Course Coordinator:Odette Norton (onorton@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Psychology
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
In this course, you will examine the structural and functional organisation of the nervous system. You will focus on interrelationships between physiological functioning with special reference to sensory processes, sleep and arousal, motivation and emotion, learning and memory and language. You will be introduced to basic principles of neuroscience that affect thought and action. In addition, you will explore the different diseases affecting brain function to understand the relationships between brain structure and function.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Whole of class (large class) on campus workshop - 2 hours | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 2 – Small group tutorials, on campus only | 1hr | Week 2 | 11 times |
Learning materials – Online e-lectorials, quizzes, supplemental directed learning activities and reading. Includes assessment preparation and research activities | 7hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
Content covered in this course includes the following topics:
Cell function and structure, neuroanatomy, movement, eating and drinking, vision, other sensory systems, language, human sexual function, learning and memory, neuroplasticity, executive functions, emotional regulation, dementias, cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain injury, toxins and infectious processes of the brain, unusual neurological/neuropsychological disorders
200 Level (Developing)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Australian Psychology Accreditation Council | |
1 | Understand and explain the terminology and theories relating to the study of physiological psychology | Knowledgeable |
1, 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8, 1.1.9, 1.1, 1.3 |
2 | Know, understand, and apply information on the structures, functions, and connections of the brain in particular, and the nervous system in general |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
1, 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8, 1.1.9, 1.1, 1.3 |
3 | Critically evaluate research conducted in physiological psychology, and to synthesis the information in clear and concise written arguments on topics in physiological psychology |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
1, 1.1.8, 1.1, 1.3, 1.6 |
4 | Understand different disorders of the brain and diagnostic conditions |
Knowledgeable Ethical |
1, 1.1.4, 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8, 1.1.9, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 |
CODE | COMPETENCY |
Australian Psychology Accreditation Council | |
1 | FOUNDATIONAL COMPETENCIES: Graduates at this level have broad and coherent knowledge and skills in the scientific discipline of psychology. Programs for foundational competencies typically comprise an APAC-accredited sequence in psychology either as part of a 3-year program leading to a Bachelor Degree or as an equivalent stand-alone sequence of psychology units combined with a Bachelor Degree in a different discipline. |
1.1.5 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including learning and memory |
1.1.6 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including cognition, language and perception |
1.1.7 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including motivation and emotion |
1.1.8 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including neuroscience and the biological bases of behaviour |
1.1.9 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including lifespan developmental psychology |
1.1.4 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including psychological disorders and evidence-based interventions |
1.1 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including the following topics: |
1.2 | Graduates will be able to apply knowledge and skills of psychology in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals. |
1.3 | Graduates will be able to analyse and critique theory and research in the discipline of psychology and communicate these in written and oral formats. |
1.5 | Graduates will be able to demonstrate interpersonal skills and teamwork. |
1.6 | Graduates will be able to demonstrate self-directed pursuit of scholarly inquiry in psychology. |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
PSY100 and PSY101
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Early feedback will be provided in week 4 following the first online quiz. Please use this feedback to seek additional supports if necessary.
Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
All | 1 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 20% | 5 x online quizzes, 30 multiple choice questions each |
Refer to Format | Online Submission |
All | 2 | Essay | Individual | 40% | 2000 words |
Refer to Format | Online Submission |
All | 3 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 40% | 2 hours and 10 minutes |
Exam Period | Exam Venue |
All - Assessment Task 1:Online multiple choice exams | ||||||||||
Goal: | The goal of the assessments is to familiarise you with the types of multiple choice questions that you will be asked in the final exam, to apply the knowledge of the course content, and to demonstrate your understanding of this knowledge. |
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Product: | Quiz/zes | |||||||||
Format: | Online MCQ exams will be available on Canvas across the semester and will cover the content of the learning materials and text book chapters from the weeks immediately prior to the Quiz. Each quiz will be worth 4 percent, for 20 percent in total. Quizzes will be due for submission between Weeks 3 and 13 of the teaching semester. The final date of submission for each individual quiz will be determined once public holidays and the course timetable have been published prior to the commencement of semester. Please refer to your course Canvas site at the commencement of the teaching semester to confirm the due date for each quiz. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
All - Assessment Task 2:Essay | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to communicate your understanding of a topic in physiological psychology in an academic and formal way, using current research literature to evaluate and analyse the essay question. You will be given the topic for the essay in Week 1 and further information and guidelines will be placed on Canvas at that time. |
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Product: | Essay | |||||||||||||||||||||
Format: | The word limit for the essay is 2000 words (±10 percent) and includes headings and the in-text citations (inside and outside the brackets), but not the title page or reference list. Include the word count on your title page. This assessment task will be due between Weeks 9 and 11 of the teaching semester. The final date of submission for this task will be determined once public holidays and the course timetable have been published prior to the commencement of semester. Please refer to your course Canvas site at the commencement of the teaching semester to confirm the due date for this assessment task. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
All - Assessment Task 3:Examination | |||||||||||||
Goal: | |||||||||||||
Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | ||||||||||||
Format: | The final examination will contain multiple choice and short answer questions that cover material that is selected from the whole curriculum. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Please note that you need to have regular access to the resource(s) listed below. Resources may be required or recommended.
Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
Required | James W. Kalat | 2023 | Biological Psychology | 14 | Cengage Learning |
Please make yourself aware of the following information on the Policies and Procedures of Assessment of Courses, http://www.usc.edu.au/university/governance-and-executive/policies-and-procedures/academic-learning-and-teaching/assessment-courses-and-coursework-programs-procedures.htm and the Policies and Procedures for academic misconduct, http://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures/student-academic-misconduct-academic-policy
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
1. The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%
2. The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
3. You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
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The SafeUniSC Specialist Service is a Student Wellbeing service that provides free and confidential support to students who may have experienced or observed behaviour that could cause fear, offence or trauma. To contact the service call 07 5430 1226 or email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au.
For help with course-specific advice, for example what information to include in your assessment, you should first contact your tutor, then your course coordinator, if needed.
If you require additional assistance, the Learning Advisers are trained professionals who are ready to help you develop a wide range of academic skills. Visit the Learning Advisers web page for more information, or contact Student Central for further assistance: +61 7 5430 2890 or studentcentral@usc.edu.au.
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To book a confidential appointment go to Student Hub, email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au or call 07 5430 1226.
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To book a confidential appointment go to Student Hub, email AccessAbility@usc.edu.au or call 07 5430 2890.
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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