2020/21 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

PSYC3545 Work Psychology: Applying Theory to Practice in the Workplace

15 creditsClass Size: 70

Module manager: Dr Jonathan Benn
Email: j.benn2@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2020/21

Pre-requisite qualifications

Successful completion of all pass for progression modules in Level 2 of: BSc Psychology or MPsyc, BSc Advanced Psychology or BSc Psychology with Education (and its International and Industrial variants)

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module provides an introduction to the applied field of Work Psychology (sometimes referred to as Occupational, Organisational or Industrial psychology). The module is structured around a number of fundamental workplace issues that commonly require psychological expertise, including: selection, training, workplace design, leadership, team working, organisational change and safety. The syllabus covers four of the five themes within the BPS framework for occupational psychology and is designed to complement PSYC3514 Applied Occupational Health Psychology (which covers the fifth BPS theme). For each topic, core psychological theory and examples of applied research in the domain will be explored. Throughout the module, a series of case studies in the application of work psychology research methods will be presented and the module will culminate in a substantial problem-based learning (PBL) component to provide students with an opportunity to apply and consolidate learning through self-directed research, group work and problem-solving.

Objectives

The primary objective of this module is to introduce students to core topics in the applied field of work and organisational psychology and to familiarise students with the ways in which psychological research and theory have been applied within an occupational setting. Through participation in the module, students will gain an understanding of professional roles and career paths in occupational/organisational psychology, along with an understanding of how psychologists can make contributions in parallel disciplines such as human factors engineering, management and safety. The teaching philosophy within the module will be to model a professional project team-based context, as commonly encountered where psychologists work in an organisational programme or consultancy role, through mixed learning methods including collaborative group work and student-led problem-based learning, in addition to faculty-led didactic teaching.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
LO1: Define the field of work psychology and articulate the key practical issues commonly addressed by psychologists in occupational and organisational settings
LO2: Understand common selection processes and the practice of psychometric testing in an occupational setting
LO3: Describe how psychological theory has been applied in the design of workplace training and staff development processes
LO4: Understand the practice of human factors, underlying sociotechnical theories and strategies to ensure workplace technologies are optimised for human use
LO5: Critically evaluate approaches to defining and measuring organisational culture
LO6: Understand approaches to overcome the challenges of organisational change, drawing upon common quality improvement frameworks and methods
LO7: Understand the human and organisational contributions to safety incidents and failures in complex work systems
LO8: Plan and execute strategies to apply knowledge from psychological research to applied problems, including active participation in interactive group work, self-directed research and problem-solving, making an effective presentation and providing feedback to colleagues.

Skills outcomes
Practice of psychometric assessment in an occupational setting
Design of psychologically-informed training and assessment
Use of human factors analysis techniques, including accident analysis
Construction of logic models/programme theory
Project-based semi-autonomous groupwork

Syllabus

1. Defining Work Psychology: theoretical and professional perspectives
2. Selection and psychometric assessment: fitting the person to the work
3. Training and development: Supporting vocational learning
4. Human factors in the design of tasks, technology and workplace: fitting the work to the person
5. Leadership, motivation and engagement
6. Work group psychology: Supporting the performance of teams
7. Organisational culture, change and quality improvement
8. Human error and systems failure
9. PBL Session 1: Syllabus review, problem brief and group work setup
10. PBL Session 2: Structured group work
11. PBL Session 3: Presentations and feedback (assessment)

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Presentation	1	3.00	3.00
Lectures	8	1.50	12.00
Seminars	2	2.00	4.00
Private study hours			131.00
Total Contact hours			19.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Students private study and independent learning will comprise:
1) Reading the recommended course-material, including searches and following up suggestions for broader reading to consolidate knowledge (64 hours)
2) Self-directed research to support module assessment tasks, including research to support module essay and in preparing presentations for the PBL assessed feedback session (60 hours)
3) Meeting and/or communicating with PBL colleagues to plan and organise group work and coordinate outputs (8 hours)

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored throughout by participation in lectures, sessions and groupwork and through feedback from faculty staff. Students are expected to contribute to interactive group work components and support their colleagues in the three Problem Based Learning sessions, including providing peer feedback. Student comments and queries during sessions and on the online discussion board will be monitored and addressed by module lecturers.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Project	Project Plan for Organisational Consultancy Case (2000 words)	70.00
Group Project	Problem Based Learning Task	30.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

PBL component will require student groups to submit a 15 minute pre-recorded presentation (if social distancing measures prevent face-to-face delivery) with a 10 minute real-time group Q&A session.  Resit assessment for the PBL component will take the form of an alternative individual PBL case and shorter presentation.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 05/02/2021 11:18:29

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