Psychology and Education
Full time Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Part time Master of Education (MEd) (two years)
This route is intended for applicants who have an interest in education, have undertaken some previous study of developmental and educational psychology, perhaps within their first degree, and now wish to develop their knowledge in this area further.
Please note that this route is not currently open to PGCE/MEd students as a one year part time route.
British Psychological Society Accreditation
The route is accredited as a graduate conversion course by the British Psychological Society. Candidates can obtain BPS Graduate Membership (GM) and the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) by taking two additional exams (on the core topics of psychology and research methods) and by submitting extra practicals on top of the standard coursework (of two essays and a thesis). GM and GBC allow candidates to proceed onto courses offering a professional training as a Chartered Psychologist (in, for example, educational or clinical psychology).
To be eligible to obtain GM or GBC, applicants must have the equivalent of 6 months full-time study of psychology at undergraduate level (or 60 credits of previous psychology studies) prior to starting their studies. Please be aware that taking this option will be very challenging for students who do not have considerable experience of studying psychology. Prior knowledge of basic quantitative statistics is advisable.
On successful completion of the course, including the additional BPS assessments, students need to apply to the BPS for GM and GBC. Details of the requirements and application procedure can be found at:
http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/benefits-belonging/membership/membership
Route elements
The Psychology and Education route comprises specific elements as described below.
(i) Five Core Courses in the Michaelmas and Lent terms provide an introduction to key ideas, theories and research. Each core course comprises four main lecture sessions and one ‘Research and Practical Work in Psychology’ seminar in the following areas:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Biological Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Individual Differences
(ii) Current and Applied Research in Psychology: CARP sessions in the Lent term introduce students to research being undertaken in the Faculty and elsewhere. These sessions aim to set different methodological approaches in the context of recent and current research projects.
(iii) Research and Practical Work in Psychology seminars: these sessions introduce practical tasks within the core topics courses. They are led by psychology research students whose work is closely related to the seminar topics. All Masters students should attend these seminars and may carry out the practical tasks if they wish. The practical tasks are compulsory for those seeking the BPS qualification.
(iv) Quantitative Data Analysis: QnDA sessions are for MPhil and MEd (Year 2) students. They complement the MPhil Core Research Training (CRT) and MEd Research Methods modules, providing more psychology specific training in descriptive statistics, statistical assumptions for inferential tests, correlation, regression, t-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA, chi-square and other non-parametric tests.
(v) Research Project: students are supported on an individual basis to design and carry out a small-scale empirical project related to issues raised within the route and in which they have a particular interest. MPhil students work on their projects in the second half of the route. MEd students work on their projects throughout their second year. Students are supervised by psychologists within the Psychology and Education Route. Supervisions in collaboration with psychologists in other Departments (Social and Developmental, Experimental) within the University of Cambridge may be considered.
(vi) Research Workshops are built into the route to help students design their projects, and poster sessions are held within the Psychology and Education Route for MPhil and MEd students where students’ research plans are presented and discussed. (The Core Research Training and MEd Research Methods modules also include poster/presentation sessions where research plans are shared with Masters students following other thematic routes).
Research Methods Strand
All Masters students on this route are required to attend generic research methods sessions, taught across thematic routes. Methods sessions are essential for a research-based Masters degree and constitute about one-third of the whole programme. Through this strand students will develop their understanding of different research strategies, foster skills in appraising and synthesising published research studies and acquire the understanding and skills necessary for designing, conducting, analysing, interpreting and reporting a small-scale research study for thesis presentation.
The research strand covers a broad range of social science research methods and is essential for Masters level understanding and critical engagement with the research literature in many specialist areas and in education more generally. It offers opportunities and encouragement to apply the knowledge gained to your thematic area, and vice versa. Details of the MPhil and MEd Research Methods courses are provided in separate handbooks.
The following elements comprise the Psychology and Education Route:
Element 1: Developmental psychology
This element aims to introduce students to the major bodies of research, methodological and theoretical issues in relation to the study of psychological and social development. Research and theory on development of language and attachment, cognitive development during infancy and childhood, theory of mind and social development are discussed. Themes typically include science education; children as learners: peer groups and children’s development’ self-regulation & metacognition; play, creativity & problem-solving; early arithmetic and maths learning.
Element 2: Cognitive psychology
This element is structured around a number of key issues in the investigation of human cognition such as human memory, reasoning, intelligence and perception and attention.
Element 3: Biological Psychology
This element provides an examination of cognitive abilities in children with the use of contemporary methodologies of investigation such as eye-trackers and a combination of behavioural and neuropsychological measures.
Element 4: Social psychology
The primary focus of the social psychology element is on social cognition (e.g. impression formation, person perception, person memory, attribution theory); self and social categorisation; social interaction and communication and aggression.
Element 5: Individual differences
The individual differences element examines personal and social development, focusing particularly on psychological aspects of identity, personality and intelligence. Attention is given to different theoretical models of individual differences and the relevance of cognitive, emotional, social, environmental and cultural factors to personal biographies, experience and patterns of behaviour in different setttings. Approaches to research and assessment (including psychometric testing) are critically evaluated with reference to the use of findings in the fields of social policy, education and employment.
Route coordinator:
Dr Liz Winter (eaw53@cam.ac.uk)