Bachelor (Honours)
Gain an insight into why people think, feel and behave the way they do. After a solid foundation in the elements of human behaviour, your Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) year allows you to pursue a career as a psychologist, and prepare yourself for postgraduate study.
Do you want to learn from industry professionals and begin a rewarding psychology career?
During your honours year, you will get the chance to build on your relevant undergraduate degree and learn an extended range of psychological assessment methods, as well as gain an understanding of the process of formulating psychological opinion in casework.
The research and analytical skills you develop in your honours year will strengthen the quality of your research projects, and become indispensable tools in your future career.
Upon graduating, you will be eligible to apply for provisional registration as a psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). If you would like to pursue full registration, you can go on to complete two years of relevant work under the supervision of a registered psychologist, or complete a master's or doctorate that includes work placement. Students wishing to become fully registered psychologists can then apply to continue their study by undertaking one of the following:
Upon graduation, if you choose not to continue with further study in psychology, your possible career options include work in:
If you choose to continue studying to pursue full registration as a psychologist, you may find employment in a variety of settings such as:
To complete the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) students must attain 8 credit points.
Psychology Honours consists of two components: coursework and a thesis.
The coursework component (consisting of classes and seminars) contributes 50% to the final grade of Honours awarded. part-time students must complete the coursework component in the first year of their course. As required by the accreditation guidelines of the Australian Psychological Society, the coursework covers:
For further details of the coursework component, see the unit description for HPS431, HPS432, HPS433 and HPS434
The thesis component (see HPS435 and HPS436) contributes 50% to the final grade of honours awarded. The thesis is a write-up of an individual research project based on an original piece of empirical research. A range of types of data (qualitative, quantitative, subjective, objective) and a range of data-collection settings and methodologies can be used as the basis of the thesis component. The Fourth Year Thesis consists of four components:
Research Project A in Trimester 1
1. Thesis literature review draft (1500-2000 words; 0% hurdle assessment)
2. Thesis proposal presentation (10-minute oral presentation; 0% hurdle assessment)
Research Project B in Trimester 2
3. Thesis poster (A0 research poster; 0% hurdle assessment)
4. Thesis (5500-6000 words; 4 credit points; 100%).
Students are encouraged to attend the annual School Fourth Year Conference online.
All commencing Faculty of Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate course work students are required to complete DAI001 Academic Integrity Module (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first trimester of study.
Karolinska Institute exchange students must enrol in HPS435X Research Project A (Karolinska Exchange) and HPS436X Research Project B (Karolinska Exchange).
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
The only means of entry into the course is when students have already successfully completed an undergraduate degree (Level 7) with a 10-credit point major in the discipline of psychology within the last ten years from Deakin University. Individual applications for specific Recognition of prior learning will be considered on an individual basis. Upon graduation, while students are eligible to apply for further study in psychology, they will not be able to automatically articulate into higher-level psychology courses.