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Home RTGs Educational Support and Inclusion Courses M.Ed in Educational Psychology

Educational Support and Inclusion - Courses

Educational Psychology Courses - M.Ed in Educational Psychology

Director: Dr Neil Humphrey

Description: This degree is designed for graduates who have not yet studied enough psychology to entitle them to the British Psychological Society's (BPS) Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR).

Key aims & objectives: To develop critical skills in the evaluation and analysis of current research, theory and practice in psychology and education

Content: The course will cover the full range of knowledge required by the BPS to enable students to apply for GBR:-

Biological Foundation of Behaviour; Perception, learning and memory; thinking and language; personality and intelligence; social psychology; developmental psychology; research design and quantitative methods. In addition each student is required to complete a practical component which comprises the dissertation.

The six core units for this programme are:

Semester 1

a) Research issues in psychology - this will cover qualitative methods of data collection and analysis and surveys. Assessment is by a) a critique of methodology of research papers and b) production of an outline proposal for the dissertation

b) Experimental methods and statistics - Quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. The quantitative methods will be taught experientially and analysis will be taught using SPSS. Assessment is by completion of a mini project.

c) Psychology of Child Development - this unit covers six main areas of research in child development. Students will work in small groups to plan, research and review current literature in order to deliver a seminar based around one of the topics. The tutors role will be to facilitate the students' own research and literature review. Assessment for this will be through peer assessment of poster presentation and seminar and an individual critical review of literature.

d) Developmental Cognitive Neuropsychology: this course unit will look at the biological basis of behaviour in relation to developmental disorders. It will focus on children with language, memory, reading, spelling, arithmetic and executive disorders. It will also look at various syndromes that have a neurological basis and the educational and developmental implications. Assessment will be by production of information packs suitable for parents and/or teachers about one developmental neurological disorder.

Semester 2

a) Psychology of learning and classroom processes - this unit takes a multi-paradigmic view of learning and behaviour. It investigates the effects of memory and metacognition, intelligence, personality, attitude, social environment, social cognition etc on learning outcomes in the classroom. Assessment is by two 2000 word assignments.

b) Alternative perspectives to educational difficulties - this unit looks at the practical side of dealing with children in the classroom who have intellectual, behavioural, emotional and cognitive difficulties. It will investigate the psychology behind the causes, assessment and interventions necessary to deal with such problems. Assessment of this unit is by one 4000 word assignment.

Timetable: The programme has been deliberately front loaded to allow full time students the maximum time to spend on their dissertation. In addition, as all course units are taught on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings the option of part time study is feasible with completion in two years. To facilitate this afternoon and evening courses rotate alternate years and, in semester 1 Tuesday and Thursday classes rotate. This give two possible routes through part time study. Route A all day Tuesday for 3 semesters with the dissertation being completed in semester 4. Route B evening study only. Semester 1 and 3 would have 2 evening attendances whilst semesters 2 and 4 would have Tuesday night attendance only. Again this gives maximum possibility of completing the dissertation within a two year period.

Structure: The M.Ed. is a modular course and is worth 180 UCET points divided between six course units each carrying 20 credits and a dissertation carrying 60 credits. Each course unit is normally a course of 12 weekly 2.5 hour sessions. In addition to this students will be expected to complete a further 170 hours of independent work for each course unit.

The course consists of 6 core course units that cover the eight areas required by the BPS. Students who show evidence of study at masters level in which there is substantial overlap of course unit content may be granted Accredited Prior Learning credit.

Registration: September annually. Full-time students are discouraged from registering in January as this delays submission of a dissertation proposal until the Research Methods and statistics course has been completed.

Duration: 1 year full-time, or 2 years part-time

Participants: Graduates with an interest in Educational Psychology; people who wish to obtain GBR (see entry requirements)

Entry requirements: All students must have an honours degree from an approved university and preferably a teaching qualification and teaching experience. For those hoping to get GBR see below for additional qualifications.

This M. Ed. Programme is accredited by the BPS as a Conversion Award that provides the opportunity for graduates to become eligible for Graduate Membership of the Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Registration. To be eligible for GBR graduates must ensure that they meet the following entry requirements:
an honours degree in psychology which has not been accredited by the society OR ordinary degree in psychology (not a pass degree) OR an honours degree in another subject (not a pass degree) in which 60 credits at level 2 or 3 were passed in psychology OR an honours degree in a subject other than psychology AND have undertaken a foundation programme in psychology prior to entry to the award.

A foundation course should be at least at level 2 or 3 of an honours degree such as one of the OU course units e.g. exploring psychology or child development. From January 2004, the Faculty of Education will be offering its own foundation course, the Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology of Education

Teaching staff: Dr Neil Humphrey, Prof. Peter Farrell and other lecturers from the Educational Support and Inclusion teaching and research group. All staff are qualified psychologists.

Teaching methods: We take a varied and often innovative approach to teaching and learning. You will experience lectures, enquiry based learning, seminars, tutorials, small group work, experiential and laboratory work. We encourage both individual and co-operative learning and research and hope to foster an ethos of life-long-learning. As most of our students are experienced teachers we appreciate the wealth of knowledge and practical experience you bring with you on the course. During research-based learning sessions we encourage you to use all sources of information including each other. You will receive comprehensive training in the use of electronic databases, library resources, and computer based statistics packages. Many other key skills will be developed during the course of the programme.

Assessment: The form of the assessments varies from unit to unit. Written assessment will normally be either two 2000 word or one 4000 word essay, literature review or mini project. Additional assessment may be based on group presentations. All assessments will be followed by both formative and summative feedback. The dissertation is the report of an empirical research project investigating some aspect of psychology as applied to education in its broadest sense. It is 12-20,000 words long.

Course fees: Overseas full time £7,200
(2001-02) UK/EU full time £2,740
UK/EU part time over 2 years £1,370
UK/EU by modular study £335 per course unit plus a dissertation registration fee equivalent to two course units of study.

How to apply: Application forms and further details from Janet Grimshaw, Postgraduate Admissions Office, Faculty of Education, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Tel: 0161 275

Further details of the programme are available on the programme website at:

www.education.man.ac.uk/mededpsy