PSY 306 – Issues in Contemporary Psychology

Semester 3, 2020

Argumentative Essay (35%) and Oral Presentation (10%) Briefing

Overview
For both of this assignment (essay and oral presentation), this is a group assignment with a
minimum of 8 group members and a maximum of 12 group members. You are required to
select a pertinent and current issue in contemporary psychology and write a report on your
chosen issue. You have flexibility in choosing any current issue and contemporary
phenomena within a particular sub-field of Psychology. Your report must be supported with
adequate references and data, and explain your topic in sufficient depth. This report should
be around 3500 words and is due on Friday, 27th November @5pm (Week 14) of this
semester, via turnitin.

You are also required to do a presentation for this assignment. Your group presentation
would now be online. As it is not possible for all of you to meet up as a group, you would
now create an audio recording of you narrating the slide content. (Please find uploaded
guide, “Online Presentation Guide” (though meant for lecturers), that will help you in
creating the presentation.

Your presentation can be on elements of your assignment together with any other
information that is not included in your assignment.
Your presentation is approximately 10 minutes to 15 minutes. This is calculated based on
the length of your audio recording. For example, if you have 15 slides with each slide having
a 1-minute audio recording, this would total as 15 minutes.
You would send me this file (PowerPoint with audio recording), in a google form (link to be
given at a later date) by Friday, 27th November @5pm (Week 14).

Suggestion for Topics

 As there are many topics that could be chosen, it is imperative for each group to run
through their chosen topics with me. This is so that I am able to clarify expectations and
give suggestions and improvements where needed.
 I would also be giving some examples of topics via the Week 1 audio lecture slides.
 Further, there will be a project review in Week 8 (during class time), which is aimed for
each groups to run through with me your assignment progress.
 Note that it is imperative to clarify whenever unsure, and I am open to any discussion
with your respective groups.

Writing Your Report

Your report should address your chosen topic in sufficient depth and give the reader an
understanding of the main issues, debates, points and/or controversies surrounding your
chosen topic. You then need to clearly state why the issue is one of importance today, and
highlight some of the key insights that will be useful for society and the general public. You
must use at least 8 peer-reviewed journal articles and if relevant, also use data/statistics
from reputable sources to support your report. You can also make use of charts/graphs to
illustrate the data you have obtained from the databases (be sure to reference these as
well). The assignment must be typed, double-spaced at 12pt font and follow the APA style
of referencing. Details on the APA referencing convention are available on MyAcel.

Structuring Your Report

Feel free to use the following guideline for your own assignment, or adopt it to suit your
assignment:

Executive Summary
 Overview of entire report, outline of main issue, outline of report structure
 Brief summary of key insights and findings
Body: Report on the Issue
 How did you define the key terms you used in your report?
 What is the issue that you are reporting on?
 What previous research and has been conducted on your chosen issue?
 What data has been previously collected on your chosen issue?
 What are the significant/notable trends relevant to your chosen issue?
 Why is the current issue significant and one that needs to be seriously considered?
Implications of the Issue
 What are the implications of the chosen issue?
 Is some form of action necessary to address, resolve or improve the current state of
the issue? Why or why not? Which parties should be involved in making the decision
to change/improve the situation?
Conclusion
 Summary of main insights and findings from your report.
PSY 306 – Issues in Contemporary Psychology
Semester 3, 2020

Critical Reflection (15%)

Overview
For this assignment, you are required to reflect on contemporary issues in research. More
specifically, you are given the freedom to analyse and reflect on any issues in psychological
research, and to give your own opinion on it. You can also upon your own experiences in
conducting research. You can write up to 800 words for this assignment. The self-reflection
report is due on Friday, 20th November @5pm, Week 13 of this semester, via turnitin.

Suggestions
You can read up on some of the recommended readings below:
1) John, L. K., Loewenstein, G., & Prelec, D. (2012). Measuring the prevalence of
questionable research practices with incentives for truth telling. Psychological
Science, 23(5), 524-532.
2) Fiedler, K., & Schwarz, N. (2016). Questionable research practices revisited. Social
Psychological and Personality Science, 7(1), 45-52.
3) Fanelli, D. (2009). How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic
review and meta-analysis of survey data. PloS one, 4(5), e5738.
Some of the suggested topics or issues you can reflect on are as per below:
1) Most obvious and questionable issues research practices (QRPs)
2) What factors motivate QRPs/scientists to conduct unethical research practices?
3) Which QRPs do you think are “more/most” severe? Why?
4) What can be done to limit the decay of credibility within the psychological sciences?
5) What standards of ethics/principles should inform your conduct as a scientist?

Writing Your Critical-Reflection

Your critical reflection should, most importantly, be critical and self-evaluative. Descriptive,
cursory or generalized statements should be kept to a minimum. You should also make use
of academic references to support your arguments, where necessary. The assignment must
be typed, 12pt font, single spaced, and follow the APA style of referencing.

Assignment Policies and Rules

Please note that your assignment will be subjected to plagiarism detection software and
harsh penalties will be imposed if you are found to be plagiarizing material without
adequately or properly referencing your source materials. Standard policies and procedures
follow in the request for extensions beyond the assignment deadline. You will need to
supply a genuine, verified letter/certificate clearly explaining your need for an extension. All
late submissions will be penalized 2% of the total mark per day beyond the assignment
deadline. For instance, if you submit your assignment 4 days late, your final mark will be
your total mark less 8% of your final mark. Please also be aware that non-submission of any
assignment item worth more than 10% results in automatic barring from the final exam.