Sampling

Spent most of today on administrative tidying: getting samples of work ready to be seen by the external examiners for the various programmes I am 'module leader' on:

• BSc Hons Health & Lifestyle Management: Second year and third year psych modules
• BSc Hons Psychology: a third year module on applied health psychology 
• MSc Health Psychology: a module on long term conditions 

External examiners are senior academics from outside institutions who look at a sample of our students' work - in the context of a lot of other information - and check our academic standards.

For every module this requires the designated leader to put together a pack of information which typically includes:

• Copy of the module guide and all guidance given to student on the assessment they're required to do
• Copy of an overall marks list showing individual students' marks for each component (piece of coursework, exam, etc.), plus summary statistics for the whole group.
• Copies of marked coursework with evidence that marks have been internally moderated (checked) by another academic
• Copies of exam papers - with markers' guidelines
• Copies of marked exam scripts with evidence that marks have been internally moderated (checked) by another academic

Some external examiners also request summary statistics broken down per exam question (to see if some questions seemed 'harder' than others).

We also have to produce a form that shows an assessment 'audit trail' - evidence that we got all our assessment tasks and instructions checked and signed off by another academic within the department - before we used them. This process does happen but keeping a record can sometimes be forgotten...

All of the documentation required is kept on file until near the examination boards  - which are in the next couple of weeks - but it's still rather time consuming to collate it together into a digestible form. Not the most interesting of tasks but it still gives a sense of closure on the filing front.

Meanwhile of course teaching and assessment continues apace on postgraduate courses and preparations have to be made for students who'll be doing resits over the summer period.

Spring soon to be be springing

Term restarted yesterday, so seems a reasonable time to post again - plus the winter solstice has been and gone, so the days are getting longer...

Managed to send a paper off yesterday, which should be published in conference proceedings.  Now just need to arrange a US visa and flight, etc, so I can attend and present it.

Very pleased to say that PhD student Felicity had a successful Progress Review Panel at the end of her first year of research. Well done!

I also got my membership card for the allotment today, so much fantasising about digging, sowing, growing and eating...

Human Strengths

Came across this on the BBC new site.  'Ordinary' people are often truly inspirational:
Gill Hicks, Jude Onyeze, David Boyce

Literature Searching in Disaster Management

Most of today has been spent literature searching in preparation for a manuscript my colleague and I are writing.

Percy, C. & Chen, Y.F.
The potential contribution of human psychology to disaster management: advance preparedness, acute responses and longer term psychosocial effects.
Paper to be presented to the 2nd International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes, 11 - 13 May 2011, Orlando, USA

Fortunately such searches no longer have to be done by hand or on foot, thanks to the university's excellent online library facilities.

Foraging

Another slightly taxing but (hopefully) productive day, split between more detailed project planning and marketing activities.

The online shop links for our motivational interviewing courses went up yesterday, just around the end of the business day, so I am now able to take bookings.

Now before it gets dark I must go outdoors and fill up the bird feeders with nigella - there are some rather cross looking goldfinches swarming around the garden who will expect their breakfast long before I surface in the morning.

Police officers sought for PhD research

Forgot (again) to post blog entry yesterday so making amends by posting on behalf of someone else today:

My colleague Amy Grubb
Calling all police officers... I am still looking for participants for my phd! If you are an officer in any of these forces and haven't already taken part please let me know: West Midlands, West Mercia, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Devon and Cornwall, and Staffordshire...

Amy can be contacted be email using this link. Her profile can be seen on our departmental web page at
http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/HLS/psychology/staff/Pages/Meetthestaff.aspx

Hourly paid teaching posts

Can't believe I was still doing marking moderation today  - at the end of the first week of sabbatical.  I suppose it is inevitable that some teaching duties hang over into the beginning of the new term.

Also had a brief chat with the colleague who is covering my level tutor duties, about arrangements for returning students on Monday coming.

Our department has been able to offer some hourly paid teaching posts this year, to offer experience to aspiring new lecturers, and to free up colleagues to undertake applied research. There's an advert live at the moment, so if anyone's interested, please see the university website.

Review and planning day

Like most academic staff in the Psych Department, I was at the review and planning day today.  This is our 'getting ready to launch' meeting in preparation for the start of the autumn term.

Although a lot of the discussion revolved around arrangements for taught students - how to welcome freshers, develop our students' employability, ensure the quality of the course, etc. - we also discussed our plans for applied research and the various targets that we've been set for bringing in external income. 

As usual, it all seems rather daunting...  But on the other hand, we are really starting to build up a head of steam as regards psychology applied research.  Here are just a few of the publications authored by staff in 2010 - and the year isn't over yet!
 

Bowen, E. (2010). Therapeutic environment and outcomes in a U.K. domestic violence perpetrator program. Small Group Research, 41(2), 198-220. doi:10.1177/1046496409357081

Bowen, E., & Dixon, L. (2010). Concurrent and prospective associations between facial affect recognition accuracy and childhood antisocial behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 36(5), 305-314. doi:10.1002/ab.20357

Farrington-Flint, L., Canobi, K. H., Wood, C., & Faulkner, D. (2010). Children's patterns of reasoning about reading and addition concepts. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(2), 427-448. doi:10.1348/026151009X424222

Goodman, S., & Burke, S. (2010). 'Oh you don't want asylum seekers, oh you're just racist': A discursive analysis of discussions about whether it's racist to oppose asylum seeking. Discourse and Society, 21(3), 325-340. doi:10.1177/0957926509360743

Grubb, A. (2010). Modern day hostage (crisis) negotiation: The evolution of an art form within the policing arena. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(5), 341-348. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2010.06.002

Holliman, A. J., Wood, C., & Sheehy, K. (2010). Does speech rhythm sensitivity predict children's reading ability 1 year later? Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 356-366. doi:10.1037/a0018049

Holliman, A. J., Wood, C., & Sheehy, K. (2010). The contribution of sensitivity to speech rhythm and non-speech rhythm to early reading development. Educational Psychology, 30(3), 247-267. doi:10.1080/01443410903560922

Sage, L., & Kavussanu, M.(2010). Moral identity and social goals predict eudaimonia in football. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.05.008

Taylor, L. M., Hume, I. R., & Welsh, N. (2010). Labelling and self-esteem: The impact of using specific vs. generic labels. Educational Psychology, 30(2), 191-202. doi:10.1080/01443410903494478

Wood, C., Pillinger, C., & Jackson, E. (2010). Understanding the nature and impact of young readers' literacy interactions with talking books and during adult reading support. Computers and Education, 54(1), 190-198. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.08.003

Degree redesign, "assistancedogblog" and motivational interviewing

Typical mishmash academic day today...

Degree review meeting again - to discuss the principles that will underpin the redesign of our undergraduate psychology programmes.

Also had my first look at the blog our PhD student Felicity has started to record progress on her research study on the psychosocial impact of assistance dogs.

Finally confirmed some dates for our next Introduction to Motivational Interviewing courses, which will soon be bookable via the Coventry University online store:

Thursday 30th September 2010

Thursday 28th October 2010

Image courtesy of wiki commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LiquoriceAllsorts2003.jpg

Cluj-Napoca Day 1

hmmm... it's a quarter to nine here, so it must be ... quarter to seven there (UK) - I think.

Arrived in Cluj-Napoca today and been on a brief reccy of local area.  Turns out I am staying in hotel right next door to the University's Psychology Department - home from home.

But I want a nice cup of tea!

Sunshine on a rainy day...

wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunshine_fractal.png

Submitted our grant application today - now need to wait twelve weeks or so to hear if we get through to the next stage of the competition...

Also booked a few more dates for our motivational interviewing training.

And the sun has come out - finally.

Bit of progress

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1_RON.jpg

Picked up my Romanian lei today in preparation for next week's trip to Cluj-Napoca for the
24th European Health Psychology Conference, 1-4 September. At least as important, picked up my second poster from the printers.

Hoping to meet some hospital staff in Bulgaria the following week, to talk about motivational interviewing interventions for health behaviour change - but still awaiting confirmation on that front...

Meanwhile, just had a paper accepted for a conference next spring on disaster management - good job I have a 3 month sabbatical coming up...

Your psychology project handbook

Dr Anna Weighall, Sheffield Hallam University:

"an essential guide to the process of undertaking psychological research. It provides comprehensive step-by-step advice about each stage of a research project from the initial conception of a research idea, right through to writing it up. It will be an invaluable resource for all psychology project students. I will certainly be recommending it to my own students!"

Your psychology project handbook

Dr. Paul Seager, University of Central Lancashire:

"an absolute goldmine of essential information, tips, guidance and general all-round wisdom from those ‘in-the-know’. It is highly recommended for any project student who wants to get ahead of the game."

Your Psychology Project Handbook

Your Psychology Project Handbook: Becoming a Researcher

Hugh Coolican says

"The complete and perfect handbook"