutive 10 day period. Concurrenly, students learn about sleep and the amount of sleep teenagers should receive. Based on this learning and their own observations and experiences*, the class forms a hypothesis about whether males or females get better quality and quantity of sleep. At the end of the data recording period, all students' data is collated and averaged to provide class and gender sleep profiles. These sleep profiles form the results of the ERA activity.
 * Sleep Study ERA Report**

In their report students discuss the results and whether they support or don't support their hypothesis. Methodological problems should also be a focus of their Discussion section. Students need to follow the guidelines for writing an ERA report presented in the textbook. Students may also refer to the sample ERA report below to use as a template or guide.

//* Students should be encouraged to conduct research into the differences between males' and females' sleep patterns and find out what they can about any prior scientific research that has been conducted in the past. Any relevant information will help to inform them in their development of their hypothesis.//

- student assignment handout for the ERA

- criteria marking sheet for the ERA

// -// a sample ERA report, showing students how an ERA should be presented and organised and what to write or include in each section.

Students choose a specific sleep disorder to research in depth, before presenting an informative presentation in their choice of multimedia form. Many students choose to present their content using an online presentation form such as Glogster, Prezi or an online slideshow. In some classes this is strongly encouraged to help students develop IT literacy skills.
 * Sleep Disorders Multimedia Project**

The sleep disorders assignment handout is presented below; assessment criteria are included:





Other Documents and Resources
- a copy of the textbook which comes on a CD with the hard copy book. Presented here simply as a reference.

- a sample student workbook at Week 5 of Term 1 (useful exemplar of well kept workbook).

John Medina's "Brain Rules" videos - useful class starters or interesting discussion points.

Study Blue study flashcard service - some students may like to use this as their tool of choice for studying and revising key terms, etc for their tests.