The role of the scientist-practitioner model in the teaching of psychology: preliminary results from the AUTC funded project Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology

Abstract

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) is committed to the identification of ‘examples of best practice in teaching and learning in Australian universities at the level of discipline or field of study’. The AUTC funded project Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology was awarded this year to a team representing a diverse cross-section of Schools and Departments of Psychology in Australia. The project brief demands ‘an evaluative overview of courses… with a focus on the specification and assessment of learning outcomes and must identify strategic directions for universities to enhance teaching and learning in these areas’. Although the final project outcomes will include a discussion of the teaching of psychology beyond that taking place within Schools and Departments of Psychology, this preliminary report will consider only information relevant to the teaching of psychology in core programs within Australian Psychological Society (APS) accredited academic organisational units (AOUs).