Unit Synopsis
The discipline of psychology has a long history of using research and theory to provide explanations for the complexities of human behaviour. Yet, we live in a world that is rapidly changing – environmentally, socially, politically, and technologically. In this unit, you will learn how psychology is responding to contemporary challenges, particularly when it comes to diverse and vulnerable groups in our society. You will be exposed to critical and emerging issues in the study of psychology. Drawing on a scientist-practitioner approach, you will examine how psychological theory and research can be applied to the identification and evaluation of solutions to these challenges.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 4 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Students must be enrolled in CC42 Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 50% |
| 2. Presentation | 50% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 81.25% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 34.04% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE
Having all of the teaching material available from the start of the term was appreciated.
Continue to make all of the teaching materials available from the start of the term.
All of the teaching materials were made available from the start of the term.
Source: SUTE
Consider giving opportunities for groups of students to meet with the Unit Coordinator or Tutor to discuss their ideas for the Grant Application and Funding Pitch.
Set aside tutorial time for students to discuss their ideas for the Grant Application and Funding Pitch.
At the beginning of every tutorial there was an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the assessment pieces.
Source: SUTE
Students enjoyed the real-world focus of the unit.
Information, teaching, and assessment will continue to be linked to real-life and contemporary issues.
Contemporary and real‑world issues continued to form an essential component of both the teaching materials and the assessment tasks.
Source: SUTE
Some students perceived the unit as not directly relevant to their future role as psychologists.
In tutorials make the connection between the practical application of psychological knowledge to societal issues and students’ potential future professional roles more explicit.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Guest lectures were enjoyable and engaging.
Continue to incorporate guest lectures from engaging and knowledgeable researchers and presenters.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Practical application of psychological knowledge was valuable.
Continue to examine how psychological knowledge can be effectively applied to real‑life contemporary issues.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Critically analyse how psychological theory and research has been applied to understand contemporary issues and challenges of human behaviour
- Apply an evidence-based psychological solution to a contemporary societal or global issue or challenge
- Effectively communicate to academic and non-academic audiences how psychological theory and research can be used to understand and provide solutions for contemporary societal or global issues
Learning outcomes fulfil the level 2 pre-professional core competencies required by the updated Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) guidelines. The learning outcomes also meet the study criteria as specified by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and as appropriate for study at level 8 as stated by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • |
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • |
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |