Understanding People and Behaviour (11399)

Available teaching periods	Delivery mode	Location
View teaching periods	On-campus Online real-time	UC College, Bruce, ACT Bruce, Canberra
0.125	3	Faculty Of Health
Discipline Of Psychology	Level 1 - Undergraduate Introductory Unit	Band 1 2021 (Pg Clinical Psychology) Band 2 2021 (Prof Pathway Psychology-After 1 Jan 2021) Band 2 2021 (Prof Pathway Psychology-Before 1 Jan 2021) Band 2 2021 (Standard Course Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021) Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan Social Work_Exclude 0905) Band 4 2021 (Standard Course Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)

Introduction

This unit will introduce students to the science of psychology and its applications. Specifically, employing psychological science to understand differences in how people think and behave in a range of real world situations faced by professionals during placements and post-university. This unit is applicable to students from a range of disciplines, such as health, psychology, business, law, science, technology, design and the arts. Through a series of case studies you will be introduced to a range of theories to understand people and behaviour.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Analyse and select major theories and research in psychology;
2. Interpret theories and concepts to explain why people behave as they do in a range of situations; and
3. Apply this knowledge in practical exercises and in written assessment.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware

Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

4309 Psychology 101

Assumed knowledge

None.

Availability

Year	Location	Teaching period	Teaching start date	Delivery mode	Unit convener
2025	UC College, Bruce, ACT	Semester 1	03 February 2025	On-campus	Miss Rebecca Mete
2025	Bruce, Canberra	Semester 1	03 February 2025	On-campus	Dr Petra Buergelt
2025	Bruce, Canberra	Semester 1	03 February 2025	Online real-time	Dr Petra Buergelt
2025	Bruce, Canberra	Winter Term	26 May 2025	On-campus	Miss Annaleise Naylor
2025	Bruce, Canberra	Winter Term	26 May 2025	Online real-time	Miss Annaleise Naylor

Timetable

Not available

Resources

Required texts

Required Textbook

To enhance your learning experience and to make the textbook as affordable as possible, we are using a very exciting online interactive textbook provided by Top Hat.

Reference: Altman, M., Jacobi, L., Beston, B., Brown, K., Burton, E.T., Carducci, B., Darlaston-Jones, D., Dudgeon, P.,Hummel, J., Lukowski, A., Poplock, S., Slonecker, E., Swisher, M., VanArsdall, J., Vervaeke, J., & Wehe, H. (2025). Introduction to Psychology-Australian edition: A Top Hat Interactive Text. Top Hat Monocle.

The textbook has been customised for this unit.

Top Hat is an educational platform that integrates interactive features into learning materials, enhancing class engagement and comprehension. The book contains high quality content that can be easily accessed from your laptop, mobile phone, or tablet. Top Hat textbooks offer a hands-on reading experience that includes questions to test your knowledge, YouTube videos, body simulations and interactive diagrams.

Like in hard copy textbooks, you can also highlight text and add comments to the text. Moreover, you can print the chapter if you prefer reading off-line. However, be aware that by printing and reading off-line you lose all the exciting interactive features that facilitate your learning.

This textbook is the required textbook for this unit - you are required to purchase this text book. Research provides strong evidence that students who purchase the textbook accomplish higher grades.

Additional benefits:

you will have lifetime access to this text.
you will get automatically access to the chapters covered in Foundations of Psychology (10444) - you do not have to pay again.
14 day free trial period that will give you full access for free. You also will have 2-weeks from the time you purchase to submit a request for a full refund. So if you decide to leave the unit within the 2 weeks, you will just need to contact Top Hat and they will process the refund.

Purchasing Top Hat

The total cost of the textbook is $ 77.00

Instructions regarding how to purchase the textbook and further information will be provided on the UCLearn Site (Canvas Site) for this unit, which will be opened latest on Monday of O-week.

Highly recommended textbook

This psychology textbook is a brand new decolonised and Indigenised Australian psychology text book, which we highly recommend particularly if you are interested in decolonising and Indigenous ways of being-knowing-doing.

We will provide two chapters from this book for module 2 and 3.

Assessment requirements

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in assessments for this unit.

GenAI may only be used in authorised ways when completing assessments at UC. This means that GenAI can only be used for an assessment when:

the Unit Convener has authorised GenAI use for that assessment
the student uses GenAI in the way that the assessment instructions allow
the student fully acknowledges their use of GenAI, with proper citations, references and a GenAI Acknowledgement Statement in line with the assessment instructions.

Where the assessment instructions do not specifically state that GenAI may be used and how, then its use is not permitted for that assessment. Students must still provide the required GenAI Acknowledgement Statement to indicate whether GenAI has or has not been used in the preparation of the assessment. If unsure, students should seek advice from the Unit Convener.

The Library Guide provides further information, including how to reference GenAI.

PLAGIARISM

Note that re-using your own work (from previous semesters or other units) also constitutes plagiarism.

HOW TO APPLY FOR EXTENSIONS

Please read the information below BEFORE contacting your Unit Convener for an extension.

1. Extensions are only granted in extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness, death, disaster) and official evidence has been provided with the application (e.g., medical certificate, statutary declaration). An extension will not be granted on the grounds of academic or employment workload, for undocumented issues or for technical problems.

2. You are expected to work on the assessment items throughout the teaching period. Early communication of problems is strongly advised. Assess early in the teaching period whether you have a reasonable likelihood of being able to complete the unit. If not, consider withdrawing by before the census date.

3. To request an extension:

a. Use the online Extension Application Form provided on the Canvas site in the Student Resources module, and

b. Attach appropriate documentary evidence.

5. The unit convener will consider your request and add a comment to your application advising whether your request is approved, declined, or partially approved for a shorter period than requested. If an extension is granted, the new due date will also appear on your UCLearn site where your assignment is submitted.

7. Assignments submitted after the due date, will be marked and returned at a later date than those submitted on time.

Moderation

Moderation is undertaken in line with the Faculty of Health Moderation Guidelines.

Moderation of assessment items:

All assessment items, including exams, are internally reviewed and moderated before they are published in unit outlines, listed on canvas, or printed out for the final exam period. This review of assessment items is performed by another academic within the same field who has a good understanding of the subject matter and is be done as part of the unit curriculum review.

Moderation of marking:

A random selection of assessment items will be cross-marked, including all failed assignments. The moderation of passing assessment items is based on a sample chosen randomly, on a percentage basis at different grade levels or the full range of submitted assignments to develop a common view about performance.

Academic integrity

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the , , and 麻豆村 of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Student responsibility

Learner engagement

This unit is designed to critically and reflexively engage and guide your inquiring, discovering and understanding of people and behaviour. The more you put into engaging with this unit the more you will get out.

To get the most out of your studies, it is strongly recommended that you plan your time commitments,actively engage in the unit offerings, and work with your peers.The amount of time you will need to spend on study in this unit will depend on a number of factors includingyour prior knowledge, learning skill level and learning style.

As this is a 3 point unit, successful completion of the unit requires about 10 - 12 hours per week to participate in the lectures and tutorials, keep up with the readings and study. We highly recommend that you commit to and set aside about 10 - 12 h per week for studying the knowledges offered.

Participation requirements

To get most learning out of this unit and to accomplish the marks you desire, you need to actively engage in:

reading the textbook and provided readings
lectures and tutorials
Canvas modules
assessment tasks

The lectures and tutorials will be recorded and uploaded under "Lecture Recordings". However, we highly recommend that you participate in both. To facilitate participation, we offer the lectures and tutorials in different modes and at different times.

When attending and participating in lectures and tutorials, we expect that you interact in respectful, constructive and courteous ways. This includes having you mobile phone switched off or on silent mode.

Required IT skills

All Students

Students are expected to have basic IT skills in order to navigate UCLearn. Regular access to UCLearn is a requirement for students enrolled in this unit to enable access to announcements, discussion forums, completion of online quizzes and for online submission of assignments. It is also expected that all students will have basic word processing skills.

Students enrolled in the Online Tutorials

The online tutorials involve using the Blackboard Collaborate tool. Blackboard Collaborate provides a virtual classroom or meeting room where you can communicate in real time with your lecturer and other students. To participate verbally, rather than just typing, you will need a microphone. For best audio quality we recommend a microphone and speaker headset. For more information and to test your computer, please visit the LearnOnline Student Help and click on the link to Blackboard Collaborate.Students.

The online tutorials will be accessable via the UCLearn Virtual Room.

In-unit costs

The EBook for this unit is NOT available from The School Locker - please refer to section 4a of this unit outline

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Additional information

Weekly Annoucements

Each Monday, we will post an annoucement that guides you through the week and shares all important information.

All announcements made on UCLearn (Canvas) will be deemed to have been made to the whole group and we will assume that you know the content by all students.

You highly recommend that you read the announcement at the very least once a week.

麻豆村

麻豆村