Making a difference with psychology: reporting on a module to develop psychological literacy in final year undergraduates

Abstract

Improving students' psychological literacy has become a key part of the new British Psychological Society accreditation. This is fuelling an emphasis on helping students to apply their degree knowledge critically and innovatively, both to enhance their chances in a competitive job market and to give them the skills to make a real-world difference. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a module that boosts psychological literacy in final year undergraduates. We invited external partners to give us examples of current problems they were facing. We then asked groups of students to design a feasible solution to the problem, supported by psychological theories and findings. The module also helped students explore the psychology behind job hunting. We found that the module had a beneficial impact on students' learning and skills and the external partners found their ideas useful and innovative. Here we outline the challenges and successes of our approach as a model for any colleagues who may be interested in developing their own teaching in this area.