Course overview
Our 100% online and part-time Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) in Psychology course introduces students to both subject-specific knowledge and transferable skills.
This short course introduces the scientific understanding of the mind, brain, behaviour and experience. You’ll also be presented with different perspectives, promoting an appreciation of the real-life applications of psychology. Emphasis will also be placed on the role of empirical evidence in the development and critique of psychological theory, and how this influences the future of research in the discipline.
Job outcomes
- Youth Worker
- Support Worker
- Security Analyst
- Behavioural Scientist
- Teaching Assistant
- Behavioural Support
What you'll learn
After this CertHE Psychology course, you’ll have an appreciation of the scientific and theoretical underpinnings of psychology including its historical origins, progression and limitations.
You’ll also develop an awareness of the variability and diversity of psychological functioning and its significance. Finally, CertHE students will also be able to recognise a range of influences on psychological functioning and how these are conceptualised across three core discipline areas (Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and Personality and Intelligence).
Study method
- Online
- Blended
- In-class
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Duration study load
- 16 months – part-time
Entry requirements
We believe that education should be accessible for everyone, so we offer an open entry route that means you do not need any previous academic qualifications to start our CertHE Psychology course.
You will be allowed to start the CertHE Psychology course and make an assessment of whether it is right for you during the first three weeks. You must pass your first assignment set during this time in order to continue with your studies.
If English is not your first language, your English ability should be equivalent to an IELTS (academic) score of 6.0. If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test.
Pathways
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
Course features
You are supported throughout your course by a dedicated student adviser and have the opportunity to regularly interact with fellow students and your tutor. To ensure you receive the support you need from your tutor, we cap our class sizes at 20 students.
Assessment
We adopt an assignment-based approach to assessment instead of exams.
You are always aware of your current provisional grade right from the start of the programme, allowing you to evaluate the success of your current study methods and clearly identify areas to improve.
We believe that this transparency gives you the information you need to make the most of your course. We achieve this by:
- Showing your marks clearly in your grade book, which can be viewed whenever you log onto the learning platform
- The rapid turnaround of work assessed to ensure that your grade book is always up to date
- Assessing your work throughout the module rather than waiting for the end of year exams
- Ensuring you have regular contact with your student adviser
- The simplicity and transparency in the design of our assessment criteria
We also have a policy of ensuring that the work submitted by students is authentic. As well as the fact that all work is frequently assessed, we use a well-established electronic monitoring system to check for plagiarism.
Delivery
As we are a 100% online university, we utilise a virtual learning environment instead of a traditional campus. The system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials.
This learning platform allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and you can listen to, and view, live lectures and seminars over the internet. All courses are delivered in English only.
Subjects
The CertHE Psychology is made up of the following modules and, upon completion, is equal to a total of 120 credits.
- Student online learning orientation
- Technical & personal requirements/preparation
- Learning platform organisation and navigation
- Communication in eLearning – Synchronous and Asynchronous
- Using the online library
- Online assessments
- Collaborative learning tools – ‘Module resources’
- Intrapersonal development
- Self-awareness, lifelong learning and capability
- Learning styles and personal values
- Managing stress, uncertainty, transition and time
- Project planning, problem solving and creativity
- Awareness of the world of work and society
- Understanding of citizenship
- Interpersonal development
- Verbal communication, including effective presentations
- Written communication, including effective report-writing
- Study skills
- Apply basic critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills
- Use a variety of personnel management tools and strategies to enhance learning
- Use problem-solving skills to increase academic and professional proficiency
- An introduction to the science of Social Psychology
- Social cognition and social knowledge [forming impressions, schemas and categories, stereotypes]
- Self and identity
- Causal Attribution
- Heuristics and judgements
- Attitudes and behaviours
- Ethics in Social Psychology
- An introduction to the history and science of Cognitive Psychology
- Critical thinking
- The acquisition, retention and retrieval of knowledge
- The relationship between thought and language
- An introduction to decision making, problem-solving and creative thinking
- Applications of Cognitive Psychology
- Ethics in Cognitive Psychology
- An introduction to the history and science of individual differences
- Psychodynamic, state, trait and biological theories of personality
- Intelligence and abilities
- Measurement in individual differences
- Defining the attitude
- The function of attitudes
- Theories of attitude change
- Persuasion
- Predicting behaviour from attitudes
- Measurement
- The neuroscience of attitudes
- An introduction to psychological appraisal and treatment
- Therapeutic models and approaches
- The therapeutic alliance
- Assessments in mental health
- Professional and ethical perspectives in psychological appraisal and treatment
About University of Essex Online
Online learning is a cost-effective, convenient and flexible way to enhance your career. Our quality-assured distance learning courses allow you to work towards your qualification in a unique virtual learning environment and still have access to all the support and facilities you would expect to receive on campus.
University of Essex Online courses are delivered by Kaplan Open Learning, an experienced online learning provider, part of Kaplan International Pathways. The University and Kaplan have developed their partnership since 2007 in order to offer high-quality online courses.
