School of Psychological Science

The Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion (CARE) commemorates the work of the late Dr Rutherford, a world leader in research into emotion.

The aim of the centre is to advance our understanding of emotion by bringing together research in the areas of cognitive psychology, biological psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, and clinical psychology.

Key objectives and focus areas of the centre include:

• bringing together world leaders in different research areas to establish new innovations in the understanding of emotion
• investigating patterns of selective information processing (or cognitive biases) that may underpin mental health problems, and examining the causal contribution of these biases to anxiety, worry, and depression
• evaluating recent developments in cognitive bias modification (CBM) techniques to contribute to the emotional well-being of the Australian community

Student Exchange and Study Abroad

All undergraduate psychology students at UWA have the opportunity to apply to study overseas, and we welcome overseas students who choose to study with us.

For general information about Student Exchange and where you can choose to study, visit the University's Student Exchange website and/or contact the team at UWA Global Studio.

The information presented below is for UWA students who wish to go on exchange and require approval for psychology units to be taken at a host university.

The Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) has requirements relating to the content and standard of psychology study awarded by Australian universities, so the UWA School of Psychological Science needs to ensure that the courses you do overseas meet APAC requirements, as well as UWA requirements. This means that psychology units taken overseas must be assessed as equivalent to UWA psychology units in terms of content, assessment mechanisms, and lecture and tutorial/laboratory time. It is important that students consider this information before deciding upon a host university as there may be universities offering psychology units that do not comply with our accreditation requirements.

In selecting units to be taken on exchange, it is essential that you carefully read the information below.

Choosing when to go on exchange

We strongly encourage students to complete a course plan to ensure that they can complete their degree with the units taken on exchange and the units available here at UWA upon their return. In practice, with respect to the psychology units that must be completed, most students will find it more practical to go on exchange in semester two of the second year of their degree.

Choosing your exchange units: Selection Advice

Although the School is unable to provide advice on specific units you should undertake, please refer to the tips and hints below to help guide you in choosing your overseas units.

If you are seeking 'specified credit' (i.e. you wish to take an overseas unit in lieu of a specified unit within Psychology at UWA) you should carefully read the unit information for the UWA Psychology unit in the University Handbook, and select an overseas unit that you feel closely matches the UWA unit. If the content of the overseas unit is not sufficiently similar to the content of the specified UWA Psychology unit it is very unlikely that your application will be approved.

Please note it is your Allocated Student Advising Office that awards the credit and makes the final decision about what and how much credit you receive from your overseas study.

Your units must be a match for UWA units: Assessing the equivalency of Psychology units

In order to maintain compliance with Psychology Accreditation bodies, it is essential that any psychology units you wish to study overseas as part of your UWA degree are deemed equivalent to Psychology units offered here at UWA in terms of:

• Content
• Level (e.g. Level 2 unit)
• Delivery mode (appropriate number of lectures/seminars and labs/tutorials)
• Assessment (appropriate mix of written assessment and exams)

To ensure that your Allocated Advising Student Office has all the information required for assessment we require you provide a detailed unit outline for each of the units under assessment. The unit outline must contain the following information:

• The level of the unit (e.g. Level 2 unit)
• The worth of the unit - How many units/credit points per semester do students study in a standard full-time enrolment at your intended exchange university? (e.g. 10 credit points, with a year of full-time study being worth 80 credit points at the overseas institution)
• Prerequisites for the unit
• Content information for each unit, including delivery mode information (e.g. 26 hours of lectures; eight hours of labs/tutorials)
• Detailed assessment information including the weighting of each piece of assessment (e.g. 2000 word essay 30%; Oral presentation 20%; 2-hour exam 50%)
• Marking scale used for the unit. Students must also agree to bring back a transcript for the marks (e.g. 69%) for each of the units taken on exchange as a grade only (e.g. distinction, credit, pass, fail) is not sufficient.
  
  

I could study overseas that I won't get credit for?

Yes, you should avoid psychology units that are very similar to units you will have already completed at UWA, as you may not be able to get credit for these. Similarly, if there is a unit you are keen to complete at UWA when you get back, don't complete a very similar course on exchange.

Laboratory and tutorial enrolments

Undergraduate psychology students need to register for lab and/or tutorial classes online.

All lab and tutorial enrolments for first, second and third year Psychology units must be made through the University's Class Allocation System (CAS).

The School of Psychological Science is not directly involved in the administration of CAS. You should consult the class timetable site for any updates regarding the schedule of events and for help sources in the event of technical difficulties.

After hours classes

Where possible, after hour lab and/or tutorial classes may be available for 1st - 3rd year units, after 4pm, on selected weekdays. The actual time and day will be available on CAS closer to the start of the semester.

Class Allocation System help

If the Class Allocation System (CAS) does not allocate you to a lab and/or tutorial class, or allocates you to a class that is not suitable, please follow these instructions:

1. Login to CAS and add/move yourself to a suitable class with available seats
   • Try to do this prior to the end of week one of semester.
   • Note: you will be able to make changes on CAS until the end of week two of semester.
2. If there are no suitable spaces available in CAS, request a swap to a full class on CAS
   • If no suitable free classes are available in CAS, you can click the swap request button (♡) next to a full class.
   • Note: you must be allocated to a class before you can request a swap on CAS.
   • Once submitted your swap will either be approved or pending.
     1. If it is approved - a matching request was found on the system and your swap has been processed.
     2. If it is pending – your swap will be processed if a place becomes available in that class.
3. If by week two of Semester you have not been able to find a suitable tutorial/lab you can apply to swap.
   •  Complete the School's 'Application for Change of CAS Group Allocation' form 
   • We will accept forms from Friday of week two of semester. Submitted applications will be sent to Unit Coordinator for approval.
   • An email will be sent once changes have been made asking students to check their allocations in CAS. Please note:
     1. We are limited in the changes we can make (based on capacity), and will therefore not be able to accommodate all requests, so we encourage students to continue to attempt to change themselves on CAS.
     2. Note, if you have submitted a form requesting a change and then manage to change yourself, we ask that you contact us immediately to withdraw your request.
     3. You must attend the class that you were allocated until you have been able to officially swap on CAS.
4. If you enrol after week two please follow the procedure outlined in step 3.