Høst 2016

PSY-3021 Psychology of Experience - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for psykologi

Type of course

The course is optional for masterstudents in psychology. It can not be taken as a singular course.

Course contents

What is an experience? This course broadly introduces the theories, methods and variables associated with psychological explorations related to discovering the nature of experience. Topics will be discussed within applied contexts such as aesthetic experiences, games and play, sports and leisure, travel and tourism. Students will contribute through discussion and weekly reflections on personal experiences related to course readings. Following the general course introduction, students will begin the process of defining a question to use in designing an experience-relevant investigation. The remainder of the course will entail topic-specific lectures and the opportunity for students to develop their study rationales and designs.

Objective of the course

By the end of the course, the students should be able to:

Summarize and evaluate key theories and approaches in the field.
Critically analyze different methodological approaches used in the study of experiences
Identify methodological strengths and weaknesses and appropriate contexts for their use.
Apply theory to praxis and present it at a course workshop.
Plan an empirical study or practical intervention and present it in the form of an introduction to an article with a clear and academically based rationale for a driving question, a presentation and justification for the methods to be used and discussion of ethical considerations.

Language of instruction

English

Teaching methods

Teaching will vary in form and location, involving, for example, lectures, discussions, active learning, problem-solving or workshops.

Assessment

The final written exam is a 10-page research proposal (double-spaced written in Times New Roman 12 point font with 2.5 cm margins on all sides) written according to APA standards.

Like the introduction to a scientific article, the exam involves presenting a suggested empirical study or intervention where the rationale for the work is presented, the driving question is clarified, the design and methods to be used are justified and any ethical considerations are discussed.

Exams will be graded using the A-F grading scale. Students who earn an F will be allowed to take a re-sit exam the following semester.

The exam can be written in either english or norwegian.