Doing a psychology degree: an analysis of newly recruited student accounts

1. Doing a psychology degree: an analysis of newly recruited student accounts Jodi Wallwork, Sarah Mason, Bere Mahoney University of Worcester

2. Introduction • Student beliefs, knowledge, ability • Haggis (2003): accessibility and lifelong learning • Perry (1968; 1970): certainty…… uncertainty • Gamache (2002): ‘personal knowledge’ structures thinking and action • Dahl et al (2005): knowledge beliefs affect learning

3. Purpose of the research • Psychology undergraduates metacognitive beliefs about nature of psychology and studying psychology at university across three year programme • Conceptual framework: Schommer (1990; 1993) knowledge and learning ‘system’ Cano (2005) – metacognitive development • Methodological framework: Focus groups (open-ended questionnaire)

4. Method • Qualitative: open-ended questionnaire & focus groups • Focus groups year 1: N=4 (5 per group) A-level/matures, female/male Semi-structured schedule • Audiotaped, transcribed

5. Analysis • Framework: broadly, discourse analysis (e.g. Billig, 1987; 1991; Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Potter & Edwards, 1996; Wetherell, 1998) discourse=action, making sense, • Procedure: All considered 4 transcripts – thematic analysis consistencies/contradictions Framework developed – all considered again Final more detailed analysis – 1 researcher

6. Analysis • Students’ understandings about psychology • Students’ expectations about the studying process

7. What is psychology? • Applications • Pathology • “People fixing” • Focus on the individual

8. P1: it can go the way to sort of solve problems really sort of the social sort of background and things um like mob behaviour and things like that and er .hhh er so er think football hooligans for instance y’know you got like a couple of people who sort of influence the y’know sort of actions of y’know dozens of people (.) that sort of thing you can sort of look at problems like that sort of kind of look for a solution (.) same as things like er sort of biological sort of thing uh if someone’s had a stroke or something their behaviour will change but (.) it’s like being in a car accident and someone’s had brain damage but that sort of thing and (.) y’know sort of solutions to problems within ourselves and in our behaviour and how we interact with other people I: lots of [yes] going (.) [agreement going on are you sort of] P2: [mm] [yeah] P3: [yeah it is yeah total agreement] yes the individual problems and social problems (.) treating phobias as well as um crowd control

9. P4         and I think having a degree or erm you know because I may actually this may become my major, this is why I've gone part time you know, erm, is having some kind of influence in changing the ways erm, people, especially people I think probably with problems, you know how they’re ill, how the approach towards them, you know, their life, their quality of life can be improved really,

10. P1 I think with psychology being used in the wrong way as well I think if you understand erm, conforming and obedience and everything you can manipulate people to do things they don't want to do, in an extreme case like erm, Hitler like thing, erm he obviously knew how to present himself and his ideas to encourage everybody else like he was doing the right thing. In the wrong hands in the wrong group and the wrong person he could really do some damage like if they understood how to make people like conform into groups.

11. Studying psychology • Contradiction • Excitement of exploring a ‘fascinating subject’ • Negative constructions of independent learning

12. P2 well, at first I was a bit apprehensive taking the subject at A-Level because I didn't like things where you couldn’t say that this is a fact and this isn't, but I thought I'd give it a go and now I really like that because you can make up anything you want to and as long as you can prove it in some way then you actually have a basis, and I think it's really fun, just make up what you want and try and find something to back it up P1 There's no right or wrong, if you disagree with someone's idea you're perfectly welcome to say well I disagree, I've done research and this is my evidence towards it, I think my opinions will count, whereas if you did that in any other subject like English or Science, you can't say I disagree 'cause they go tough, that's what it is

13. P1: a chance to actually do some experiments yourself or um sort of time spent in the lab doing something um something practical rather than just sort of reading all the time and to have sort of hands on experience of (.) um (.) interviewing people like me [huh hu] [general laughter] P1: looking through a one way mirror y’know I: mm P1: watching people do stuff an [yeah sort of] I: [right] P2: we we do get to do a bit of our own

14. P3 it's quite daunting actually P1 at university you have to teach yourself quite a bit of reverse psychology, I don't want to go out and drink I don't want to go have fun I do want to stay in and do my work[.] It doesn't seem to work too well but I think it could get there

15. Why this contradiction? • Independent leaning equates to first hand observations • Impatience with reading and theory

16. Conclusions • Dispel myths early in the first year • Accommodate myths early in the first year • Integrate myths