DE300 Springboard Weekend (1)

Description

For students about to start DE300 in October.

This weekend has been set up by OUPS to help students who are about to start DE300 to prepare for the course. The weekend school is intended to give a very good grounding for starting your core psychology at third level.  It will present a foundation for your studies by providing you with an overview of the important aspects of the course and giving you a framework for studying the course.   Our September DE300 event introduces the core areas and methods used within this module and helps you select the method you will use for your DE300 project. It is complemented by the follow-up Consolidation weekend in January, which focuses on how to do the project and write it up, along with consideration of the EMA requirements.

Our tutors will present on the course content (one for each of the Qualitative, Experimental and Survey approaches), and will be available to offer advice to students.

Aims of the DE300 Springboard Weekend

• To present a weekend of lectures which offer a broad look at DE300 to provide a good framework  for your module studies.
• To introduce students (or remind them) about key concepts and methods covered in DE300. The weekend will introduce some of the more accessible parts of the course as well as some of those likely to give trouble (based on past experience).
• To start students thinking about some of the issues they will need to address in their chosen project area.

Please note that while we are unable to address the EMA directly, this event will cover all the relevant topic areas of the module, i.e. experiment, individual differences and qualitative approaches.

This weekend offers a full programme of eight talks, running from Friday evening to 3.30pm on Sunday.

Attendees arrive on Friday afternoon/evening, with dinner served 6pm, all meals are served on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch are served on Sunday.

The weekend will start with an introductory overview of the course.

The following six sessions will explore key concepts and ways of investigating these. Two of these will relate to each of the potential types of project [experimental, survey and qualitative] and will be delivered by tutors highly experienced in that area.

For the final session we will split into selected project group areas to explore some of the issues one needs to address when running this particular type of project.

As well as providing an introduction to, and overview of the course, it will be an ideal opportunity to meet with other students who are about to start DE300 at the same time as you; and also to talk to some of those involved in producing and teaching the course, who will be tutoring on the weekend. The weekend is being held in parallel with other events for psychology courses so there is likely also to be the chance to meet and talk with students who have already studied DE300 and get some first-hand opinions and tips from them.

The weekend is not all hard work ! There will be ample opportunity to relax and socialise with other students in the evenings should you choose to.

Timetable

Friday 6th September

3pm: Registration Opens

6.00pm: Dinner

7.45pm: Welcome Briefing

8.00pm: Lecture: Overview and   introduction; Introduction; Module structure and tips; Overview of project  areas; Literature review; Weekend structure - Tutor Team

Saturday 7th September

7.30am -9.00am: Breakfast

9.00am: Lecture: Experimental 1: Memory and Experimental Methods of Investigation - Nancy Rowell

10.30am: Tea/Coffee break

11.00am: Lecture: Qualitative 1: The Phenomenological Perspective - Phil Hulme

12.30pm: Lunch

2.00pm: Lecture: Survey 1: Methods for studying Individual Difference - Stephanie Bennett

3.30pm: Tea/coffee break

4.00pm: Lecture: Experimental 2:   Language and Experimental Methods of Investigation - Nancy Rowell

6.30pm: Dinner

8.00pm: Fred's Quiz

Sunday 8th September

7.30am -9.00am: Breakfast

9.00am: Lecture: Survey 2: The Pros and Cons of using Survey to study Development, Personality and  Creativity - Stephanie Bennett

10.30am: Tea/Coffee break

11.00am: Lecture: Qualitative 2: The Discursive Perspective - Phil Hulme

12.30pm: Lunch

1.30pm - 3.30pm: Project-specific  sessions

• Experimental: Nancy Rowell - Focusing on Multi-Factorial ANOVA
• Survey: Stephanie Bennett - Focusing on PCA and MR
• Qualitative: Phil Hulme - Focusing on Positioning Qualitative Research and the 3 Project Option

3.30pm: Weekend ends

 

Tutors

• Phil  Hulme  has been a DE300 tutor since its start, in region 07 in Yorkshire. Previously Phil was a tutor and exam marker on DD307 since its introduction and also tutored on its predecessor D317. Phil has been tutoring on OUPS weekends for a number of years and always gets excellent feedback from the students.
• Nancy Rowell has been a tutor on psychology modules since 2009, initially on DD303 (Cognitive psychology) and subsequently modules across the curriculum, so that she now teaches on DE120, DE200, DE300 and DD210, as well as E102. Nancy gained all of her psychology degrees through the OU, starting as an undergrad and culminating with a PhD looking at strategies in practice learning, and she is still an OU student - currently studying statistics      modules ! Outside the OU she is involved in volunteering with young people's groups.
• Dr Stephanie Jane Bennett has taught on DE300 since module start (2016) as a survey methods specialist. Stephanie is also currently a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Forensic Psychology at the University of Chichester, where she is course leader for BSc. (Hons) Criminology. Stephanie received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Plymouth in 2012 and is a chartered psychologist (DARTP).  Stephanie's research themes include developmental disability, educational intervention, police wellbeing, wellbeing of children and young people during the pandemic, interventions for families who have a parent in prison and investigative interviewing of children who have been trafficked into the UK. Stephanie is a specialist in quantitative research methods, in particular survey design and analyzing survey data using descriptive and inferential methods. Stephanie is competent in data analysis software such as Excel, SPSS and M+, and currently teaches survey design using both Qualtrics and JISC online survey platforms. Stephanie has also used Qualtrics in her own research and consultancy work. Stephanie has produced module materials on survey design, survey data, data analysis and ethics forDE300.  Stephanie is a member of the  OU Children’s Research Centre (CRC) and has currently completed four projects with them so far, and has just recently completed a project with  OU colleagues : exploring the impact of having a parent in prison on children in collaboration with a charity who deliver interventions in the community (YSS).

What to expect

The lectures are conducted in management conference seminar rooms within the University campus, and you will have been provided with a timetable of talks and lecture notes before you arrive.

You can choose how you spend your time. If you book the residential package then you will have a very comfortable ensuite room in management conference facilities complete with bedding, towels, a hairdryer, coffee-making facilities and desk. Wifi is also included. The training centre has a small exercise room within the building and you also have complimentary access to the  gym and pool on campus, so if you do want to relax then there is the option to do so.

The cost is inclusive of all meals, including Friday night and Saturday night dinner. There are no extra costs involved (except for drinks at the bar!). As well as your room and all meals this includes refreshments at break times, extensive handouts which are only available to attendees, welcome drink on Friday night. Non-residential places are available for a reduction, and the same breakfast, lunch, dinner and all tea/coffee/snack breaks during the day are still included.

The welcome drinks and psychology book stall are both excellent places to meet other students. All students and staff wear name badges, so it is easy to find somebody to help if you have any questions. You can enjoy your meals with a group of students in the comfortable dining room. The food is fresh, healthy buffet style catering, and there is something to entice everyone.

Finally, whilst most students leave exhausted from the learning and socialising, they comment that it is such a worthwhile weekend, and we see many of them each year as they progress their studies!

Free places

We will be offering some free places on this weekend event. This offer is only open to OUPS members and the students will have to pay their own travel expenses. Students can only apply if they have not received a free place from us previously. The applicant will need to be able to demonstrate that they have financial hardship and will need to provide proof of current receipt of benefits (such as a scan/photo of the front page of the pay award letter, giving name, address and the date of the award)  or evidence of low income (for example a screen shot of a bank statement showing salary and carers allowance) as well as a covering letter with a short personal statement of no more than 500 words.

Applications should be made before 26th July and we will inform applicants if they have been successful the following week. Please email your applications to info@oups.org.uk. Any queries should be addressed to info@oups.org.uk

Venue

The weekend takes place at Radcliffe Conference and Training Centre, University of Warwick. Both accommodation and lectures are located in the same building unless you have been informed otherwise.

Warwick is an award winning conference venue with excellent facilities. Access to the sports facilities, including the swimming pool, are included in the price. The university's central location with excellent transport links makes it easily accessible from all over the UK and Europe. There is ample free car parking.

Accessibility

Click here for information on accessibility, parking and other related facilities.

Travel and directions

Click here for satnav postcodes and directions to the University of Warwick.

For campus maps go to Warwick Campus Maps.