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The Teaching Qualitative Psychology Group (TQP) is a group of experienced academics supporting the sharing of best practice in the teaching and supervision of qualitative research methods in psychology. In this paper the group share their knowledge and practice suggestions with a specific focus on supporting academics who do not come from a qualitative research background, but who are supervising qualitative dissertations. This paper will explore why quantitative researchers may want to supervise qualitative dissertations and suggest ways in which this methodological shift might be managed well in the context of the undergraduate project as well as some practical advice for a valuable supervision experience.

This paper presents some possibilities for applying the linguistic and psychological theories of two dialogists, Mikhail Bakhtin and Jacques Lacan, to the classroom. There is a short summary of how the two theories may interact with each other and then a discussion of their two opposing views of identity formation. Bakhtin was a Russian, coming from the collectivist paradigm and Lacan's theories were arcane combinations of Freud's emphasis on the needs of the individual and French post-Revolutionary individualism. Lacan insisted that one could only become "whole" at the cost of incompleteness for another. Bakhtin opined that completeness could only be achieved within experiences shared and co-constructed by others. This paper concludes with the question of how teachers can ensure the positive experience of co-construction rather than one person paying a cost for the other's identity-formation and whether it is possible to fully implement insights from a collectivistic paradigm in an education system where the stated aim is to enable each individual to meet his/her potential. (Contains 1 figure and 1 footnote.)

In his article, "Reflections on 50 years of teaching psychology", James Hartley concludes that the teaching of psychology has changed relatively little over the past several decades. Hartley begins his paper on a personal note with recollections of his first university teaching experience at Keele University. In his paper Hartley comments on the many changes in the Keele psychology department over the past 40 years. There has been some suggestion that technology might offer a solution for some of pressures, and indeed systems such as WebCT and Moodle have proved effective for course management and have streamlined a lot of routine teaching tasks. But on the whole the author agrees with James Hartley that most educational technologies have served to reinforce traditional (didactic) teaching practices rather than empowering the sort of teaching and assessment changes that educational research suggests are needed. Another factor in changing teaching is the academic reward structure which increasingly emphasises research and publications, even if it means neglecting undergraduate students. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

Sixteen papers on the general theme of the "place" of psychology, particularly in higher education, arose from the author's paper "Psychology in its place." Several themes emerge from the disparate contributions. The author discusses two papers which directly comment on his original one, the papers of John Newland and Tom Dickins. Psychology in the political context, and the nature of Psychology as a discipline, are two issues raised in the papers. There are several more, variously discussed by different authors. And of course individual authors also raise unique points. The author opines that the most general matter concerns the nature of higher education, and what should be its aims. The author also discusses other issues raised, namely the content of psychology degrees, and "psychology for all". He argues that psychology is, in principle and often in practice, relevant to virtually every aspect of life, from day-to-day interaction with others to major world problems of war, famine, disease and so on.

Early in his paper, Radford discusses the origins of Western universities and argues that they were designed to provide a "very practical preparation for life and particularly for the professions, specifically law, medicine and theology." Radford then mentions how a core part of such education was grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. Radford's purpose is to emphasise the practical nature of university education from the start and to imply that this should be its aim now. Throughout much of the paper he discusses the putative benefits of psychology and in so doing he is commenting on the nature of the modern world and its demands. Radford espouses a strange relativism about the subject, arguing that people ought to take seriously the "psychologies" of other cultures and embrace allied disciplines. This author does not share Radford's anthropocentric vision of psychology, which is about all behaving creatures, but rather advocates organising psychology along Niko Tinbergen's lines, which have emerged from the production of knowledge in the behavioural sciences and from a recognition of the explanatory requirements. The author's advocacy of Tinbergen comes from scientific judgement. In effect, market forces have tested Tinbergen's framework and the market has decided that it has value. The author argues that this market has not fully included psychologists who make curriculum decisions and claims that psychologists should pay attention to those in the human evolutionary behavioural sciences. Dickins stresses that academic psychology must be allowed to pursue scientific methods, develop new theories and falsify old, change frameworks, and follow particular interests as the market of ideas dictates. (Contains 1 footnote.)

The drives to internationalise the UK curriculum and psychology students' desires to work in communities are brought together in this paper. International community-based learning (ICBL) links with many psychology students' motivations to make contributions to others; with the potential to enhance students' learning and cultural sensitivities. The recently-developed literature on international service learning highlights multiple benefits for students (and sometimes community hosts), as well as the potential tensions that need to be negotiated. With the intentions of creating global citizens interested in social justice, community-based engagement can sometimes reinforce preconceived notions. In addition, benefits to the host communities may only be short-term or questionable, with less research on community partners' perspectives than on those of the students. This paper describes work with UK psychology students who undertook CBL in four different international settings (2008--2015); illustrating the complexities of setting up, facilitating and supporting students' CBL. It will then focus on two African settings (South Africa and Tanzania), with data drawn from group discussions with students, post-experience reflections, observations by the accompanying tutor and feedback from community partners. The findings show the richness of students' learning through CBL in both settings, including deeper insight into applications of psychological theory, the skills they enhanced and the emotional impacts of the work. Students reported changed perspectives, including greater awareness of social issues that impacted on their attitudes. The findings are explored and compared, using tools from Activity Theory, to illustrate points of confluence and tensions in such initiatives, when students, community partners and academic staff members interact. The discussion will reflect on what might guide the integration and optimising of ICBL to benefit both students and community partners.

Over recent years, psychology has become increasingly concerned with reproducibility and replicability of research findings (Munafò et al., 2017). One method of ensuring that research is hypothesis driven, as opposed to data driven, is the process of publicly pre-registering a study's hypotheses, data analysis plan, and procedure prior to data collection (Nosek et al., 2018). This paper discusses the potential benefits of introducing pre-registration to the undergraduate dissertation. The utility of pre-registration as a pedagogic practice within dissertation supervision is also critically appraised, with reference to open science literature. Here, it is proposed that encouraging pre-registration of undergraduate dissertation work may alleviate some pedagogic challenges, such as statistics anxiety, questionable research practices, and research clarity and structure. Perceived barriers, such as time and resource constraints, are also discussed.

Embedding employability in higher education is a key Teaching Excellence Framework requirement, and psychology departments across the UK recognise that this is indeed important for students' employability prospects. The Final Year Research Project is the most important independent piece of work that psychology undergraduate students undertake, contributing considerably to the overall degree classification. Therefore, it can provide a fertile ground for embedding employability and allows for innovation in teaching and supervision of projects. Yet, based on our extensive Final Year Research Project supervision and coordination experience, this opportunity tends to be overlooked by psychology departments, project coordinators and supervisors; often resulting in projects being given insufficient attention in students' job and further study applications and interviews. In this practice exchange paper, we first detail how employability is built into Years One and Two of our undergraduate degree, before outlining how it is integrated in Year Three within Final Year Research Projects. We then describe and discuss several initiatives that we developed and implemented to embed employability in Final Year Research Projects. We developed the 3R approach to helping students Recognise and Reflect on their skill development and Relate them to the next step in their career.

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is committed to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching for all university students in the UK, and the inaugural conference for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, held in April 2012 at Imperial College, London, aimed to showcase research and evidence-based educational innovation in the STEM subjects, including psychology. The research presented in this paper includes nine of the papers presented at the conference, which demonstrate the high quality pedagogical work taking place in the discipline. Before introducing the research, the authors discuss the context in which the conference took place, highlighting the place of psychology within STEM.

This paper focuses on widening participation and accessibility in relation to mental health issues and undergraduate psychology students. Sections 1 and 2 set the context and outline the scope and aims of this paper. Section 3 presents evidence of the student experience from the Improving Provisions for Disabled Psychology Students (IPDPS) project. Students in this project all had some form of disability as defined by the DDA (2005). Section 4 provides examples of ways in which learning and teaching about mental health can be designed from an inclusive and accessible perspective. These examples are drawn from work done by the Mental Health in Higher Education (mhhe) project in conjunction with the Psychology Network. Finally, Section 5 notes that research into other minority groups studying psychology reflects very similar findings to those reported about mental health and psychology teaching and learning, and also highlights the need for further research into these areas.

As J. Radford (2008) points out in "Psychology in its place," the question of what role psychology should play in Higher Education is merely a subsection of the question, what is (Higher) Education for? In light of the large number of psychology undergraduates who do not go on to pursue careers in psychology, Radford argues cogently for a re-evaluation of the content and purpose of the psychology degree. This article presents the author's response to J. Radford's paper. This brief response goes further to examine the coherence of the current provision for studying psychology in post-compulsory education in the UK, and to ask whether the time has come to think more widely about the role psychology could play in the education of all children in the UK, through its inclusion in the compulsory school curriculum. There are practical problems involved with introducing psychology into the compulsory school curriculum and, justifiably, teachers will say that the curriculum is already too crowded. The author stresses that it is possible, therefore, that greater integration of psychology into the school curriculum could have the effect of reducing the gender imbalance. In Radford's terms, the teachers' challenge is to decide how the discipline of psychology should be presented by psychology the subject at each educational level, taking into account the aims of the course, the aspirations of the students and, at higher levels, the requirements of professional bodies. In presenting a coherent picture of the discipline of psychology to their students, teachers should ensure that, even at more basic levels, the subject of psychology emphasises the scientific nature of psychology the discipline.

This paper argues for community psychology to be included within the discipline boundaries of psychology. In doing this, it will enable psychology to begin to address some of the large scale social issues affecting people's well-being. It will be necessary, however, to incorporate aspects of other disciplines, make explicit the political dimensions of psychological knowledge and practice, and adopt an action-oriented, more student-centred approach to learning. The paper will draw on student experiences to illustrate the value of community psychology learning. Radford (2008) raised a number of issues challenging the boundaries of the discipline of psychology and the relevance of an education in psychology as overseen by the British Psychological Society. In this paper, Kagan will further the case for a psychology that addresses real world issues and goes beyond its current boundaries. In doing this, she will explore the extent to which community psychology is contained within the boundary of psychology, the challenges that an emergent community psychology might make to the parent discipline, and the benefits to students of community based learning of community psychology.

Statistics anxiety is extremely common in undergraduate psychology students. The Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) is at present the most widely used measure to assess statistics anxiety, measuring six distinct scales: test and class anxiety, interpretation anxiety, fear of asking for help, worth of statistics, fear of statistics teachers and computational self-concept. In this paper we first review the existing research that uses the STARS with psychology undergraduates. We then provide an analysis of the factor and reliability analysis of the STARS measure using a sample of undergraduate psychology students (N=315). Factor analysis of the STARS yielded nine factors, rather than the six it is intended to measure, with some items indicating low reliability, as demonstrated by low factor loadings. On the basis of these data, we consider the further development and refinement of measures of statistics anxiety in psychology students. Keywords: STARS, psychology, statistics anxiety.

This paper explores: (a) the impact of psychology education governance on our understanding of subjectivity and (b) how this functions for neoliberal capitalist structures. The ways-of-knowing, power relations and perceptions of subjectivity are approached through texts selected from official documents governing the curriculum, and qualitative interviews with psychology students, including postgraduates with teaching responsibilities. Discourse is analysed using Foucauldian theory. The key findings are that a positivist psychology curriculum (a) is largely market driven, (b) is a way-of-knowing that subjugates and objectifies the subject (c) works to substantiate individualist discourses and that, finally, (d) despite claims of neutrality, constructs a subject that works to meet neoliberal capitalist objectives.

This paper describes one aspect of a larger scale qualitative study conducted to investigate psychology-specific issues in learning and teaching in higher education. Participants included academic psychologists from across the career spectrum and from diverse UK universities. A semi-structured focus group methodology was employed, and results were analysed using thematic analysis. A key theme related to the nature of psychology, with a subtheme of teaching sensitive topics. For our purposes, we define "sensitive topics" as topics within the psychology curriculum that may elicit an emotional or distressed response amongst learners. Psychology engages students in academic study and assessment that is relevant to their own personal circumstances or that they can find upsetting. Participants noted particular challenges when teaching sensitive topics, but also observed the value of doing so for students and society more widely. We explore the perceptions of university teachers with regard to teaching sensitive topics in psychology, reflect on the implications within higher education, and by extrapolation, within pre-tertiary education. We close with recommendations for curriculum developers and educators within both sectors.

Research has shown that educators may be reluctant to implement group work in their teaching due to concerns about students partaking in off-task behaviours. However, such off-task interactions have been shown to promote motivation, trust, and rapport-building. This paper details a study in which student groups were video recorded as they engaged in problem-based learning tutorials, with the aim of examining the social interaction within such settings. Eighty-five hours of data were collected from nine groups, with discursive psychology being used to analyse how group cohesion is constructed through off-topic talk such as gossiping and teasing. Two case studies are detailed in which we demonstrate how cohesion is established through a process of collective action against the "other": highlighting the differences between "us" and "them", and how this can impact on group dynamics. There is often a discrepancy between self-reported and observed behaviour in groups and so the more we know about what actually happens in such environments, the better placed we are to support student learning. The paper concludes with recommendations on how analyses of social interaction and the management of psychological issues in problem-based learning tutorials can inform the use of problem-based learning as a teaching and learning approach.

Due to the empirical nature of the discipline, psychology students, during the course of their degree, are required to become proficient with a range of quantitative methods. Unfortunately many of these students experience high levels of maths anxiety, which can have a damaging effect on this aspect of their educational development. The first study in this paper used focus groups to identify, from psychology undergraduate and postgraduate students, potential interventions that could be used to reduce anxiety in an undergraduate sample. The second study implemented those interventions that were deemed valid and practical on a sample of 246 psychology first and second year undergraduates. The effectiveness of these interventions was mixed, but does suggest further avenues that tertiary educational institutions could take to reduce maths anxiety in their student body, in particular enhancing the use of real-life examples in quantitative methods teaching.

The concept of psychological literacy has grown in importance within psychology education at all levels, in the UK and globally, in recent years. Increasingly, psychology educators and policy makers are seeking to emphasise the relevance and usefulness of psychology within everyday life, within the workplace, and as an element of global citizenship. The Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DART-P), recognising this recent development, hosted a symposium at the British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference 2015, at which the concept of psychological literacy was explored within the context of higher and pre-tertiary psychology education. The aim of the symposium, reflected in this article, was to explore current thinking, developments and practice within contemporary psychology education, with a view to stimulating critical discussion and reflection on psychological literacy and its delivery within both pre-tertiary and higher education contexts. Ultimately, the symposium, and this article, are intended to facilitate exploration of the opportunities provided by psychology education, at all levels, to develop students as psychologically literate citizens. This article summarises the talks and discussions which occurred during the symposium. Firstly, we introduce the concept and literature surrounding psychological literacy and its importance to modern psychology education. This is followed by a case study illustrating one way in which psychological literacy has been embedded into the curriculum within a university undergraduate programme. We move to consider the development of thinking about psychological literacy in a historical context, linking it to societal benefits and Miller's (1969) concept of "giving psychology away." This raises the question of the extent to which pre-tertiary psychology education can equip students with psychological literacy, and the impact of the growing numbers of people who have studied psychology upon society. In England and Wales, the most popular pre-tertiary psychology qualification is the A level, which has undergone recent revisions, and so we consider the contribution of the new A level psychology specifications to psychological literacy. In conclusion, this paper offers some thoughts about the implications of the growth in emphasis on education for psychological literacy, reflecting the discussions held during the plenary session at the end of the symposium.

In George Miller's famous address to the American Psychological Association in 1969 he explored the aims and future direction of psychology. Psychology could develop as a professional elite that develops specialised knowledge that experts can hold on to or it could aim to "give psychology away" and to allow the general public access to psychological knowledge that will be of benefit to them. In so doing it will create "a new and different public conception of what is humanly possible and humanly desirable." This vision is being realised 50 years on by the wide dissemination of psychology knowledge through, for example, university school courses in the subject, and the growth of psychological literacy in the general public. This paper discusses issues raised by this and the implications for the profession of psychology and the perception of psychology in the general public are discussed.

Improving students' psychological literacy has become a key part of the new British Psychological Society accreditation. This is fuelling an emphasis on helping students to apply their degree knowledge critically and innovatively, both to enhance their chances in a competitive job market and to give them the skills to make a real-world difference. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a module that boosts psychological literacy in final year undergraduates. We invited external partners to give us examples of current problems they were facing. We then asked groups of students to design a feasible solution to the problem, supported by psychological theories and findings. The module also helped students explore the psychology behind job hunting. We found that the module had a beneficial impact on students' learning and skills and the external partners found their ideas useful and innovative. Here we outline the challenges and successes of our approach as a model for any colleagues who may be interested in developing their own teaching in this area.

Photo elicitation theoretically located under Creative Analytic Practice was set as an assessment on a taught postgraduate programme. In groups of three to four, 30 students acted as both researcher and participant. Group topics were self-selected, each member took five photographs that group members reflected on. Topics chosen were varied and students reflexively critically reported their experience of the method. The power of photo elicitation saw some students engage in a cathartic journey which pedagogically raised concern. This paper reports both the potential and creativity of photo elicitation but also discusses and makes suggestions on how to overcome ethical issues.

The challenges facing UK higher education are both well documented and controversial; however, pitted against this context is the requirement for psychology departments to provide an increasingly rich and diverse university experience for students, whilst ensuring progression and retention remain central to undergraduate provision. Despite the recognition that induction is of upmost importance in ensuring a successful transition from pretertiary to higher education, many universities are faced with changing budgets in the post-Browne era (Browne, 2010) across all aspects of academic life. Such a challenge presents departments with a unique paradox since student expectations continue to rise as the dominance of consumerism reaches fruition, whilst budgets continue to decrease. In acknowledging the importance of induction for both the overall student experience and for retention, the University of Worcester designed and successfully implemented an induction programme on a considerably reduced budget. A satisfaction questionnaire was completed by 136 undergraduate students inducted in 2011 and the results compared to those of 87 students from 2010 (where the induction budget was considerably higher). The results indicate similar levels of satisfaction and engagement with induction activities and whilst an off-site activity remains key to the success of induction, such an activity doesn't have to present considerable expense. This paper provides an overview of designing an induction programme on a reduced budget, presents satisfaction results from undergraduate students who completed induction in both 2010 and 2011, and presents suggestions for best practice in the design of induction events for psychology undergraduates.

Although assessment is acknowledged as being of central importance to the student learning experience, assessment practices have been consistently highlighted as one of the weakest features by the Quality Assurance Agency and identified by many as a crisis within higher education. This paper explores the use of Patchwork Text Assessment within a level 6 undergraduate psychology module and considers the potential of this method for enhancing the learning experiences of psychology undergraduates, facilitating the process of self-reflection and allowing students to make explicit the nature of their learning "journey". (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This paper seeks to add to the discussion surrounding young adults' relationship and engagement with learning technologies, exploring whether they naturally engage with these technologies when the use of them is either compulsory or optional. We discuss our findings in relation to whether young people are truly engaging with technologies or whether they are simply passive consumers of some technology, and unenthusiastic innovators in others. Participants in the UK (N = 6, Mean Age 20.66, undergraduate psychology students) provided their responses to a short series of face-to-face interviews using open-ended questions designed to elicit a critical exploration of their learning experience with particular emphasis on learning technologies. Participants in the US (N = 26, Mean Age = 22.38, pre-service teachers) responded to a series of short open-ended questions submitted online using asynchronous video journals uploaded to a private classroom space on YouTube. We found that young people are generally unenthusiastic users of learning technologies, which has significant implications for the educational sector in the UK and the US, as many of our participants are pre-service teachers. At a time when great emphasis is being placed on increasing student access to technologies in the classroom to enrich the learning experience, and to offer greater opportunity for understanding and discovery of information, trainee educators seem reluctant to engage with many types of educational technologies.

Purpose: The first purpose of this paper is to review the practical and theoretical distinctions between training and development in the organisational psychology and human resource development (HRD) literatures. Then the paper seeks to investigate how managers responsible for the training and development function conceptualise these activities in practice, the factors that guide their decision making, how they evaluate the outcomes and the extent to which they perceive a relationship between training and development. Design/methodology/approach: Taking a critical realist perspective, 26 interviews were conducted with UK managers and analysed through thematic coding using template analysis. Findings: Managers' conceptualisations of training and development vary. Formal training is prioritised due to a perceived more tangible demonstrable return on investment. Perceived success in training focuses on improvements to job-related skills, whereas success outcomes for development are more varied and difficult to measure. Managers consider that training and development are more valuable when combined. Research limitations/implications: There is a need for further process-driven research to understand the interrelationship between training and development and to develop methods that can be used by organisations to evaluate both. This necessitates going beyond methods currently in use and including both qualitative and quantitative measures. Practical implications: Managers may take a more proactive and directive role in facilitating development than the literature suggests; consequently, their role needs to be considered more actively in HRD learning strategies. Originality/value: This is one of the first qualitative studies to explore the conceptualisations of managers responsible for training and development, highlighting the inter-relationship betweentraining and development and the factors guiding decisions regarding these activities. (Contains 3 tables.)

The contribution of the discipline of geography to the field of education is complex since they have both been dependent upon the contributions of other social science disciplines, particularly those in the mainstream of social sciences (economics, sociology and political science). Indeed, the number of researchers who would consider themselves as working within the sub-discipline of the geography of education is small, but apparently growing. While the paper suggests that to date there has been relatively little debate at the intersection of these two fields of enquiry it goes on to propose that the potential contribution this would have for both fields remains significant. The pivotal contribution of geography to all the social sciences, that of space (and place), has been central to UK education research since the early origins of a national education system and the roles education and curricular developments have played in nation building. The role of space has also featured heavily in analyses of territorial justice and governance at the level of local authorities and further down in scale to spatial analyses of the classroom. But in order to fully appreciate its contribution the paper utilises the related concept of "scale" to systematically explore the relationship between space and education, in terms of its analytical, theoretical and methodological uses. The paper also considers the recent "spatial turn" in education (and the social sciences more generally) and the equivalent focus on education matters within the field of human geography. In developing this approach it becomes apparent where interdisciplinary research across and between the disciplines of geography and education remains limited and what further contributions from geography would be beneficial to the field of education. (Contains 2 notes and 5 figures.)

In this article, the author shares his response to James Hartley's "Reflections on 50 years of teaching psychology". Hartley concludes that the teaching of psychology has changed relatively little over the past several decades. The author states that his way of teaching now is very different from his way of 1975. This essay is about the difference. It is the result of more than three decades of research informing teaching through a theory called the "theory of successful intelligence". The author contends that Hartley is correct that, in general, the teaching of psychology has not changed much in 50 years. But it can and should. It is time to teach in a way that allows all motivated students to succeed, not just those who happen to learn in traditional ways. (Contains 2 tables.)

There have been great changes in the numbers of students studying psychology at degree level in the UK since 1961--the year the author graduated. And, similarly there have been great changes in what is taught--with an ever-widening set of theoretical developments and practical applications. Nonetheless, despite these developments, the author argues that the teaching of psychology has not altered very much in its approach during the last 50 years. Lectures, tutorials, lab classes and essay-type examinations still dominate the timetable. In this article, the author shares his reflections on 50 years of teaching psychology. (Contains 9 footnotes.)

In this paper we discuss the development and running of a residential animal behaviour field trip. The trip has a number of elements that challenge and develop the students. First, this trip is open to students at levels two, three and M. This allows us to engineer a certain amount of peer assisted learning. Second, the students live together and have to cook and maintain the property. This leads to teamwork and sensible methods of dealing with disagreement. Third, the academic work is curiosity led. We expose the students to a number of field sites and allow questions to naturally emerge. From these questions we can develop project hypotheses. Fourth, the students develop appropriate methods for observation and analysis. Fifth, theory is gradually introduced through discussion in the field, the accommodation and at a drop in surgery at the tavern where they can talk one-to-one with a staff member. Finally, when back at university, they can engage in more formal supervision to complete their project. The benefits of this approach are many but include developing a sense of the scientific process, which is lacking in the more prescriptive class-based assessments that typically form research methods teaching. Finally, all of the students report feeling better prepared for future scientific project work.

Within the UK, traditional subject-specific areas are increasingly being complemented by the provision of opportunities to foster students' personal development planning as an aide to support their future employment and lifelong learning. This paper describes an action research project which examined employability skills within a psychology department's curriculum. The first cycle involved conducting a curriculum audit, focus groups and a survey of psychology undergraduates' views on employability. Analysis of the findings suggested a strong focus on development of generic graduate skills, such as communication, IT and working with others, whilst students had difficulty in recognising the applicability of these skills beyond an educational context. Furthermore, examples of explicit career development planning were minimal in both module information documentation and undergraduates' accounts. After a process of evaluation and reflection, the second cycle involved embedding employability skills into the psychology curriculum. The process is described along with discussion on methodological issues and the benefits and challenges of embedding employability in a curriculum. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

The European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) supports students to pursue temporary periods of study in other European universities. During the academic year 2007/08 the UK received 15, 975 ERASMUS students. Although much research exists about the experiences of international students less attention has been given to the specific disciplines of study and the ways this might mediate the experience. With this in mind this paper is based on a piece of work currently in progress with ERASMUS students from Poland who have engaged in an exchange onto the final year of a UK Psychology degree course. Observations are made about the relative compatibility of Psychology in Poland and Britain by considering the course structure, curriculum and modes of assessment. Interview data is drawn on to explore the students' accounts of their experiences of studying Psychology in the UK. Findings indicate that that there are some contrasting pedagogical and epistemological areas within the two systems which make integrating them a challenge for students. It is suggested that flexibility is required in order to better accommodate the students prior learning experiences. (Contains 1 table.)

In this article, the authors offer an account of a free-ranging discussion highlighting common features of psychology provision and that considers the differences between two departments and two distinct programmes. The discussion took place between ERASMUS partners during a Teacher Exchange visit to the University of Wroclaw, Poland, in March 2011. ERASMUS exchange programmes have been running since 1987 and offer students opportunities to travel and learn in universities across Europe where agreements are signed between member institutions. The European Higher Education Area looks to bring comparable academic standards and quality assurance to universities and thus enable greater movement between countries. In practice this means that students can have their work in one country recognised as being equivalent to that in another through the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). In 2010 over 22000 students visited the UK as part of an ERASMUS exchange.

The participation of people from ethnic minorities in UK higher education is greater than that of White people. Nevertheless, students from ethnic minorities are less likely to obtain "good" degrees (those awarded with first or upper second-class honours) than are White students. This article discusses some possible causes and implications of this attainment gap. It is equally apparent in graduates who have taken courses by distance learning with the Open University, including those who graduate in psychology, and it is equally apparent in the grades awarded to students who have taken the courses that make up the psychology degree. This pattern may apply to other groups who are the focus of attempts to widen access to UK higher education. It is premature to promote the idea of widening participation in such groups unless they can be guaranteed equity in terms of their subsequent attainment. (Contains 5 tables.)

The argument presented here is that the teaching of psychology in the UK is focused on the learning of technical skills and is missing the opportunity to enthuse and inspire students in the personal science. This focus mirrors a general educational drive in the UK towards achievement at external examinations which are assessed by narrow cognitive tasks. The modern tools of education such as Virtual Learning Environments have largely been used to track and monitor students rather than to widen their ideas about learning. Assessments have likewise gravitated towards simple tests while also retaining the redundant task of the unseen essay. This paper considers these developments and discusses alternatives.

Since its introduction in the early 1970s A-level psychology has grown in popularity to become the fourth most popular A-level. During this time it has also been heavily criticised by the media and higher education for its lack of rigour and practicability. Issues such as the lack of subject specialists, damaging changes made by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and an arrogant and dismissive attitude shown by universities plus failures by the British Psychological Society to inform decision making, have transformed A-level psychology into the poor cousin of undergraduate psychology and psychology teachers into a form of academic underclass. This paper examines the reasons behind such derision and attempts to offer some solutions in an attempt to get such issues firmly back on the agenda.

John Radford's original article (Radford, 2008a) asked some hard questions about the content and purpose of a degree in psychology. The original article prompted a number of replies and a rejoinder from Radford (2008b). In the spirit of carrying on the discussion started by Radford and others, this article offers two personal perspectives on our current state. The first is from a careworn academic who suggests, basically, that psychology at degree level needs to sort out its priorities: the agenda for achieving this should include the identity of psychology within universities, its relationship with A-level psychology, and attention to teaching. The second perspective is from a new psychology graduate who reflects on how his experiences match the situation Radford describes and the consequent lack of intellectual depth in the psychology curriculum. It is suggested that the way out of the state we are in lies in the hands of universities, decidedly not the British Psychological Society.

The education of nurses, midwives and allied health care professionals in the UK is guided by professional bodies and the over arching Health Professionals Council (HPC)/Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Each of these professional bodies provides regulatory frameworks and guidance notes on the educational content of the degree level programmes that underpin the included profession. The professional and regulatory bodies oversee the educational requirements of the individual professions and suggest the key topics and curriculum content that have to be both studied and completed in order for the individual student to be considered a proficient practitioner in that area. These regulatory frameworks and the guidance from the professional bodies all mention the need for psychology to be contained within the educational experience. However, as a general rule there is, unsurprisingly, a greater focus on other topics within the curriculum for health care professionals. Why is this? Why isn't psychology a core subject? Why shouldn't psychology be a central focus within the health care curriculum? In this paper, the author explores these issues, with a focus on the place of psychology within the health care professionals' curriculum. Specifically, the author examines (1) the nature of curriculum content of the health care professionals; (2) why curriculum content is important; (3) studies of curriculum content; and (4) how the curriculum content should be chosen. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Radford argues that psychology needs to be of greater value to psychology students, regardless of whether they intend to enter professional practice. He also suggests that psychology should be part of everybody's education, on the basis that human behaviour lies at the heart of the most serious problems facing humanity. This author agrees very much with these general points, but in considering what the content of a psychology degree should be he believes that it is also important to bear in mind some realities about the nature of human learning. In this article, Hardman first briefly reviews some of the literature on how well students remember material over the very long-term (i.e. weeks, months, and years). In the second part, he argues: (1) that evolutionary psychology should be at the heart of the curriculum; and (2) that there should be a greater emphasis on techniques and methodologies. (Contains 1 footnote.)

In this study we report the findings that we obtained when we repeated a study conducted approximately 10 years ago. In the initial study we found that mature students did as well as traditional-entry ones in first-year essays and examinations. However, they did less well initially when writing laboratory reports. In this replication study these results were reversed. This time our mature students did as well as the traditional entry-ones on their laboratory reports, better than the traditional-entry ones at essay writing, but worse on their examinations. Some possible causes for these findings are discussed, and the paper concludes by examining the final degree performance (some two years later) of these two groups of students. Here there were no significant differences between them. (Contains 4 tables.)

Having just completed a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree, this author feels well placed to offer a student's perspective on John Radford's provocative article, "Psychology in its place". Although Radford discussed a number of relevant areas regarding psychology in higher education, Cartmell aims to discuss one main issue that many psychology undergraduates have to face and that is the Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR). She will be focusing on one of the main assumptions of the GBR which is that all psychology students want to and/or will be entering the world of "professional psychology." She will then discuss how this assumption can result in an inflexibility to adapt the course content and overall university experience for those students who do not chose professional psychology. Finally, she will conclude by suggesting that in its present state GBR is failing many graduates who choose to enter the world of work rather than continue on into postgraduate education.

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are becoming more common in UK psychology departments and the need to assess their reliability is apparent. Having examined the reliability of MCQs in our department we faced many questions from colleagues about why we were examining reliability, what it was that we were doing, and what should be reported when examining the reliability of MCQ exams. This paper addresses the most frequently asked questions. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 5 footnotes.)

To obtain their degree, final year students of psychology in the UK normally complete a set of examination papers and a dissertation, and the marks obtained for these pieces of work are usually combined with marks obtained for coursework completed in the second year. With joint-honours degrees the marks obtained for psychology are combined with those obtained for the other subject. Here we comment on some of the difficulties inherent in these procedures and focus, in particular, on how student excellence/exceptionality may be inadvertently suppressed.

In this article, the author comments on John Radford's article "Psychology in its place," which makes some keen observations around the current status of psychology education. The author's response focuses on undergraduate psychology education and the "responsible autonomy" of psychology educators. The author, as administrator, expects psychology undergraduates to learn a body of knowledge but not as an end in itself. She believes that it is the ability to understand, extend or apply their knowledge that will be most useful to themselves in a personal context and in their role in society. Psychology educators have a responsibility to help potential and current students understand what is involved in studying psychology, to prepare them to "think psychologically" and to develop skills that can be applied in the real world. The author emphasizes that designing a viable educational framework to acquire, develop and practise these skills is every bit as important as determining the finer details of course content.

The employability of psychology graduates is not only related to the content of the degree, what one might call the "hard" measures, but is also underscored by the intellectual and personal development afforded by studying psychology, the "soft" measures. Employers need to know that psychology graduates have something to contribute to their business and the only way they can know this is if teachers give them the appropriate data. This author believes that teachers can achieve this by employing a variety of assessments and devising them so they are more "authentic." In order to design authentic assessments, teachers need to reflect upon their core beliefs about their subject. MacAndrew argues that teachers should shift focus and examine the transformational effects upon an individual who has studied psychology. She also argues that appropriate assessment can better meet the needs of employers. MacAndrew's research (2008) shows that when students undertake authentic assessments they appreciate that the assignments require a greater level of understanding than that required by essays and examinations. Importantly, they report that the demands of the task identify for them what it means to be a psychology graduate. Finally, such assessments help the students to better see the relevance of their subject to their future career. (Contains 1 footnote.)

In "Psychology in its place" (2008), John Radford considers "what is or should be the "place" of Psychology in education, more particularly Higher Education". In this article, the author looks at the possible inclusion of coaching psychology within undergraduate psychology programmes. Coaching psychology as an applied area of psychology underpinned by a body of theory and research could have a positive impact upon individuals, organisations and society. Radford states that in the Higher Education context itself, Psychology continues to be in demand, while large majority of students who gain their psychology degree, do not enter the restricted psychology professions. Radford also states that standard psychology degrees include little on personal values and beliefs. The author believes this may be the crux of the debate--developing a psychology degree to become more relevant to professional practice. The author explains that perhaps the introduction of more applied areas in the graduate degree programmes may help with retention rates in psychology and prepare the graduates for their future careers in a variety of professional fields.

John Radford's stimulating article on psychology within higher education includes a paragraph on the context of psychology taught as a degree subject. He suggests that while statistics has an established presence on programmes and the discipline is increasingly informed by genetics, "approaches to human behaviour such as anthropology, history, geography, politics, sociology, are relatively rare" (2008, p. 43). Radford argues that when these disciplines do form components of psychology degrees they tend to be available as minor or ancillary subjects. These authors have no data on the frequency with which these "contextual" subjects are taught, or how they are included in programmes, but they would like to argue that psychology students should have opportunities to study other disciplines that have human behaviour as a primary concern. In doing so, the authors draw upon their experiences teaching psychology as a psychosocial science.

Cancer patients undergoing major interventions face numerous challenges, including the adverse effects of cancer and the side effects of treatment. Cancer rehabilitation is vital in ensuring cancer patients have the support they need to maximise treatment outcomes and minimise treatment-related side effects and symptoms. The Active Together service is a multi-modal rehabilitation service designed to address critical support gaps for cancer patients. The service is located and provided in Sheffield, UK, an area with higher cancer incidence and mortality rates than the national average. The service aligns with local and regional cancer care objectives and aims to improve the clinical and quality-of-life outcomes of cancer patients by using lifestyle behaviour-change techniques to address their physical, nutritional, and psychological needs. This paper describes the design and initial implementation of the Active Together service, highlighting its potential to support and benefit cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine where and how coaching and mentoring disciplines overlap or differ in approach. Coaching and mentoring have emerged as important interventions as the role of helping relationships have gained prominence in human resource development. However, there appear to be contexts where one or other is preeminent, without consistent explanation of their suitability. Such inconsistency arguably creates confusion and doubt about these interventions and their efficacy notably amongst those who commission such interventions and their potential beneficiaries. This study focuses on this inconsistency of coaching or mentoring by exploring practitioners' approaches within six disciplines: executive coaches, coaching psychologists, sports coaches, mentors of leaders, mentors of newly qualified teachers and mentors of young people, with the aim of assisting those seeking support with development. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory study was undertaken using a qualitative methodology, where in-depth interviews were completed with experienced practitioners to elucidate their approaches and practice. Findings: The findings show that approaches may be discipline-specific, where practitioners specialise in a particular type of coaching or mentoring requiring distinctive knowledge and/or skills. However, the sharing of good practice across disciplines and the value of understanding the common dimensions which emerged is also evident, providing clients and those who commission coaching and mentoring with reassurances regarding the nature of these helping relationships. Research limitations/implications: As the research focused only on the practitioners' experiences of their work in these disciplines, it is vital that the mentees' and coachees' experiences are captured in future research. There is also value in further exploration of the model developed. Practical implications: By deploying the model concerned with the future development of these interventions suggests practitioners can expand their capacity and scope by adopting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches. Originality/value: By directly exploring the shared and distinctive approaches of coaching and mentoring practitioners in six contexts, this study provides opportunities to understand where practitioners can benefit from imparting best practice across these interventions and highlighting specific aspects for their context.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the global scientific output of research on infertility and psychology; explore the current status and trends in this field through the cooperation of authors, countries, and institutions; shed light on the direction of clinical infertility research in the future, and provide inspiration for targeted diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Methods: Research publications on infertility and psychology from the past two decades were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer software and the bibliometrix R package. Network maps were generated to evaluate the collaborations between different authors, countries, institutions, and keywords. Results: A total of 151 articles related to the study of infertility and psychology were identified. We observed a gradual increase in the number of publications from 2001 to 2021, and the trend has been relatively stable in the past eight years. Human Reproduction (England), as the leading journal publishing the most papers (29 articles), was cited in the most journals (1208 times). Boivin J was the most prolific author (16 articles), with the largest number of citations (890 times) and the highest h-index (14) during the past decades. Boivin J was also the leader with the highest publication frequency and more active cooperation with other top authors. The United Kingdom (34 papers) and Cardiff University (25 articles) contributed the most publications and were the leading contributors in this field. Active cooperation between countries and between institutions was observed, and analyses of articles and references were also shown. The main hot topics included matters related to women (39 times), in-vitro salt (31 times), infertility (30 times), couples (25 times), and impact (24 times). Conclusion: Our study results provide a comprehensive overview of the development of scientific literature, allowing relevant authors and research teams to recognize the current research status in this field. At the same time, infertility and psychology may soon become hotspots and should be closely monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The influx of migrant workers in the UK has widespread interest. This group's experience of the British work place has evoked considerable debate ranging from the potential to be exploited through unscrupulous practices to allegations about taking away jobs from British workers. The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge about the workplace experiences of migrant workers and discuss the implications this may offer for human resource management practice. Design/methodology/approach: The method uses an interpretive approach as the principal method of inquiry. Insights are presented through the use of descriptive vignettes to preserve the contextual richness in participants descriptions. Findings: The dynamics of the psychological contract has been fundamentally affected by increasing numbers of migrant workers in the workplace. There is clear potential for a dual system to exist where migrant workers are treated differently in terms of recruitment, training and deployment. The ability to ensure employees work safely and are equipped to undertake their job roles is a key concern. Research limitations/implications: The research reports an initial study and as such the findings, although representative of the group reported, may be atypical. Practical implications: Employers and HR practitioners are missing an opportunity to recruit and deploy well motivated highly skilled individuals. Earlier research which focuses on quantitative-based approaches may possess methodological problems which this research aims to highlight. Originality/value: The use of in-depth interviews allows a better informed understanding of the philosophical (and cultural) tensions to emerge. Such an approach offers insights which until now have eluded research focused upon more quantitatively oriented studies.