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MA / MSc Educational Neuroscience 2016-2017

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Contents

Contents 1

Introduction 2

Term Dates and College Closure 3

Facilities 4

Timetable and Attendance Requirements 7

Coursework Deadlines for 2016/17 10

Module Details 11

Essay Submission Guidelines 25

Birkbeck Academic Staff - Research Interests 26

Welfare and Student Support 31

Funding and Financing Your Studies 33

Disability Statement 34

Rules and Regulations 37

Birkbeck Marking Schemes 38

UCL-IOE Marking Scheme 40

Plagiarism 42

Useful Addresses and Contact Numbers 43

Finding Birkbeck & UCL-Institute of Education 45

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Introduction

The Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London, was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics Institution and incorporated into the University of London as Birkbeck College by Royal Charter in 1920. The College is ranked among the leading UK university institutions for its levels of national and international excellence in research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. From this base of research excellence Birkbeck provides a unique range of degree and other courses designed specially to meet the needs of mature students. The main part of the Department is located on the fifth level and the basement of the Birkbeck main building in Malet Street. Other parts are located in the British Medical Association building on Tavistock Square and in the Henry Wellcome Building. In the last Research Assessment Exercise the School was ranked in the top five departments in the country. It currently comprises over 25 academic staff specialising in a variety of fields within Psychology. There are several Centres affiliated to the School, such as the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, the Birkbeck/UCL Centre for Neuroimaging, and the Institute for the Study of Children, Family and Social Issues.

The Department of Psychology and Human Development at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London

The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is a faculty within University College London. With over 6,000 post graduate students and 800 staff, it is the largest postgraduate centre for the study of education in the United Kingdom and one of the leading graduate schools of education in the world. The Institute is committed to pursuing excellence in education and related areas of social science and professional practice, and in the last Research Assessment Exercise, 95% of its research was rated as international in quality. IOE is located on the UCL campus in Bloomsbury, immediately adjacent to Birkbeck. There are excellent library and computing facilities. The Department of Psychology and Human Development (PHD) comprises nearly 30 academic staff with research and teaching interests in psychological approaches to learning, development and teaching from early childhood to adulthood. Members of the Department specialise in research on learning, development and teaching in formal and informal settings, such as schools and homes, and are active members of the joint Birkbeck/UCL Centre for Educational Neuroscience. They also contribute to understanding of and provision for children and adults with special educational needs. The Department is located at 25 Woburn Square.

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Term Dates and College Closure

Term Dates for 2016/17

Autumn Term: Birkbeck & UCL-IOE – Monday 3 October to Friday 16 December 2016 (note that the term technically starts at UCL-IOE on Monday 26th September with an induction week) Spring Term: Birkbeck & UCL-IOE– Monday 9 January to Friday 24 March 2017 Summer Term: Birkbeck – Monday 24 April to Friday 7 July 2017 UCL-IOE – Monday 24 April to Friday 30 June 2017

College Closure Dates for 2016/17

Christmas Closure: 23 December 2016 to 2 January 2017. Birkbeck College will close at 6pm on 22 December 2016, and normal services will resume from 9am on 3 January 2017. Easter Closure: 13 April 2017 to 18 April 2017. Birkbeck College will close at 6pm on 12 April 2017, and normal services will resume from 9am on 19 April 2017. (Closure dates are the same at UCL-IOE but closing time is 5.30pm rather than 6pm).

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Facilities

Birkbeck Library

Through the Library you have access to a range of resources; books, ebooks, print journals, ejournals, database, audio-visual materials all of which will support your learning throughout your course. You can search for resources and find out about our services through the library website (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/). Remote access from home/work is available using your IT Services username and password.

Psychological sciences students have a subject guide which brings together the most relevant resources for your subject (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/subguides/). You also have a Subject Librarian, Emma Illingworth (e.illingworth@bbk.ac.uk) to answer your questions about finding information, using the resources and making the best use of the library.

Web: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/ For up-to-date opening hours, see: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/about/hours UCL-Institute of Education Library

The Newsam Library and Archives holds extensive collections of current and historical materials on education and related areas of social science. It offers generous study space, and open access to many of its collections. The library catalogue is available to all users, and can be viewed remotely over the internet.

Key resources include:

• The main library collection of books, which contains a copy of every book on

education published in the UK, and a substantial range from elsewhere worldwide

• The journals collection – 4,000 education and social science titles available

electronically and over 2,000 in print

• A wide range of other electronic resources, such as databases, electronic books,

documents and websites, linking to the very latest information

• The Curriculum Resources collection, displaying examples of schoolbooks and

teaching materials for all levels and all school subjects

See http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/sites/ioe for more information.

Term time opening hours

Mon-Fri: 08.30-23.30

Sat-Sun: 09.30-20.30

Enquiry Desk opening times:

Mon-Fri: 10.45-19.00 Sat: 09.30-17.00

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Other University Libraries

Birkbeck students may also access a number of other university libraries, both in London and throughout the UK. The access schemes that Birkbeck belongs to include:

Senate House Library, University of London (Humanities and Social Sciences) Free borrowing. Just go there and register once you have your Birkbeck ID card.

University of London libraries You can access many other University of London libraries for reference only, such as UCL and King's College London. Please check their web sites for access arrangements before you visit.

UK Libraries Plus A scheme for part-time learning students and sometimes full-time postgraduates (depending on the library) allowing borrowing from other member libraries.

Birkbeck Department Facilities

In addition to College library facilities, all students have access to computing facilities in the Department and around campus. The Department’s PC lab – room 534B – is available from 7am to midnight (except on occasional weekday evenings when booked for undergraduate use). These provide access to the internet, an email account, and various experimental and statistical software packages. Other psychology experimental software is installed in lab room 109. For further details (e.g., on setting up your email) you can call the Department’s IT office on 020 7079 0744 or the College’s Information Technology Services (ITS) on 020 7631 6543. Students may also attend courses in popular areas of computing, run by Birkbeck ITS. Equipment to support your research, including transcribing machines, can be borrowed for short periods of time from the Department. To check availability of such equipment and make a booking, consult Harish Patel (020 7631 6348), the Department’s Technical Services Manager. The Department also has a number of testing rooms/interviewing rooms that can be booked in advance. To check the availability of these rooms and for advance bookings, please contact Professor Anne Richards via email: a.richards@bbk.ac.uk or tel: 020 7631 6208. Office Space

Office space within the department is extremely limited, but students requiring specialist laboratory space will normally be accommodated with their supervisor’s research group. Otherwise, students are welcome to meet in the main lecture room (room 534A) immediately before or after lectures, or at any other time when it is not otherwise in use. Alternatively, students may work in either of the department’s computer labs (or in any of the College computer labs). If working in these labs, please keep conversation to a minimum and respect other users of the rooms. Students who require secure storage (e.g., for sensitive data) should consult their supervisor or the course director who will provide lockable filing cabinet space.

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E-mail Access

Please make sure you access your e-mail account regularly as important information is often communicated via e-mail. The email account typically used for all correspondence will be the one assigned to your ‘My Birkbeck’ profile. Be sure to update any email changes there accordingly. Printing and Photocopying

Printing in the college is accessed via the purchase of credit from Birkbeck IT Services www.bbk.ac.uk/its/services/rooms/printing. The Psychology Subject Panel

Students undertaking experimental research have access to the Subject Panel, a departmental database, updated regularly and hosting the details of participants willing to participate in an experiment. The database can be accessed on campus through the internet. Access details will be provided to students once their proposed experimental work has been approved by the Department’s ethics committee. Other facilities at UCL-IOE

In addition to the Newsam Library, students have access to four large computing labs (two within the Library itself), which are available throughout normal opening hours, except when booked for teaching. Equipment to support your research can be borrowed from the Department of Psychology and Human Development (ask Andy Tolmie, andrew.tolmie@ucl.ac.uk for details). IOE also has research lab facilities which will be available for student projects – enquire through your supervisor in the first instance.

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Timetable and Attendance Requirements

TERM 1 (Monday 3 October to Friday 16 December 2016) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

13.30-16.00 Neuroimaging Methods Dr. Iroise Dumontheil

18.00-20.30 18.00-20.30 17.30-20.30 18.00-19.00 Advanced Quantitative Methods Prof. Naz Derakhstan

Genetics of Development Prof. Michael Thomas

Issues in Educational Neuroscience† Prof. Andy Tolmie

Every other week from 6 Oct

Advanced Quantitative Methods (optional) Prof. Naz Derakhstan

TERM 2 (Monday 9 January to Friday 24 March 2017)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

10.00-13.00 Option: Social Development† Dr. Jennifer Allen

18.00-20.30 17.30-20.30* 17.30-20.30 17.30-20.30 17.30-20.30 Developmental

Cognitive Neuroscience Prof. Denis Mareschal

Option: Language Development† Module leader to be confirmed

Option: Cognitive Development and Learning† Dr. Dagmara Dimitriou

Option: Personality and Social Psychology in Education† Prof. Eirini Flouri

Issues in Educational Neuroscience† Prof. Andy Tolmie

Every other week from 12 Jan

TERM 3 (Monday 24 April to Friday 7 July 2017)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

17.30-20.30 17.15-20.15 Option: Autism:

Research and Practice† Prof. Liz Pellicano

Option: Reading and Spelling Difficulties† Prof. Jackie Masterson

† These modules are taught at the IOE. Please read the information on teaching weeks carefully and consult the module handbooks. * This option module is only available to PT students in Year 2 Week 6 of both terms is reading week for Birkbeck modules (i.e., the weeks of November 7th and February 13th). No lectures will be held in these weeks.

Part-Time (PT) Year 1 PT Year 2 Option: One in PT Year 1, and one in PT Year 2

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Attendance

Full-time students are expected to spend the equivalent of a full-time job attending lectures and studying outside of class (completing essays, statistics worksheets and additional reading). Part time students are expected to spend the equivalent of a 50% part-time job. Students are required to attend the lectures and seminars for all modules of the course. Student attendance will be monitored, and students who fail to attend on a regular basis may be excluded from the course. If you feel that it will be difficult for you to attend all classes, please consider switching to the part-time degree, and do so as early as possible. Given that all classes are small, we ask that if students know in advance that they are going to be absent from a session that they inform the relevant module coordinator. IOE option modules

The IOE option modules provided in the timetable are indicative of the type of options which may be offered. Their availability will change year on year and will depend on timetable clashes (e.g. for FT students). Students should select TWO option modules at the IOE. Part-time students will do one option in Year 1, and the second one in Year 2. Not all combinations of two options will be possible, because of timetable constraints. Part-Time Students

Part-time students should attend as follows (see also timetable): Year 1 Term 1: Genetics of Development (Tuesday 6pm-8.30pm)

Issues in Educational Neuroscience (Thursday (every other week only) 5.30pm-8.30pm)

Term 2: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (Tuesday 6pm-8.30pm), Issues in Educational Neuroscience (Thursday (every other week only) 5.30pm-8.30pm)

Term 2 or 3: Chosen option 1 Year 2 Term 1: Neuroimaging methods (Monday 1.30m-4pm)

Advanced Quantitative Methods (Monday 6pm-8.30pm) Term 2 or 3: Chosen option 2 The dissertation should be completed in year 2, however part-time students are strongly encouraged to begin planning their dissertations in year 1. Supplementary Lectures and Seminars

As well as the lectures and seminars scheduled for the MA/MSc, there are a number of specialist seminars held throughout the academic year featuring distinguished guest speakers. These include: Birkbeck Department seminars in cognitive science (occasional lunch-times on Wednesdays, as announced); Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience seminars organized by Birkbeck Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development (occasional 4pm on Tuesdays); UCL-IOE Department seminars

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organized within PHD (fortnightly on Thursday lunchtimes); occasional seminars run by the Birkbeck/UCL Centre for Educational Neuroscience (day/time tbc); and seminars organised elsewhere within UCL and other nearby London institutions (e.g., City University London). Students should take advantage of these seminars as a means of broadening their education. Information on the various seminar programmes will be available from the course director at the induction meeting and can often be found online.

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Coursework Deadlines for 2016/17

BIRKBECK MODULES PSYC077H7: Advanced Quantitative Methods Four Worksheets: Provisional deadlines; Worksheet 1: Monday 24th October 2016 Worksheet 2: Monday 7th November 2016 Worksheet 3: Monday 28th November 2016 Worksheet 4: Monday 9th January 2017 Genetics of Development Essay: Friday January 13th 2017

Neuroimaging Methods Paper 1: Friday 18th November 2016 Paper 2: Friday 13th January 2017

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Essay: Monday April 24th 2017

MSc/MA Psychological Research Dissertation Dissertation Declaration Form: Friday, 9th December 2015 Dissertation due: Friday, 25th August 2017 UCL-IOE MODULES: These are indicative dates; please check module handbooks when they become available for final dates.

Issues in Educational Neuroscience Presentation: Thursday 2nd March 2017 Draft submission: Tuesday 11th April 2017 Essay: Thursday 18th May 2017

Cognitive Development and Learning – OPTION Essay plan (to be confirmed): mid-April 2017 (not compulsory) Essay (to be confirmed): early June 2017

Autism: Research and Practice - OPTION To be confirmed

Language Development - OPTION Draft submission (to be confirmed): late March 2017; final late May 2017

Personality and Social Psychology in Education - OPTION Draft submission (to be confirmed): late April 2017; final early June 2017

Reading and Spelling Difficulties - OPTION Draft submission (to be confirmed): end of July 2017; final early September 2017

Social Development - OPTION Draft submission (to be confirmed): early April 2017; final essay and critique mid-May 2017

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Module Details

SCPS007H7: Genetics of Development

Module Co-ordinator: Professor Michael Thomas Primary Aim:

1) To provide students with a focused overview of contemporary research investigating genetic effects on cognitive development

2) To characterise the current methods used to address the nature-nurture debate Rationale: The module explores the nature-nurture debate in the context of new findings in the field of genetics. It provides a natural conceptual bridge between the Brain and Cognitive Development module exploring the biological basis of learning and development and the Child Development in a Social Context module exploring the environmental effects on child development. It addresses the question: ‘As a developmental psychologist, what do I need to know about genetics?’ Assessment: One 2000-2500 word essay submitted during the second week of January Readings: Asbury, K., & Plomin, R. (2014). G is for Genes. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Fisher, S. E. (2006). Tangled webs: Tracing the connections between genes and cognition. Cognition, 101, 270-297

Kovas, Y., & Plomin, R. (2006). Generalist genes: implications for the cognitive sciences. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(5), 198-203.

Meany, M. (2001). Nature, Nurture, and the disunity of knowledge. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 935 , 50-61

Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., Knopik, V. S., & Neiderhiser, J. M. (2013). Behavioral genetics (6th edition). New York: Worth Publishers.

Rutter, M. (2006) Genes and Behavior. Nature-Nurture interplay explained. Oxford, Uk: Balckwells.

Scerif, G., & Karmiloff-Smith, A. (2005). The dawn of cognitive genetics? Crucial developmental caveats. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(3), 126-135.

Thomas, M. S. C., Kovas, Y., Meaburn, E., & Tolmie, A. (2015). What can the study of genetics offer to educators? Mind, Brain & Education, 9(2), 72-80.

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SCPS149H7: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Module Co-ordinator: Professor Denis Mareschal Aims: The course aims to illustrate how the typical and atypical development of cognitive abilities could be yoked to the processes of brain development. This course will begin with a review of basic brain development during infancy and childhood and neuroimaging methods for use with developmental populations. The course will then survey the development of cognitive abilities in a number of target domains across a range of typically and atypically developing populations (e.g., children with autism, William's syndrome, Down's syndrome, ADHD). The course adopts an information processing approach. In each lesson, students will be asked to reflect on how the abilities in the current lesson could be accounted for in terms of neural development and the development of information processing abilities studied in previous lessons. Assessment:

One essay of 2000-3000 words

Readings:

Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and atypical development. From conception to adolescence. Oxford, K: Wiley-Blackwell

Goodman, R. & Scott, S. (2005) Child Psychiatry. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell

Johnson, M. H. & De Haan, M. (2010) Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 3rd Edition. Blackwell.

Mareschal, D., Johnson, M. H., Sirois, S., Spratling, M., Thomas, M. & Westermann, G. (2007) Neuroconstuctivism Vol. 1: How the brain constructs cognition. Oxford UK: OUP.

Nelson, C. A. & Luciana, M. (2008) Handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience (2nd edition), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

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PSYC007H7 Neuroimaging Methods Module Co-ordinator:

Dr Iroise Dumontheil

Aims:

This module focuses on modern techniques for imaging the human brain. Students will be taught the key principles of a range of neuroimaging techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalography (EEG). The methodological limitations of these techniques will be discussed and there will be an opportunity to observe some of the techniques in action. The module explores how each technique can be used to understand mind-brain relations in patients and healthy individuals, emphasizing their relative advantages and disadvantages. Students will practice the analysis and interpretation of neuroimaging data, as well as the critical analysis of neuroimaging research papers and the neuroimaging literature.

Assessment:

Two 1200-word essays.

Readings: Buxton, R. B. (2002). Introduction to functional magnetic resonance imaging

principles and techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Poldrack, R. A., Mumford, J. A., & Nichols, T. E. (2011). Handbook of functional MRI data analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Luck, S. J. (2005). An introduction to the event-related potential technique.

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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PSYC077H7: Advanced Quantitative Methods

Module Co-ordinator: Professor Naz Derakhshan Primary Aim: The course aims to familiarise students with a wide range of univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, with particular emphasis on evolving and advanced techniques that are not normally covered at undergraduate level.

Indicative Lecture Topics: Descriptive statistics, distributions and transformations; Hypothesis testing and univariate statistical techniques; The General Linear Model; Advanced correlational techniques; Simple and multiple linear regression and logistic regression; Simple and Higher order factorial analysis of variance, as well as analysis of covariance; Multiple analysis of variance and Discriminant function analysis; Principal Components / Factor Analysis; Power, effect size and meta-analysis; Moderation and Mediation analysis; Critical analysis and guidance on reviewing journal papers

SPSS will be used throughout for data analysis. Other computer packages may be used where appropriate (e.g., Excel for producing graphs). Assessment: Four worksheets to be completed throughout the module. Text: Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Fourth Edition. Sage

Publications.

Howitt, D. & Cramer, D. (2008) An Introduction to Statistics in Psychology. Fourth edition. Prentice Hall.

Readings: Howell, D.C. (2010) Statistical Methods for Psychology. Seventh Edition.

Wadsworth.

Greene, J., & D'Oliviera, M. (1999) Learning to Use Statistical Tests in Psychology. Second edition. Open University Press.

Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2012). Using Multivariate Statistics. Sixth edition. Pearson.

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SCPS144S7: Issues in Educational Neuroscience

Module Co-ordinator: Professor Andy Tolmie Aims:

The primary function of this module is to provide a context for integrating the developmental cognitive neuroscience and psychology of education components of the overall programme. There will be an emphasis on seminars alongside lectures to ensure robust discussions and exploration of the limitations and benefits of this new field. The module seeks to:

ensure that students have a cohesive understanding of educational neuroscience

enable students to evaluate critically the major arguments in the field of educational neuroscience

enable students to understand critical case studies within the broader multidisciplinary context

Indicative lecture content:

What is educational neuroscience?; the brain and literacy, numeracy, causal reasoning, attention; the developing social brain; learning technologies and the developing brain; atypical development and school challenges.

Assessment:

One 4000-word essay (80%), plus a 10 minute presentation on planned dissertation research or potential research project (20%)

Readings: Battro, A.M. (2011). The educated brain: essays in neuroeducation. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press. Blakemore, S-J and Frith, U. (2005). The Learning Brain: Lessons for Education.

Blackwell, Oxford. Bruer, J.T. (1997). Education and the brain: A bridge too far. Educational Researcher

26, 4-16. Frederickson, N., Laurillard, D. & Tolmie, A. (2012). Educational Neuroscience.

British Journal of Educational Psychology Monograph Series II: Psychological Aspects of Education – Current Trends: Number 8. Leicester: BPS.

Mareschal, D., Butterworth, B., & Tolmie A. (2014) Educational Neuroscience. Wiley-Blackwell.

The Royal Society (2011). Brain Waves Module 2: Neuroscience – implications for education and lifelong learning. http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/brain-waves/education-lifelong-learning/

Varma, S., McCandliss, B.D., and Schwartz, D.L. (2008). Scientific and pragmatic challenges for bridging education and neuroscience. Educational Researcher 37, 140-152.

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SCPS143S7: Cognitive Development and Learning - OPTION

Module Co-ordinator: Dr Dagmara Dimitriou Aims:

This option provides an opportunity to examine theoretical and research developments within the fields of Cognitive Development and Learning, with particular reference to their educational implications. Attention will be paid to issues of cross-cultural comparison and problems of psychological measurement, throughout. The module seeks to:

Extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of theory and research in cognitive development and learning

Equip participants to evaluate evidence, claims and theory, and to challenge previously held and new views

Enable participants to identify educational implications of theory and research in cognitive development and learning

Assessment:

Final assessment will be through ONE 4,000-5,000 word essay assignment.

Readings:

Blakemore, S. J. (2010). The developing social brain: implications for education. Neuron, 65(6), 744-747.

Chevallier, C., Kohls, G., Troiani, V., Brodkin, E. S., & Schultz, R. T. (2012). The social motivation theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 231–9.

Cowan, R., & Powell, D. (2014). The contributions of domain-general and domain-specific factors to third-grade arithmetic skills and mathematical learning disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106, 214-229.

Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., & Tsukayama, E. (2012). What No Child Left Behind leaves behind: The roles of IQ and self-control in predicting standardized achievement test scores and report card grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104, 439-451.

Johnson, M. H. (2011). Interactive specialization: A domain-general framework for human functional brain development? Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 7-21.

Lavie, N. (2005). Distracted and confused?: selective attention under load. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 75-82.

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SCPS170S7: Autism: Research and Practices - OPTION

Module Co-ordinator: Dr Anna Remington Aims:

The aims of this module are:

To ensure that students have a cohesive understanding of the behavioural, cognitive and neural characteristics of autistic people

To enable students to evaluate critically different types of autism research

To enable students to apply knowledge of autism research to their practice

To ensure that students consider the social and ethical implications of autism research and practice

Assessment:

One 4000-word essay (80%) and one 10-minute presentation on contemporary issues in autism research (20%). Students must pass both parts of the assessment. Readings: Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a

"theory of mind"? Cognition, 21, 37−46.

Calder, L., Hill, V., & Pellicano, E. (2013). “Sometimes I want to play by myself”: Understanding what friendship means to children with autism in mainstream primary schools. Autism, 17, 296-316.

Fein, D., Barton, M., Eigsti, I.-M., Kelley, E., Naigles, L., Schultz, R. T., Stevens, M., Helt, M., Orinstein, A., Rosenthal, M., Troyb, E., & Tyson, K. (2013). Optimal outcome in individuals with a history of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54, 195-205.

Geschwind, D. H. (2011). Genetics of autism spectrum disorders. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, 409-416.

Pellicano, E. (2013). Sensory symptoms in autism: A blooming, buzzing confusion? Child Development Perspectives, 7, 143–148.

Remington, A., Swettenham, J. G., & Lavie, N. (2012). Lightening the load: Perceptual load impairs visual detection in typical adults but not in autism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 544–551.

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SCPS145S7: Language Development - OPTION

Module Co-ordinator: Prof. Julie Dockrell Aims:

This module aims to provide participants with opportunities to:

enhance knowledge and understanding of a range of theories that explain the processes and mechanisms of language development

explore evidence from research regarding current debates and issues of controversy in the field of language development

Assessment:

One essay of 4,000-5,000 words

Readings:

Ambridge, B. & Rowland, C. (2013). Advanced review: Experimental methods in studying child language acquisition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 4, 149–168.

Brooks, P. & Kempe, V. (2012). Language development. Chichester: Blackwell Wiley (BPS textbooks).

Gómez, D. M., Berent, I., Benavides-Varela, S., Bion, R. A. H., Cattarossi, L., Nespor, M., & Mehler, J. (2014). Language universals at birth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 111 (16), 5837-5841.

Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Señor, M., & Parra, M. (2012). Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 39, 1-27.

Marshall, C. R. (2014). Word production in children with developmental language impairments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 369: 20120389.

Mayberry, R. I., Lock, E., & Kazmi, H. (2002). Linguistic ability and early language exposure. Nature, 417, 38.

Melby-Lervag, M., & Lervag, A. (2011). Cross-linguistic transfer of oral language, decoding, phonological awareness and reading comprehension: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 34(1), 114-135.

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SCPS171S7: Personality and Social Psychology in Education - OPTION

Module Co-ordinator: Dr Eirini Flouri Aims:

The module seeks:

To provide a critical and up to date account of selected theoretical/research developments in the study of Personality and Social Psychology which are of potential special importance for Educational Psychology

To identify contrasting underlying theoretical assumptions within Personality and Social Psychology and hence evaluate varied approaches to research which are implicit in such differing theoretical orientations

To explore the implications of material presented in terms of its applied significance for improving teaching and learning, as well as for developing effective organisational strategies, in schools and other educational contexts

Assessment:

Two essays of 2,000-2,500 words each. Readings:

Blair, C., & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Development and Psychopathology, 20(3), 899–911.

Flouri, E. (2004). Early father's and mother's involvement and child's later educational outcomes. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 141-153.

Hampson, S. (1999). State of the art: personality. The Psychologist, 12(6), 284-288.

Hewstone, M., & Stroebe, W. (Eds) (2001). Introduction to Social Psychology. (3rd ed.) Oxford: Blackwell. (Especially Chapters 6, 11, 13 &17)

Kraemer, H. C., Stice, E., Kazdin, A., Offord, D., & Kupfer, D. (2001). How do risk factors work together? Mediators, moderators, and independent, overlapping, and proxy risk factors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 848-856.

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SCPS147S7: Reading & Spelling Difficulties - OPTION Module Co-ordinator: Professor Jackie Masterson Aims:

The module includes material from the fields of psychology, primary education and special needs, and deals with an important aspect of educational development. The module covers: diagnosis and classification of specific learning difficulties; a review of different theoretical perspectives in the nature and origin of difficulties in developmental literacy skills; methods of assessment and intervention suitable for primary and secondary school pupils and ways of evaluating the efficiency of such interventions.

Assessment:

Final assessment will be through ONE 4,000 word essay designed to enable students to:

show an understanding of current models of skilled word reading and how this can be applied to reading and/or spelling problems

demonstrate a grasp of relevant theoretical approaches to reading or spelling difficulties and the ability to apply this understanding to intervention.

demonstrate familiarity with instruments to explore reading or spelling difficulties

Readings: Cain, K. (2010). Reading Development and Reading Difficulties. Wiley-Blackwell.

Caravolas, M. et al. (2005). Effects of orthographic consistency, frequency, and letter knowledge on children’s vowel spelling development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 92, 307-321.

Ramus, F., Marshall, C. R., Rosen, S., & van der Lely, H. K. J. (2013). Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: Towards a multidimensional model. Brain, 136, 630-645.

Snowling, M. & Hulme, C. (2005). The Science of Reading: A Handbook. England: Wiley-Blackwell.

Stuart, M. & Stainthorp, R. (2015). Reading Development and Teaching. London: Sage Publications.

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SCPS172S7: Social Development - OPTION

Module Co-ordinator: Dr Jennifer Allen Aims:

This module considers psychological research on social aspects of development in childhood and adolescence and how families, schools and other social institutions may influence these developments. It aims to encourage reflection on the origins and validity of commonly held beliefs about children and their development. The module will use a variety of methods including lectures and small group discussions. You are expected to play an active part during the sessions and do such preparatory reading as is recommended. At the end of the module, you should:

understand views about the relation between psychology and culture that have motivated research and theory in developmental and cognitive psychology

know the range of influences on parents’ behaviour towards their children and how these may determine differences between and within families

be familiar with research on social and emotional aspects of development in childhood and adolescence

Assessment:

ONE essay and ONE critique of a published article, each of 2,000-2,500 words. Readings:

Baines, E., Rubie-Davies, C., & Blatchford, P. (2009). Improving pupil group work interaction and dialogue in primary classrooms: results from a year-long intervention study. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(1), 95-117.

Coleman, J., & Hendry, L. (2011) The nature of adolescence (4th ed.), London:

Routledge.

Hill, N., & Taylor, L. C. (2004). Parental school involvement and children's academic achievement. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 161-164.

O'Connor, T. G. (2002). Annotation: The 'effects' of parenting reconsidered: findings, challenges, and applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 555-572.

Shiner, R. L. et al. (2012). What is temperament now? Assessing progress in

temperament research on the twenty‐fifth anniversary of Goldsmith et al.(1987). Child Development Perspectives, 6(4), 436-444.

Thomas, M. S. C., Forrester, N. A., & Ronald, A. (2013). Modeling socioeconomic

status effects on language development. Developmental Psychology, 49(12),

2325-2343.

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SCPS008D7: MA Psychological Research Dissertation

Module Co-ordinator: Professor Denis Mareschal Primary Aim:

To provide students with practical experience of all aspects of conducting an extended critical review within an area of contemporary psychology, including formulating a research question, conducting a literature review, assessing arguments and available evidence, and writing up the study in a format suitable for publication

Important Notes:

All dissertations must be supervised – normally by a member of the School’s academic staff. In rare cases external supervision may be agreed, but in such cases a second supervisor within the department will be required. Students will normally be assigned to a supervisor on the basis of their research interests expressed in their application or at interview. Where appropriate (e.g., with interdisciplinary research topics) students will be assigned a secondary supervisory.

Students should meet with their supervisor soon after the beginning of first term to agree their research topic and plan their literature review. Students must present a 10 minute summary of their dissertation background in the last session of the Generic Research Skills module (last Wednesday of first term in year 1 for full-time students and in year 2 for part-time students).

Students will be expected to write an extensive scholarly work critically reviewing a focused area of the existing literature, identify the state of the art, and any unanswered questions. The dissertation will conclude with a concise and research proposal addressing a pressing and currently unanswered question arising from the critical review.

Assessment:

One dissertation of approximately 10,000 words due during the first week of September 11 months after enrolling (for full-time students) or 23 months after enrolling (for part-time students).

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PSYC078D7: MSc Psychological Research Dissertation

Module Co-ordinator: Dr Natasha Kirkham Primary Aim: To provide students with practical experience of all aspects of conducting a research project within an area of contemporary psychology, including conducting a literature review, formulating a research question, designing and running a study to address that question, analysing the study’s results, assessing the relevance of study’s results in the context of the existing literature and the research question, and presenting the study in formal report. All dissertations must be supervised – normally by a member of the School’s academic staff. In rare cases external supervision may be agreed, but in such cases a second supervisor within the department will be required. At the Masters’ Induction meeting, students will be provided with a list of potential supervisors and associated possible research projects. Students are expected to spend the month of October thinking about project ideas and should begin contacting potential supervisors as of 3rd November. Where appropriate (e.g., with interdisciplinary research topics) students will be assigned a secondary supervisory. Students should meet with their supervisor soon within November to agree their research topic and plan their literature review. Students must present a 10 minute summary of their dissertation background in the last session of the Generic Research Skills module (last Wednesday of first term in year 1 for full-time students and in year 2 for part-time students). All experimental work involving human participants must be approved by the School’s ethics committee prior to commencement, and a copy of the ethics form must be included as an appendix in your dissertation. When you have completed your ethics form, make sure you keep a copy for this purpose. Note also that in the rare circumstances that experimental work is conducted outside of the School, you may also require ethical approval from external ethical committees (e.g., local area ethics committees of NHS trusts). ANYONE working with minors (under 16 years of age) must apply for a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check (formally CRB checks). This is done through the department. Please read about it here: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/current-students/ethics Please note: Clinical projects are not possible The procedures to get NHS ethical clearance to conduct clinical research are now so complex and time consuming that it is not feasible within a masters degree. In addition, working with vulnerable populations requires a great deal of training and experience. Therefore projects with clinical populations are not possible. If you are interested in clinically related topics, think creatively. It may be possible to conduct research on some general health issues in non-clinical groups and some supervisors work with clinically related paradigms. See the supervisor list to see where this is indicated. The only exception to the non-clinical rule is if, in your job, you are already working as part of a team on a research project which itself already has NHS ethics

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approval, or if Birkbeck supervisor already has NHS approval for a project, and that approval covers the specific work you will be doing. This is a highly unusual circumstance- in most years no-one will be in this situation. Please note: There are no scheduled classes associated with this module, but students can book meetings with the module coordinator as and when needed. The module coordinator can help with such topics as: 1) finding a supervisor, 2) dissertation formatting, 3) general dissertation writing skills, and 4) general study skills associated with the organisation and writing of a dissertation. All questions relating to the content of the project, the design, the analyses or the background literature should be directed to the supervisor.

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Essay Submission Guidelines

All essays should be word processed and conform to the following format: Cover sheet: The first page should provide the following: your candidate number,

the essay question you are addressing, the module for which the essay is required, and the MSc/MA programme you are enrolled on. Start the text of your essay on the second page. Please do NOT write your name anywhere on the essay. The course administrator will issue all students with a candidate number – names will not be known by the people marking the essay.

Font: Please use a standard font such as Times Roman, Arial, Palatino, etc. Do not

use a quirky font like comic sans!

Font size: Please use 11 point or 12 point font Line spacing: Please use 1.5 or double spacing for all text Margins: Ensure that there is at least 2.5cm margin on the left and right of each

page. Page numbering: Number all pages. Section headings: Feel free to use section headings if it seems appropriate. Make

sure all headings stand out (e.g., by making them bold or underlining them). Be consistent in the formatting of headings

References: All essays should include a reference list as a separate section at the

end of the essay, and referencing should conform to APA or BPS guidelines. If in doubt, refer to an APA or BPS psychology journal (e.g., Psychological Review, or The British Journal of Psychology) for examples of good practice. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/subguides/science/psychology/apa

Submission: All essays are to be submitted via Moodle, where the student will

confirm that the essay is their own work. Do not send any electronic copies of your essays to the administrator. Deadline: You should adhere to assessment deadlines outlined at the start of the

course. All assessments should be submitted via Moodle by 5pm. Any work submitted after this time will be considered as a late submission.

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Birkbeck Academic Staff - Research Interests

Professor Jacqueline Barnes: Community in relation to children and families; evaluation of childhood interventions; the impact of family illness upon child development. Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon: Forensic psychology. Perspectives on individual and group therapy. Therapeutic programmes in a forensic context. Sexuality, sex work, and sexual offending. Professor Richard Cooper: Executive processes and their interactions; Cognitive modelling, especially of executive processes, processes of action selection, and cognitive dysfunction following neural damage; Cognitive architectures; Methodology of cognitive modelling; Philosophy of Cognitive Science. NB Professor Cooper will be on sabbatical for the academic year 2016-17. Dr Eddy J. Davelaar: Dynamic Memory and Cognition, cognitive control; cognitive aging; information foraging; computational modeling. Professor Nazanin Derakhshan: Cognitive biases in anxiety; Emotional information processing in anxiety and repressive-defensiveness; Attentional control in anxiety and defensiveness. Methodologies: Electrophysiological measures (ERPs); Eye-movements. Dr Fred Dick: Language acquisition and development, language impairments, auditory development, cross-linguistic studies of aphasia, development of expertise. Methodologies: MRI, fMRI, lesion analysis, patient studies, timed behavioural measures. Dr Roz Dixon: School bullying, child mental health in developing countries, providing access into education for adults Dr Iroise Dumontheil: Social and executive functions in adulthood and their development during adolescence. NB Dr Dumontheil will not supervise MSc/MA students in the academic year 2016-17 (maternity leave). Dr Virginia Eatough: Emotional experience, adult crying, applying qualitative methodologies to the experience of living with chronic degenerative disorders, interpretative phenomenological analysis. Professor Martin Eimer: Cognitive psychophysiology, using event-related brain potentials and behavioural measures to study selective attention, perceptual-motor interactions, and higher order visual processing. Dr Simon E. Green: Brain mechanisms of emotional processing in animals and humans; biological explanations of human psychopathology; health psychology, especially coping with chronic stress; gender differences in cognition and affect. Professor Ulrike Hahn: Argumentation, Judgment and Decision Making, Similarity, Concepts and Concept acquisition, Language and Language acquisition.

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Professor Mark Johnson: Visual perception and cognition in infants; functional brain development; developmental disorders. Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith: Development of language and cognition in typical and clinical populations from infancy to adulthood; genotype/phenotype correlations. Nature/Nurture debate. Dr Natasha Kirkham: I am interested in how infants and children learn. Specifically, I am interested in what guides attention and supports learning from infancy into early childhood. Increasingly, I am more and more interested in how learning occurs in naturalistic settings, amidst all the noise and distraction of real-life environments. Dr Matthew Longo: My research investigates the mental representation of our body and how this shapes perception, including space perception, pain and touch. Professor Denis Mareschal (Deputy Head of Department): Developmental psychology and connectionist modelling, especially perceptual categorisation, object processing; the development of reasoning in childhood. Dr Emma Meaburn: My research incorporates molecular genetic, transcriptomic and epigenomic approaches to investigate the genetic and environmental basis of behaviour and cognition in childhood and adolescence. Professor Edward C. Melhuish: Family, pre-school and child care experience and child development. Relationship of cognitive and social development. Dr Anne Miles: Cancer screening; Public understanding of cancer Professor Hermann Müller: Mechanisms of visuo-spatial orienting, visual search and attentional selection, and the role of temporal factors in figural grouping (temporal binding). Professor Mike Oaksford (Head of Department): Bayesian or rational models of human reasoning and argumentation, including data selection, conditional inference, syllogistic reasoning, causal reasoning, "fallacies" of argumentation and the effect of experienced and anticipated emotion on reasoning. Dr Clare Press: I investigate how we control our own actions and imitate and process others' actions. I address these questions both in typical development and in individuals with autism spectrum conditions. NB Dr Press will not supervise MSc/MA students in the academic year 2016-17 (maternity leave). Professor Anne Richards: Cognition and emotion; effects of emotion on ambiguity resolution; emotional influences on processing emotional facial expressions; automatic and strategic influences in the interpretation of ambiguity; attention and emotion; emotions and hemispheric representations; childhood anxiety. Dr Angelica Ronald: Autistic spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, twin and family studies, genome-wide association studies, genetic influences on development, psychosis.

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Dr Alex Shepherd: Visual perception: Colour vision; low light vision; visual and attentional processing in migraine. Professor Jonathan A. Smith: Application of qualitative methodologies in social, health and clinical psychology; interpretative phenomenological analysis; psycho-social aspects of the new genetics; life transitions, self and identity. Dr Marie Smith: Visual information processing in networks of brain regions during high-level cognitive tasks. I have a specific interest in face and facial emotion processing and therefore focus on the brain networks underlying these processes. Dr Tim Smith: Visual Cognition in the context of naturalistic visual scenes Dr Fiona Tasker: Developmental Psychology: family processes and structure, especially post-divorce and non-traditional families; adolescence; attachment theory; sexual identity. Dr Adam Taylor Tierney: I am interested in the functional and structural characteristics of the human auditory and motor systems which provide the foundation for human abilities such as language and music. In particular, I am interested in rhythm, or temporal patterns in music and language. Professor Michael Thomas: Language and cognitive development. Developmental disorders. Cognitive variability. Language in Williams syndrome. Bilingualism. Metaphor comprehension. Brain and language. Connectionist modelling. Use of computational modelling in theory development. Cognitive genetics.

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UCL IOE Academic Staff Research Interests Jennifer Allen: Child anxiety, child conduct problems and callous-unemotional (CU) traits, parenting, family processes and child emotional competence, stressful life events, behaviour observation (e.g., parent-child interaction). Most interested in the preschool and early school years, but open to research with younger or older children (e.g., toddlers, adolescents) depending on the topic. Ed Baines: Peer relations, interaction and learning in classrooms; peer cliques and groups; peer relations, and groups and learning in the classroom; the development of collaborative skills; sex differences in these areas. Grouping practices in classrooms; playground games and peer relationships. Peter Blatchford: Main area of interest is social developmental processes in school settings. Richard Cowan: Number development; working memory; specific language impairment; instruction. Julie Dockrell: Vocabulary development; typical and atypical language development; production of written text; spelling difficulties, language intervention; learning in noisy environments and classroom acoustics; language intervention, learning support in FE. Eirini Flouri: Developmental psychopathology; Parenting and emotional and behavioural problems; contextual factors in child psychopathology; quantitative methodology.

Jane Hurry: I have two core areas of research interest: Literacy development, both typical and atypical, and - adolescent development, with particular focus on emotional and behaviour disorders and youth offending. Maria Kambouri: Teaching and learning through the use of Information and communication technologies (ICT). Games (digital) and Learning. Learning with ICT for young offenders and other socially excluded youth; people with SEN. Knowledge acquisition and computerised assessment procedures; adult learning. Dawn Male: Challenging behaviour and children/young people with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties; friendships among children/young people with severe learning difficulties; friendships among children/young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties; working with parents of children/young people with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties; the role of teaching assistants working with children/young people with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties; inclusion opportunities for children/young people with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties; memory processes in children/young people with moderate learning difficulties. Chloe Marshall: I study language development in a range of groups: children with typical development; children with specific language impairment and/or dyslexia; deaf children who are learning British Sign Language; hearing adults learning BSL as a second language. I also study the relationship between language and working

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memory. Jackie Masterson: Reading and spelling development, vocabulary development. Liz Pellicano: I am particularly interested in the way that children and young people with autism perceive and interpret visual stimuli like faces, eye-gaze direction, objects, and number, and the role that executive functions play in autistic children’s daily functioning. Julie Radford: Dialogic discourse in classrooms; qualitative analysis of interactions (student-teacher; parent-child); verbal and non-verbal strategies used by children with speech language and communication needs; multi-agency collaboration; school-based provision for SEN/ inclusion. Yvonne Reynolds: Children’s and adults’ reasoning and argument skills, including within specific cultural contexts such as Jewish and Islamic education; early mathematical development; development of science concepts. Diana Tsokova: Inclusive Education; Teacher Education for SEN; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Inclusion of children with Severe and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.

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Welfare and Student Support

Learning Coordinator

The Departments learning coordinator, Germaine Symons, is available for all students who would like to enhance their study skills and for general student support. She is available for one-to-one and group tutorials and drop-in appointments for support and advice on any aspect of your learning or on any issue that is affecting your studies. She will also be organising workshops and specific study skills sessions that run throughout the year to enable students to develop their study skills, such as note-taking to exam techniques. Details of these workshops and sessions will be advertised on the Department’s notice-board and through email alerts. You can contact Germaine Symons at lso.psychology@bbk.ac.uk to book an appointment by email. You can also access learning support and skills training through My Birkbeck: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support Pastoral Support

The course tutor will serve as the personal tutor to all students on the course. The course tutor will be responsible for pastoral care and for general queries relating to the course. The course tutor will keep in touch with all students throughout the course, and you should feel free to raise any issues either after class or during a confidential meeting. Students with non-urgent issues are encouraged to contact the course tutor before those issues become urgent. Full contact details of the course tutor appear in the back of this handbook. Academic Facilitator Sveta Mayer will be providing academic facilitation to help you progress in your deliberations of the interdisciplinary nature of educational neuroscience as an emerging field of research and scholarship. Sveta will be running informal peer group discussion seminars and individual tutorials whilst you engage in the core module Issues of Educational Neuroscience and your MSc/MA Dissertation study. In addition, Sveta will be involved in coordinating the assignment of dissertation supervisors. She will be providing support to help you define your dissertation topic and to approach potential supervisors at UCL IOE. Key topics for peer group discussion and tutorials will cover aspects of (1) interdisciplinary perspectives of the field of educational neuroscience whilst you engage in the Issues of Educational Neuroscience module and (2) interdisciplinary theoretical underpinnings, research approaches and ethical considerations whilst you engage in dissertation study. You are encouraged to suggest topics to prompt a peer group discussion and to request an individual tutorial. Email Sveta at s.mayer@ucl.ac.uk. Seminars and tutorials will be mixed mode (face-to-face and online). Further details and a schedule for academic facilitation will be circulated mid-October.

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The Students’ Union

Birkbeck’s Students’ Union provides a range of student support facilities, including an advice centre, counselling services and study skills courses. For details, including timetables for study skills courses and contacts for the advice and counselling services, see the Student Union website (http://www.birkbeckunion.org/). The union also provides a number of services, including a shop and bar. Students are also eligible for membership of the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University of London Union (ULU) (http://www.nus.org.uk/). Full-time students and part-time students on income support are eligible for a discount on many London Transport services. Up to date details are available on the students’ union web site.

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Funding and Financing Your Studies

Full-time students wishing to work part-time during their degree should consult with their supervisor and the postgraduate tutor before undertaking any work commitments. Birkbeck recommend that full-time students do not undertake more than 6 hours per week paid work. Students in receipt of an award from a Research Council should be aware of the limitations attached to their award as regards paid work. There are occasional teaching opportunities available at the School. As part of their training, students are encouraged to undertake teaching or demonstrating during their degree. Students should contact their supervisor in the first instance. MSc Related Expenses

There are limited funds available from the Department to meet students’ research related-expenses, such as paying participants for interviews and experiments and so forth. Students should apply for these funds in advance. Forms are available from the postgraduate administrator. Any requests will need approval by your supervisor(s) first.

Studentships and PhD Funding

Students who wish to apply for a position on our PhD programme after completing the MSc may be interested to know that the department normally awards a mixture of ESRC and College Research Scholarships every year. These studentships are highly competitive, and can be applied for by submitting a normal PhD application, with a supporting statement and research proposal indicating that you would like to be considered for any funding opportunities. It also helps to have a supervisor interested in your proposal before you apply. There is usually a deadline every year in the spring term for any applicants that want to be considered for funding, so please check with Postgraduate Administration for any dates and deadlines. Information on other funding opportunities from outside (non-Department or College) sources is regularly displayed on the postgraduate notice board on the 5th floor.

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Disability Statement

At Birkbeck there are students with a wide range of disabilities including dyslexia, visual or hearing impairments, mobility difficulties, mental health needs, medical conditions, respiratory conditions. Many of them have benefited from the advice and support provided by the College’s Disability Office.

The Disability Office

The College has a Disability Office located in room G12 on the ground floor of the Malet Street building. We have a Disability Service Manager, Mark Pimm, a Disability Administrator, John Muya and a Mental Health Advisor, Elizabeth Hughes. We will shortly be appointing an SpLD Advisor. All enquiries should come to the Disability office, who will determine the appropriate referral to specialist staff. They can provide advice and support on travel and parking, physical access, the Disabled Students Allowance, special equipment, personal support, examination arrangements etc. If you have a disability or dyslexia, we recommend you come to our drop in session where we can discuss support and make follow up appointments as necessary. The drop-in sessions are between 4pm and 6pm Monday to Thursday. The Disability Office can also complete an Individual Student Support Agreement form with you, confirming your support requirements and send this to your School and relevant Departments at the College so they are informed of your needs.

Access at Birkbeck

Birkbeck's main buildings have wheelchair access, accessible lifts and toilets, our reception desks have induction loops for people with hearing impairments and we have large print and tactile signage. Disabled parking, lockers, specialist seating in lectures and seminars and portable induction loops can all be arranged by the Disability Office.

The Disabled Students Allowance

UK and most EU students with disabilities on undergraduate and postgraduate courses are eligible to apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). The DSA usually provides thousands of pounds worth of support and all the evidence shows that students who receive it are more likely to complete their courses successfully. The Disability Office can provide further information on the DSA and can assist you in applying to Student Finance England for this support.

The Personal Assistance Scheme

Some students need a personal assistant to provide support on their course, for example a note-taker, sign language interpreter, reader, personal assistant, disability mentor or dyslexia support tutor. Birkbeck uses a specialist agency to recruit Personal Assistants and they can assist you with recruiting, training and paying your personal assistant. Please contact the Disability Office for information on this scheme.

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Support in your School

The provision which can be made for students with disabilities by Schools is set out in the Procedures for Students with Disabilities. This is available from the Disability Office and on the disability website (see below). As mentioned above your School will receive a copy of your Individual Student Support Agreement from the Disability Office. This will make specific recommendations about the support you should receive from the School. Whilst we anticipate that this support will be provided by the Programme Director, tutors and School Administrator in the School of Arts also has a Student Disability Liaison Officer. If you experience any difficulties or require additional support from the School then they may also be able to assist you. They may be contacted through the School Office or the Disability Office.

Support in IT Services and Library Services

There is a comprehensive range of specialist equipment for students with disabilities in IT Services. This includes software packages for dyslexic students (e.g. Claroread and Inspiration), screen reading and character enhancing software for students with visual impairments, specialist scanning software, large monitors, ergonomic mice and keyboards, specialist orthopaedic chairs etc. For advice and assistance please contact Disability IT Support. There is also a range of specialist equipment in the Library including a CCTV reading machine for visually impaired students as well as specialist orthopaedic chairs and writing slopes. The Disability Office refers all students with disabilities to the Library Access Support service who provides a comprehensive range of services for students with disabilities.

Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

Mature students who experienced problems at school are often unaware that these problems may result from their being dyslexic. Whilst dyslexia cannot be cured, you can learn strategies, which make studying significantly easier. If you think you may be dyslexic you should contact the Disability Office who can screen you and where appropriate refer you to an Educational Psychologist for a dyslexia assessment. These assessments cost £225. Some students can receive assistance in meeting this cost from their employer. In exceptional cases students may receive assistance from the Access to Learning Fund.

Examinations

Students with disabilities and dyslexia may be eligible for special arrangements for examinations e.g. extra time, use of a word processor, amanuensis, enlarged examination papers etc. In order to receive special arrangements a student must provide medical evidence of their disability (or an Educational Psychologists report if you are dyslexic) to the Disability Office. For School examinations you should contact your Programme Director to request special arrangements at least 2 weeks before the examination. For main College summer examinations you are given the opportunity to declare that you require special provision on your assessment entry form. Students who require provision should then attend an appointment with the Disability Office to discuss and formalise the appropriate arrangements. The closing date for making special examination arrangements in College examinations is the

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15th March and beyond this date consideration will only be given to emergency cases.

Further information

Full information on disability support can be found at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/disability For further information or to make an appointment to see the Disability office, please call the Student Centre on 020 7631 6316 or email disability@bbk.ac.uk. Alternatively you can go to the Disability Office in room G12 between 4pm and 6pm Monday – Thursday for during their drop-in hours.

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Rules and Regulations

Common Award Scheme (CAS) Programme Regulations

All Birkbeck academic courses are now bound by the Common Award Scheme (CAS). The CAS Regulations can be found on the College website at the following link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/policies/regulations Here you will be able to download the Common Award Scheme Regulations Handbook 2015/16 where you should take note of the following: • Late Submission of Assessment (page 25) • Passing a module (page 25) • Compensated Fail and Awards (page 27) The CAS Handbook can be found at this link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/CAS%20Regs%201516.pdf

The course will strictly follow the regulations based in this handbook. Mitigating Circumstances

Please ensure you read the Mitigating Circumstances policy which can be found online. You can also find the Mitigating Circumstances form via this link which should be submitted to your course Administrator. Mitigating Circumstances will be considered at a Panel Meeting at the end of the academic year. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/coursework/mitigating-circumstances

UCL Institute of Education Regulations

The UCL Institute of Education Regulations can be found at this web link: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/srs/academic-manual/overview

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Birkbeck Marking Schemes

Essays and the Dissertation

0-39% (fail): The submitted work does not address the question or research issue; There is no evidence of learning from the module (e.g., the submitted work contains only general, unsupported, statements that might reasonably be known by a lay-person). 40–49% (compensated fail): The submitted work is only tangentially related to the question or research issue; The material presented is very basic or irrelevant; The work relies heavily on superficial or subjective statements without supporting evidence; Analyses presented are inadequate; The conclusions drawn are sketchy and reveal a failure to understand core concepts. 50–59% (pass): The submitted work address the question or research issue but lacks depth and/or evidence of an analytic approach; There is some coherence of structure; The work demonstrates basic familiarity with a range of relevant material or a good level of understanding of some material with important omissions; Analyses are appropriate and competent but limited; The conclusions drawn are appropriate but lack insight. 60–69% (merit): The submitted work addresses the question or research issue in detail and shows evidence of a questioning and analytic approach; The structure is coherent and easy to follow; The work shows an ability to appreciate an extensive body of relevant knowledge and articulate key theories or concepts; The work demonstrates reading beyond the core material presented in lectures; The conclusions drawn are balanced and appropriate and reveal evidence of independent thought. 70–100% (distinction): The submitted work fully explores the question or research issue and goes beyond what would be expected of something in the 60-69% range; The works shows substantial evidence of the students own insight and analysis and/or convincingly integrates material going beyond the core assigned reading; In the case of the research dissertation, the dissertation requires few modifications to be of a publishable standard in a peer reviewed journal. All essays and dissertations are double marked and moderated by the visiting examiner. Students will be issued with a candidate number for use with essays so that marking is blind. Advanced Quantitative Methods Worksheets

PSYC077H7 is assessed by four worksheets issued throughout the course. Marks on individual worksheets tend to be much higher than on essay-based work. Therefore, in order to ensure that grades for this module are compatible with those of essay based modules, the final mark is calculated from the average mark across the five worksheets, scaled by a linear transformation such that distinction level performance equates to 70% and pass level performance equates to 50%.

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In previous years an average of 13/20 for the worksheets has been required for a final mark of 50%, while an average of 17/20 has been required for a final mark of 70%.

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UCL-IOE Marking Scheme

IOE assignments are all marked according to a common scheme, in which Pass grades are A to C, while D is a Fail. The criteria for each grade are as follows: A

grasp of field of study - outstanding grasp of issues and high level of critical insights into field of study - extensive, insightful and critical review of literature - high levels of creativity and independence of thought in the application of

knowledge

understanding and evaluating research and methodologies - sophisticated conceptual understanding and high levels of critical evaluation of

scholarship, research and methodologies in the field - outstanding understanding of how established techniques of research and

enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge and how these apply to students’ own research and/or practice

- creative and critical handling, presenting and inferring from data

structure, communication and presentation - exceptional clarity, focus and cogency in organisation and presentation of

arguments and conclusions B

grasp of field of study - clear understanding of issues and good level of insights into field of study - wide-ranging, coherent and critical review of literature - elements of creativity and independence of thought in the application of

knowledge

understanding and evaluating research and methodologies - consistent and fluent understanding and critical evaluation of scholarship and

methodologies in the field - thorough understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry

are used to create and interpret knowledge and how these apply to students’ own research and/or practice

- competent and critical handling, presenting and inferring from data

structure, communication and presentation - clarity, focus and fluency in organisation and presentation of arguments and

conclusions C

grasp of field of study - basic understanding of issues and insights into field of study - basic critical competence in reviewing literature - little development of ideas in the application of knowledge

understanding and evaluating research and methodologies - adequate understanding and evaluation of scholarship, research and

methodologies in the intellectual field - basic understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are

used to create and interpret knowledge and how these apply to students’ own research and/or practice

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- rudimentary handling, presenting and inferring from data

structure, communication and presentation - basic clarity, focus and competence in organisation and presentation of

arguments and conclusions D

grasp of field of study - inadequate understanding of issues and insights into field of study - unfocused or inaccurate review of literature - confusion in the application of knowledge

understanding and evaluating research and methodologies - lack of understanding and critical evaluation of scholarship, research and

methodologies in the field - lack of understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry

are used to create and interpret knowledge and how these apply to students’ own research and/or practice

- inadequate or confused handling, presenting and inferring from data

structure, communication and presentation - poorly organised and unfocused presentation of arguments and conclusions

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Plagiarism

Statement from Registrar

You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination of the University of London or Birkbeck must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your own ideas and judgements. Plagiarism, - that is, the presentation of another person's thoughts or words or artefacts or software as though they were your own - must be avoided, with particular care in course-work and essays and reports written in your own time. Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others must always be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the proper form. Remember that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. Equally, if you summarise another person's ideas, judgements, figures, diagrams or software, you must refer to that person in your text, and include the work referred to in your bibliography. Failure to observe these rules may result in an allegation of cheating. You should therefore consult your tutor or course director if you are in any doubt about what is permissible. Recourse to the services of “ghost-writing” agencies (for example in the preparation of essays or reports) or of outside word-processing agencies which offer “correction/improvement of English” is strictly forbidden, and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an academic penalty.

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support/plagiarism Plagiarism is defined by the College as “the submission for assessment of material (written, visual or oral) without correct acknowledgement, in such a way that the work could be assumed to be the student’s own, or could be assumed to have been originally produced by the student for the purposes of the assessment in question, where this is not the case.” Plagiarism includes the unattributed use of another person’s work, ideas, opinions, theory, statistics, graphs, models, paintings, artefacts, performance, computer code, drawings, quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words, or paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words. It may also include the submission of unattributed work previously produced by the student towards some other assessment, or published in some other forum.

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Useful Addresses and Contact Numbers

PSYCHOLOGY POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH TEAM

COURSE CONTACTS

Dr Iroise Dumontheil

BBK Course Tutor

i.dumontheil@bbk.ac.uk 020 3073 8008

Professor Andy Tolmie

IoE Course Tutor andrew.tolmie@ucl.ac.uk 020 7612 6224

Dr Natasha Kirkham

MSc Project Tutor

n.kirkham@bbk.ac.uk 020 7631 6736

Professor Denis Mareschal

MA Dissertation Tutor

d.mareschal@bbk.ac.uk 020 7631 6582

Dr Sveta Mayer Academic Facilitator

s.mayer@ucl.ac.uk 020 7612 6908

Ms Germaine Symons

Learning Support Officer

g.symons@bbk.ac.uk lso.psychology@bbk.ac.uk

020 7631 6736

MODULE CO-ORDINATORS

Genetics of Development

Prof Michael Thomas m.thomas@bbk.ac.uk

Advanced Quantitative Methods

Prof Nazanin Derakhshan n.derakhshan@bbk.ac.uk

Neuroimaging Methods Dr Iroise Dumontheil i.dumontheil@bbk.ac.uk

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Prof Denis Mareschal d.mareschal@bbk.ac.uk

Cognitive Development & Learning

Dr Dagmara Dimitriou d.dimitriou@ucl.ac.uk

Issues in Educational Neuroscience Prof Andy Tolmie andrew.tolmie@ucl.ac.uk

Language Development Prof. Julie Dockrell j.dockrell@ucl.ac.uk

Reading and Spelling Difficulties

Prof Jackie Masterson j.masterson@ucl.ac.uk

Social Development Dr Jennifer Allen jennifer.allen@ucl.ac.uk

Personality and Social Psychology in Education

Dr Eirini Flouri e.flouri@ucl.ac.uk

Autism: Research and Practice

Dr Anna Remington a.remington@ucl.ac.uk

Ms Naomi Adams

Assistant School Manager

n.adams@bbk.ac.uk 020 7631 6334

Mrs Ida Akhtar Birkbeck Psychology Postgraduate Administrator

psychologypg@bbk.ac.uk 020 7631 6535

Mr John Maskell

IoE Administrator for MSc/MA Educational Neuroscience

j.maskell@ucl.ac.uk 020 7331 5229

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OTHER USEFUL CONTACTS Birkbeck Switchboard: 020-7631-6000 Birkbeck Registry: 020-7380-3020 Birkbeck ITS: 020-7631-6543 Birkbeck Disability Office: 020-7631-6336 IOE Switchboard 020-7612-6000 IOE Computer Helpdesk 020-7612-6696

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Finding Birkbeck & UCL-Institute of Education

1) Birkbeck University of London

2) Institute of Education

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The map below shows the location of the various buildings housing Birkbeck's Faculties, Schools, Administrative Departments and Research Centres. For enquiries concerning the location of specific offices or individuals within Birkbeck, please contact the main telephone switchboard on 020 7631 6000.

Key

1 Main Building, Malet Street 2 Clore Management Centre & Henry Wellcome Building 3 Senate House North Block 4 25-6 Russell Square 5 30 Russell Square 6 10-16 Gower Street 7 28b Torrington Square 8 32 Torrington Square 9 South Wing UCL (access via Gower Street) 10 Gordon House & Ingold Laboratories 11 32 Tavistock Square 12 39-47 Gordon Square 13 59 Gordon Square (nursery in basement) 14 7 Bedford Square 15 14 Bloomsbury Square