Bridging the gap: facilitating students' transition from pre-tertiary to university psychology education

The transition from school or college to university education is an exciting time for most students, but also one that is filled with new challenges. Students are faced with new styles of teaching and learning, and are required to be more independent and acquire new skill sets. For psychology students, there may be an additional challenge in the form of studying a subject that is novel to them, or they may need to revise their understanding of the nature of their subject from their perception pre-university. This article will review some of the current literature on student transitions, and on psychology students’ preparation for degree-level study, and will recommend collaborative working and increased dialogue between the pre-tertiary and university sectors as one way to smooth the transition

Effectiveness of feedback provision for psychology undergraduate students

Research on feedback for undergraduate students has usually focused on either the tutor or the student perspective. Some tutors perceive that students do not read or learn from feedback, whilst students sometimes claim that feedback can be difficult to understand and unconstructive. We investigated tutor and student perspectives through online questionnaires. Fifty-seven staff and 213 psychology undergraduates responded. The questionnaires were used to determine the extent to which students learn from feedback, and the extent to which tutors employ feedback as a teaching tool. Our preliminary findings suggest that both groups agree that written feedback is not ideal, and that the two-way dialogue intended is not always effective. There may be a lack of understanding of communication on both sides. Staff feel that their feedback is clear, but students sometimes disagree, and students do not value feedback on grammar and referencing, whereas staff believe that this is useful. Further research is now being conducted to develop understanding of staff and student perspectives on feedback, and to use the findings to inform improved accessibility of feedback for students, and efficiency of feedback provision for tutors

The nature of psychology: Reflections on university teachers' experiences of teaching sensitive topics

This paper describes one aspect of a larger scale qualitative study conducted to investigate psychology-specific issues in learning and teaching in higher education. Participants included academic psychologists from across the career spectrum and from diverse UK universities. A semi-structured focus group methodology was employed, and results were analysed using thematic analysis. A key theme related to the nature of psychology, with a subtheme of teaching sensitive topics. For our purposes, we define ‘sensitive topics’ as topics within the psychology curriculum that may elicit an emotional or distressing response amongst learners. Psychology engages students in academic study and assessment that is relevant to their own personal circumstances or that they can find upsetting. Participants noted particular challenges when teaching sensitive topics, but also observed the value of doing so for students and society more widely. We explore the perceptions of university teachers with regard to teaching sensitive topics in psychology, reflect on the implications within higher education, and by extrapolation, within pre-tertiary education. We close with recommendations for curriculum developers and educators within both sectors

"Giving psychology away" to non-psychologists. Comment on Psychology curricula for non-psychologists: a framework recommended by the EFPA Board of Educational Affairs

Comment on Dutke et al., 2019

Student anti-bullying and harassment policies at UK universities

This article provides the first analysis of all available UK university anti-bullying policies, summarising, comparing, and contrasting the content of policies acquired from university websites. The importance of anti-bullying policies is known from policy research in schools and workplaces but has previously not been investigated in Higher Education. A new coding framework and guidelines were developed to enable our analysis, and universities were given a score. Scores indicated variation between policies, suggesting some students may have inadequate support when consulting their university policy. The findings indicate that all universities should create and implement an anti-bullying policy. Students could be involved in the development of interventions or policies, as co-created initiatives may be more influential. University policy must be up-to-date, inclusive, comprehensive yet concise, and it must be publicised. We propose that our novel coding framework could be of use to policy makers and researchers investigating bullying policy within higher education

Project assessment: an international perspective

Project Assessment is an American Psychological Association (APA, 2018) initiative aimed at facilitating assessment of the five comprehensive learning goals of the APA guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major (2013). We believe that Project Assessment holds great promise for both U.S. and international use; moreover, we suggest that Project Assessment can benefit from consideration of international assessment initiatives, particularly those aimed at increasing mobility in our interconnected world. Internationally, particularly in Europe where all but one country adheres to the Bologna Process and many countries adhere to the related EuroPsy guidelines, assessment of psychology higher education is driven by a broader range of stakeholders than is typically considered in the United States. Indeed, Bologna countries explicitly consider input from external stakeholders such as employers when developing curricula and assessing outcomes, and they prioritize the assessment of skills at least as much as knowledge. In this paper, we outline the Bologna Process, EuroPsy, and similar collaborative agreements in other world regions. We highlight what the United States can learn from these projects, particularly the involvement of a broader range of stakeholders and an emphasis on mobility of degrees and graduates. While doing so, we explore evidence on internationally implemented assessment practices and on the extent to which harmonized curricula and assessment practices have increased mobility. As many world regions pursue Bologna-like structures, often with funding from the European Union, we believe that it is essential that those pursuing U.S. initiatives like Project Assessment actively join the global conversation about higher education in psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved

Defining the key wintering habitats in the Sahel for declining African-Eurasian migrants using expert assessment

SummaryThe Sahel in West Africa is a major wintering area for many western Palearctic migrants. The breeding populations of many of these have declined over the past 50 years. However, there have been few intensive field studies on migrant ecology in the Sahel and these were generally within a very restricted area. Consequently our knowledge of the distribution of species within this extensive area and the habitat associations of these species is limited. Understanding these habitat associations is essential for the effective conservation management of populations. We brought together a group of experts and consulted a wider group by email to assess the main Sahelian habitat types used by 68 African-Eurasian migrant bird species. Those species that showed strongest declines during 1970–1990 were associated with more open habitats than those newly declining during 1990–2000, when declining species were associated with habitats with more shrubs and trees. Populations of species that winter in the Sahel are generally stable or increasing now as rainfall has increased and is now near the long-term average for the Sahel. Those which use the Sahel only as a staging area are, in many cases, in rapid decline at present.We would like to thank Andy Clements, Paul Donald, Lincoln Fishpool and Mike Mortimore for contributing to the workshop and Peter Jones, Ian Newton, Volker Salewski, Tim Wacher, Eddy Wymenga and Leo Zwarts for useful comments by email on draft habitat importance scores. This study was funded by the Newton Trust and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative Collaborative Fund, supported by Arcadia. WJS is funded by Arcadia.This is the accepted manuscript of a paper published in Bird Conservation International, Volume 24, Issue 04, December 2014, pp 477-491, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270913000531, Published online: 24 February 201

Pulsed electromagnetic energy treatment offers no clinical benefit in reducing the pain of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review

Background The rehabilitation of knee osteoarthritis often includes electrotherapeutic modalities as well as advice and exercise. One commonly used modality is pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). PEMF uses electro magnetically generated fields to promote tissue repair and healing rates. Its equivocal benefit over placebo treatment has been previously suggested however recently a number of randomised controlled trials have been published that have allowed a systematic review to be conducted. Methods A systematic review of the literature from 1966 to 2005 was undertaken. Relevant computerised bibliographic databases were searched and papers reviewed independently by two reviewers for quality using validated criteria for assessment. The key outcomes of pain and functional disability were analysed with weighted and standardised mean differences being calculated. Results Five randomised controlled trials comparing PEMF with placebo were identified. The weighted mean differences of the five papers for improvement in pain and function, were small and their 95% confidence intervals included the null. Conclusion This systematic review provides further evidence that PEMF has little value in the management of knee osteoarthritis. There appears to be clear evidence for the recommendation that PEMF does not significantly reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis