March 7 2011 Information Session – 2 nd and 3 rd year honours students in psychology.

March 7 2011

Information Session – 2nd and 3rd year honours students in

psychology

2What undergraduates need to know to succeed

1. Choosing an Honours seminar

2. Honours essay (PSYC 4905)

3. Honours thesis (PSYC 4908 for BA students – PSYC 4907 for BSc)

4. Practicum course, Independent studies

General outline for the session

3What undergraduates need to know to succeed

Undergraduate Office

Joanne Sonley, Undergraduate Program Advisor

Stephanie Mulville, Undergraduate Assistant

Questions? Email [email protected] or drop by B550 Loeb

Audit checks

Applications for Honours seminars and Honours thesis

4What undergraduates need to know to succeed

Honours Seminars

Minimum GPA of 9.0 in your psychology courses and 3rd year standing (9.0 credits completed)

Apply for admission, sections fill up quickly

Deadline = June 1

Top 3 choices

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Honours Seminars

If too many students want one section, placement is made based on GPA (higher GPA, more likely to get your first choice)

6 Sections:

What undergraduates need to know to succeed

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Honours Seminars

PSYC 3400 - Forensic (Kevin Nunes)

PSYC 3100 - Social (Connie Kristiansen)

PSYC 3600 - Personality (John Zelenski)

PSYC 3500 - Developmental (Shelley Parlow)

PSYC 3700 - Cognitive (John Logan)

PSYC 3300 - Health (Mary Gick)

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What happens in an honours seminar?

Seminar prepares you for the Thesis

You will be developing skills and knowledge in research methods, scientific writing, and statistics.

Designing studies

Analyzing data

Reviewing current research

6.0 hours per week from Sept through April.

What undergraduates need to know to succeed

8What undergraduates need to know to succeed

Differences between the essay stream and the thesis stream

Honours thesis: independent research project supervised by a faculty member (lit review, data collection & analysis, document)

Honours essay: “a substantial paper that critically investigates an area of psychology” (lit review, document)

A thesis is generally required for admission to graduate programs in Psychology in Canada

9What undergraduates need to know to succeed

Differences between the essay stream and the thesis stream

Major GPA requirement is higher for Thesis than for Essay

10.00 for Thesis** for students who began the program in Fall of 2010 and later

9.0 for Thesis for students who began their program prior to Fall of 2010

6.00 for Essay (6.5 by graduation)

Students with GPA ≥ 9.0 or 10.00 (depending on program start date) can do either thesis or essay; students w/ GPA <9.0 or 10.00 can only do an essay

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Honours Essay Class

Matt Sorley is the Honours Essay Supervisor

If you have any specific questions about the Essay, please email: [email protected]

To Register in your Essay, you need 4th Year standing, PSYC 3000 completed, and a minimum PSYC GPA of 6.0.

What undergraduates need to know to succeed

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Doing an honours thesis

Rob Coplan is the Honours Thesis Supervisor

If you have any specific questions about the thesis you may email: [email protected]

To qualify, students need 4th Year standing, PSYC 3000 and Honours seminar completed, PSYC GPA of 9.0 if you started your program prior to Fall of 2010, 10.0 if you started your program in Fall 2010 or later, plus a Supervisor.

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12What undergraduates need to know to succeed

Planning ahead for your Honours thesis

Students who plan to do an Honours thesis should consider looking for a thesis advisor during the Winter term in their 3rd year, the earlier the better

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The Practicum course(PSYC 3901and PSYC 3902

Mary Gick

[email protected] or [email protected] for this Fall term

Practicum is open to any Psych student in 3rd or 4th year in the Fall or Winter terms

Student responsible for finding own placement. Potential placement list on Psychology website.

Volunteer 7.0 hours per week at placement

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What is an independent study?PSYC 4900/4902

Find somebody to supervise your work

Choose a topic that you are interested in

Submit completed application to dept. for approval

Write a paper; help conduct a research study; attend lab meetings

Getting research experience, separate from your thesis

Due the last day of classes

What undergraduates need to know to succeed

March 7, 2011

Thank you!

We are now available for questions