Grand Theme

Teaching Philosophy of the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

To equip students to become professionals of psychology theories and methods who know how to generate and communicate knowledge to others.

Two General Guiding Principles

Generating and Evaluating Knowledge
  1. Our curriculum focuses on training students to acquire a broad and deep knowledge base with a strong theoretical and empirical understanding of psychology theories and methods.
  2. Students are encouraged to develop in-depth knowledge in different concentration areas that include cognitive science, education & human development, social & industrial-organizational, and psychology & health.
  3. Attitudes towards scientific inquiry are developed through experiments and laboratory work that students have to conduct their own first-hand research systematically.
  4. Through independent research projects, students develop an inquisitive mind in evaluating and generating knowledge on their own.
 

Five Specific Learning Outcomes

Adapted from “APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major”, Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Education, Education Directorate, American Psychological Association: (Aug 2013)

This framework includes four skills-based goals and one content-focused goal. The roster of Guidelines 2.0 includes the following:

Goal 1: Knowledge Base in Psychology
Goal 2: Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking
Goal 3: Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World
Goal 4: Communication
Goal 5: Professional Development

Each goal begins with a definition that describes the scope of the ideas contained in the overview of the goal. Each goal contains an appropriate range of explicit student learning outcomes that incorporate action verbs and measurement potential. A summary of each of the five learning goals and their associated outcomes follows.

Goal 1. Knowledge Base of Psychology

Students should demonstrate fundamental knowledge and comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavioral problems. Students completing foundation courses should demonstrate breadth of their knowledge and application of psychological ideas to simple problems; students completing a baccalaureate degree should show depth in their knowledge and application of psychological concepts and frameworks to problems of greater complexity.

  1. Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology
  2. Develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content domains
  3. Describe applications of psychology
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