PSYC20056 - Professional Practice in Psychology 1

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Professional Practice in Psychology 1 is the first of two professional practice units designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop the required skills and knowledge necessary for progression in the general psychology registration pathway (5 + 1). This unit incorporates a practicum designed to simulate 'real-world' aspects of working as a psychologist within a safe learning environment. Opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration, critical analysis, reflective practice, and ethical decision making will be provided. Class content draws upon case studies and evidence-based theoretical formulation frameworks, and will examine requirements for initial and ongoing registration, and legal and ethical aspects of psychological practice. You will also deliver an oral presentation in an area of applied psychological practice.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
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 the Master of Professional Psychology

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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode

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).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate 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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 52.94% 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
Feedback
Students would have liked more guidance through the first weeks of their practicum assessment
Recommendation
The teaching team will review a working document with external supervisors, containing specific competencies that students need to develop in their first term simulated role-plays.
Action Taken
The working document was developed and distributed among external supervisors to help them provide more guidance to students.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
There were different submission dates between the clinical and professional cohorts for their Inter-Professional Assessment
Recommendation
The clinical and professional psychology team will discuss and make sure due dates correspond across the courses.
Action Taken
The submission dates for the Inter-Professional Education assessment were aligned between the clinical and professional psychology cohorts.
Source: SUTE Unit comments
Feedback
Students are requesting more support and guidance for their practicum assessment.
Recommendation
The teaching team will develop additional client vignettes and resources to provide more guidance for the practicum/simulated role-playing.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Teaching team reflection
Feedback
Lectures provided students with opportunities to engage in stimulating discussions on professional practice, facilitated through case studies and peer collaboration.
Recommendation
Continue to foster opportunities for students to engage in professional practice discussions and collaborative peer learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.