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Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy (G02AA)
Doctorate by ResearchYear: 2020 Delivered: On Campus (Parkville)
About this course
Contact
Melbourne Graduate School of Education
Level 9, 100 Leicester Street
Email: mgse-research@unimelb.edu.au
Future students:
Coordinator
Associate Dean (Research Training)
Overview
Award title | Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy |
---|---|
Year & campus | 2020 — Parkville |
CRICOS code | 056962J |
Fees information | Subject EFTSL, level, discipline and census date |
Study level & type | Graduate Research |
AQF level | 10 |
Duration | 4 years full-time, or equivalent part-time |
The MEd Psych/PhD will enable students to become practitioners while developing advanced research skills and experience to enhance their capacity to work in professionally related tertiary programs. The course provides a grounding in the theoretical, conceptual and empirical foundations of professional practice in educational psychology, and the opportunity for students to develop skills relevant to professional practice through supervised professional experience. The course provides the opportunity for students to undertake a substantial piece of original research within the field of practice of educational psychology and related practice.
This is a 4-year course. The first year comprises coursework, and the PhD component is completed over the final three years alongside the remaining coursework. The normal length of a PhD thesis is 80,000 words, exclusive of words in tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Footnotes are included as part of the word limit.
Links to further information
Entry requirements
1. In order to be considered for entry, applicants must have completed:
- Within the last 10 years, an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited four-year undergraduate sequence in psychology (namely a three-year major in psychology as part of an undergraduate degree plus a fourth year Honours specialisation in psychology, or equivalent) with a weighted average mark of at least H2A (75%) or equivalent; and
- A personal statement of no more than 500 words; and
- Two academic referee reports to be submitted online; and
- A selection interview (short-listed applicants only).
Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.
2. In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:
- Prior academic performance; and
- Suitability for clinical training as determined by the interview, personal statement and referee reports.
3. The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.
4. Applicants are required to satisfy the University’s English language requirements for postgraduate courses. For those applicants seeking to meet these requirements by one of the standard tests approved by the Academic Board, performance band 7+ is required.
Note:
a) The weighted average mark is calculated one third from third year psychology subjects and two thirds from fourth year psychology subjects.
b) Selection into the Master of Educational Psychology/PhD requires the approval of the intended PhD supervisor, and the Melbourne Educational Research Institute. Direct entry into the combined Masters/PhD programmes is available to international applicants only. Local applicants must enrol in the Master of Educational Psychology programme and then apply to articulate to the combined PhD programme towards the end of their first year in the Masters programme.
c) To be validly enrolled, applicants not currently registered with the Psychology Board of Australia must apply for Provisional Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia before the start of the first semester of enrolment, and applicants without a Working with Children Card must apply for one before the start of the first semester of enrolment.
d) Applicants with non-Australian qualifications must provide an Australian Psychological Society (APS) comparability assessment with their application, to confirm their eligibility for Associate Membership. See the Australian Psychological Society (APS) website for details: www.psychology.org.au
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The Melbourne Graduate School of Education welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Graduate School policy to take reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the Graduate School’s programs.
The core participation requirements for study in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are:
1. The ability to comprehend complex information related to educational psychology.
2. The ability to communicate clearly and independently in assessment tasks and knowledge of the content, principles and practices relating to educational psychology.
3. Behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.
In courses requiring students to undertake practicum placements
4. The ability to undertake professional practice placements independently, including:
a. the ability based on personal maturity to establish a professional relationship with client groups and interact with them appropriately;
b. the ability to create, monitor and maintain a safe physical environment, and a stable and supportive psychological environment;
c. the ability to establish effective relationships with all members of the client and caregiver groups;
d. the ability based on mental and physical health to exercise sound judgment and respond promptly to the demands of client groups, and the personal resilience to cope and maintain their wellbeing under stress.
Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.
Professional accreditation
This course is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, and recognised by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Graduates of this course will be qualified to practice as a registered psychologist, become a member of the Australian Psychological Society, and an Associate Member of the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists.
Intended learning outcomes
Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy graduates competently and ethically:
- Demonstrate an awareness of the social and cultural diversity in communities and work collaboratively with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds
- Demonstrate and articulate an understanding of contemporary issues in human development theory, particularly differential development, learning processes and social processes in development
- Understand exceptional development and approaches to inclusion of clients with exceptional needs
- Compose reports to other professionals, parents, and organizations
- Use assessment and observation procedures and interpret findings to gain accurate information on the cognitive, social, emotional and personality development of children and adolescents; use professional approaches to interact with others by using skilled interviewing, counselling and assessment across the lifespan
- Understand and apply ethical principles and procedures
- Apply a range of approaches to intervention, development, interactive processes, and assessment to the treatment of children and adolescents with identified learning and mental health problems, and where necessary to make appropriate referrals
- Contribute in multidisciplinary professional teams and co-ordinate programs for meeting developmental needs
- Develop a wide range of practical professional skills in appropriate educational settings
- Evaluate critically and interpret research and theory in this field, and carry out research and program evaluation of their own
Graduates also demonstrate advanced research skills demonstrating:
- Systematic and critical understanding of the theoretical, conceptual and empirical foundations of professional practice in educational psychology, and the accompanying skills relevant to professional practice through supervised professional experience
- Critical understanding of a complex area of investigation in professional educational psychology, and specialised research skills as shown in completing a substantial piece of original research
- Capacity to present research findings to the professional and general community
- Capacity to operate autonomously demonstrating responsible judgement as an exemplary practitioner and researcher in the field of Educational Psychology
Graduate attributes
The Melbourne Experience enables our graduates to become:
- Academically excellent
- Knowledgeable across disciplines
- Leaders in communities
- Attuned to cultural diversity
- Active global citizens.
Graduate research degrees further develop these core attributes in important ways. Doctoral degrees at the University of Melbourne seek to develop graduates who demonstrate academic leadership, increasing independence, creativity and innovation in their research and encourage the acquisition of a wide range of advanced and transferable skills.
The University expects its doctoral graduates to have the following attributes:
- An advanced ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions
- A demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research
- The capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge
- An advanced ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature
- An advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field
- Highly developed problem-solving abilities and flexibility of approach
- The ability to analyse critically within and across a changing disciplinary environment
- The capacity to disseminate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication to a variety of audiences
- A capacity to cooperate with and respect the contributions of fellow researchers and scholars
- A profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship
- An advanced facility in the management of information, including the application of computer systems and software where appropriate to the candidate’s field of study
- An understanding of the relevance and value of their research to national and international communities of scholars and collaborators
- An awareness where appropriate of issues related to intellectual property management and the commercialisation of innovation
- An ability to formulate applications to relevant agencies, such as funding bodies and ethics committees.
Course structure
Candidates are required to complete:
- Ten compulsory subjects (totalling 112.5 credit points of coursework)
- Four field practica (totalling 50 points of coursework); and
- A PhD thesis
Detailed information on the thesis is available at Graduate Research Hub.
Subject options
Students undertake the following subjects in this order:
Year 1
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC90229 | Ed Psych Practicum 1 | Year Long (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90253 | Research Proposal | Year Long (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90220 | Research Methods | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90225 | Psychological Tests | Semester 1 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90227 | Working with Groups | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90221 | Consultation in Educational Settings | September (On Campus - Parkville) |
6.25 |
EDUC90223 | Exceptionality:Assessment & Intervention | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90224 | Counselling Skills for Ed. Psychologists | March (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90226 | Learning Processes and Problems | July (On Campus - Parkville) |
6.25 |
Year 2
The thesis:
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC80001 | No longer available |
(Detailed information on the thesis is available at Graduate Research Hub), plus:
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC90218 | Ed Psych Practicum 2 | Year Long (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90228 | Development and Differences | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
EDUC90222 | Intervention in Problems of Young People | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Year 3
The thesis (EDUC80001 PhD Research) and
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC90217 | Ed Psych Practicum 3 | Year Long (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Year 4
The thesis (EDUC80001 PhD Research) and
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC90216 | Ed Psych Practicum 4 | Year Long (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Application Procedure: http://education.unimelb.edu.au/study_with_us/how_to_apply
Last updated: 10 February 2024