Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy

The MEd Psych/PhD will enable students to become practitioners while developing advanced research skills and experience to enhance their capacity to work in professionally related tertiary programs. The course provides a grounding in the theoretical, conceptual and empirical foundations of professional practice in educational psychology, and the opportunity for students to develop skills relevant to professional practice through supervised professional experience. The course provides the opportunity for students to undertake a substantial piece of original research within the field of practice of educational psychology and related practice.

This is a 4-year course. The first year is comprised of coursework, the PhD component is completed over the final three years.

Students completing the Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy should have:

• a grounding in the theoretical, conceptual and empirical foundations of professional practice in educational psychology, and the opportunity for students to develop skills relevant to professional practice through supervised professional experience.
• the opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of original research in professional educational psychology.

Students undertake the following subjects in this order:

Year 1

Year 2

Points undertaken in the thesis will vary depending on whether you are enrolled full time or part time.

Year 3

Points undertaken in the thesis will vary depending on whether you are enrolled full time or part time.

Year 4

Points undertaken in the thesis will vary depending on whether you are enrolled full time or part time.

1. The Selection Committee will evaluate the applicant’s ability to pursue the course successfully using the following criteria –

• an honours degree in psychology with at least H1(80%) average in the final year or equivalent; and
• referee reports; and
• an interview.

2. The Selection Committee may conduct tests and may call for additional referee reports or employer references to elucidate any of the matters referred to above.

Note: Entry is subject to supervision and resource availability.

Note: To be validly enrolled, applicants not currently registered with the Psychology Board of Australia must apply for Provisional Registration with the Psychology
Board of Australia before the start of the first semester of enrolment, and applicants without a Working with Children Card must apply for one before the start of the first semester of enrolment.

The Melbourne Graduate School of Education welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Graduate School policy to take reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the Graduate School’s programs.
The core participation requirements for study in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are:

1. The ability to comprehend complex information related to educational psychology.
2. The ability to communicate clearly and independently in assessment tasks and knowledge of the content, principles and practices relating to educational psychology.
3. Behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.

In courses requiring students to undertake practicum placements

4. The ability to undertake professional practice placements independently, including:

a. the ability based on personal maturity to establish a professional relationship with client groups and interact with them appropriately;
b. the ability to create, monitor and maintain a safe physical environment, and a stable and supportive psychological environment;
c. the ability to establish effective relationships with all members of the client and caregiver groups;
d. the ability based on mental and physical health to exercise sound judgment and respond promptly to the demands of client groups, and the personal resilience to cope and maintain their wellbeing under stress.
Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.

The Melbourne Experience enables our graduates to become:

• Academically excellent
• Knowledgeable across disciplines
• Leaders in communities
• Attuned to cultural diversity
• Active global citizens.

Graduate research degrees further develop these core attributes in important ways. Doctoral degrees at the University of Melbourne seek to develop graduates who demonstrate academic leadership, increasing independence, creativity and innovation in their research and encourage the acquisition of a wide range of advanced and transferable skills.
The University expects its doctoral graduates to have the following attributes:

• An advanced ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions
• A demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research
• The capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge
• An advanced ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature
• An advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field
• Highly developed problem-solving abilities and flexibility of approach
• The ability to analyse critically within and across a changing disciplinary environment
• The capacity to disseminate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication to a variety of audiences
• A capacity to cooperate with and respect the contributions of fellow researchers and scholars
• A profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship
• An advanced facility in the management of information, including the application of computer systems and software where appropriate to the candidate’s field of study
• An understanding of the relevance and value of their research to national and international communities of scholars and collaborators
• An awareness where appropriate of issues related to intellectual property management and the commercialisation of innovation
• An ability to formulate applications to relevant agencies, such as funding bodies and ethics committees.

Graduates of this course will be qualified to practice as a registered psychologist and become a member of the Australian Psychological Society.

Application Procedure: http://education.unimelb.edu.au/study_with_us/how_to_apply

Thesis: detailed information on the PhD thesis is available in the PhD Handbook: http://gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/handbooks/phd/index.html