1999 Education Handbook - Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology (GradDipEdPsych)

Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology (GradDipEdPsych)

General information
Introduction to course
Objectives
Admission requirements
Credit provision
Course structure
Length of course/workload required
Further information

General information

Clayton campus
Course code: 0075
Contact: Associate Professor Geoff Molloy (please telephone 9905 2819 or 9905 2784 for initial inquiries)

The Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology course is a general theoretical and practical introduction to the professional practice of psychology in education and other applied settings. Some training is given in professional skills (for example, counselling, psychological assessment, research and remedial techniques) but this is not its main orientation.
The content of the graduate diploma has been accredited by the Australian Psychological Society as providing a fourth year of study in psychology and completion of the graduate diploma is prima facie a qualification for associate membership, provided that in addition to other requirements at least five of the six subjects are from relevant areas of psychology. When enrolling, students should seek advice about whether their proposed course meets the society's requirements.
Students are advised that an APS-accredited fifth and sixth-year program of study is available within the Master of Psychology degrees.

Objectives

The principal objectives of the Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology course are to provide students with:

the knowledge and skills relevant to the needs of practitioners who wish to work in applied settings such as schools, clinics and hospitals;
the necessary skills in research design and statistical analysis to conduct independent research;
the requisite knowledge of the psychological assumptions underlying professional practice as well as the legal and ethical requirements of professional practice;
technical competence in the administration of personality and cognitive scales and the interpretation of these measures;
skills in the analysis of factors affecting the acquisition of adaptive behaviour, its maintenance and the development of skills central to effective counselling;
a solid professional foundation which will enable the student to undertake the Master of Psychology (fifth and sixth-year) program.

Admission requirements

Selection is based on previous academic merit in degree studies, including a major sequence in psychology as approved by the Australian Psychological Society.

Credit provision

Applicants contemplating admission to this course may seek formal credit or recognition of prior learning. Applicants should apply for credit prior to enrolment but currently enrolled students may also apply. The Faculty of Education considers each application on its merits within the context of the faculty guidelines on credit transfer which are contained in a booklet Learning from experience available from the Professional Development Institute, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Gippsland campus, Churchill 3842 ($7 postage and packing).

Course structure

The course aims to establish a foundation of knowledge in areas such as counselling, psychological testing, and behaviour modification. The emphasis is theoretical rather than practical, and in order to develop the practical skills necessary to function as a psychologist, a period of supervised practice or further study in psychology (eg the MPsych offered in this faculty) should be undertaken following completion of the graduate diploma.
In addition, the course provides advanced training in the design, execution and analysis of research and each student completes an empirical research project.
To qualify for the graduate diploma a student must complete six subjects, including GED0150 (Professional issues in psychology), GED0151 and GED0152 (Empirical research in psychology parts I and II), GED0153 (Psychological assessment) and GED0155 (Behaviour change strategies). The remaining subject must be of a psychological nature, although it need not require a major sequence in psychology as a prerequisite, for instance GED0805 (Survey research methods) or GED0807 (Statistical analysis).
The subjects offered this year, for which a major sequence in psychology is a prerequisite, are as follows:

GED0150 Professional issues in psychology
GED0151 Empirical research in psychology part I
GED0152 Empirical research in psychology part II
GED0153 Psychological assessment
GED0155 Behaviour change strategies
GED0156 Introduction to counselling and health psychology

Length of course/workload required

Normally, the graduate diploma may be undertaken on campus either by full-time or by part-time study and must be completed in not less than one and not more than four years from the date of admission to candidature. The expected number of hours per week for a full-time student is forty-eight.

Further information

Students must obtain approval for their course of study from Associate Professor Geof Molloy or his deputies. Details of all subjects, including reading lists, follow the course information in this handbook.
Further information regarding this course may be obtained from the inquiry office, Faculty of Education, Clayton campus (telephone 9905 2819 or 9905 2784) or visit our web site at http://www.education.monash.edu.au/