Structure
Details of the programme structure for the Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Science.
The programme starts with a series of taught courses which make up the Postgraduate Diploma.
These courses cover key topics related to performance psychology as well as essential professional skills for scientific practitioners such as legal and ethical issues and effective communication. Courses are also designed to develop the ability of students to be able to critically appraise scientific literature and to apply research methods to enable them to plan, conduct and disseminate their own research, following the established principles of rigorous scientific study.
Successful performance on the taught courses enables student to progress to the dissertation element of the programme which must be completed for the award of MSc.
| Awards | Courses | Scottish masters level credits |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate Diploma | Understanding Research Concepts | 10 |
| Research Process | 10 | |
| Professional Skills | 20 | |
| Stress: Coping and Control | 20 | |
| Peak Performance | 20 | |
| Planning and Instruction for Performance | 20 | |
| Dynamics of Performance Teams | 20 | |
| Masters | Dissertation | 60 |
A 20 credit course typically comprises of ten weeks lecture content followed by a two week period to complete assessments. Course assessment is by 4000 word assignment, or equivalent. Contact and assessment for 10 credit course is approximately half that for 20 credit courses.
Course descriptions for some of the above courses can be viewed here:
Dissertation research project
The individual research project completed for the dissertation course represents a major proportion of the award - about one third of the programme in terms of time and credits. Topics can be selected to reflect the interest of the students as long as it remains within the overall rationale of the programme and appropriate supervision is available.
Examples of recent topics include:
- professional development issues in sport psychology
- decision making in surgeons
- mental toughness in military pilots
- optimism and stress in trainee teachers
- emotional intelligence and elite sport performance
- talent development in non-classical music
- experiences of flow in dance
- expertise development in international sport
- change blindness’ effects moderated by experience level in sport
Submission format includes the option to submit in journal article style. Some student research has subsequently been successfully submitted for publication in scientific journals.
Follow this link to see a list of published work based on students' MSc Performance Psychology dissertation research.
This article was published on Mar 21, 2011