Psychological Theory and Practice: An Evaluation Report

Examination and Evaluation of Psychological Theory Application

The report is a chance for you to consolidate your learning on the module and to evaluate the relationship between psychological theory and practice. To do well in the assessment, you need to use a number of key skills. These include the abilities to relate theory to practice, to be critical, to reflect on what you have learned and to write reports.

1 What you have to do: By the time you write this report, you will have read the required reading from the lecture/workshop programme and organisation-specific material that you have identified yourself or with your tutors in supervision sessions.

From your reading and notes made at the organisation, lectures, seminars and supervision sessions, you should write a report linking psychological theory and practice. The report should identify relevant psychological theories/ concepts/models and evidence and critically examine how they relate to the organisation where you carry out your experiential learning. Please note that the theory introduced in the lecture sessions has broad applicability to a range of situations and organisations.

At first, concepts such as social support and models of stress may not appear particularly relevant but, upon reflection, you are likely to find they are. However, you may also wish to consider other theories of specific relevance to your experiential learning. For example, if you’re based in a chemical dependency unit, you may wish to outline models of addiction and analyse what models the staff and users of the organisation hold.

If you’re based with a management consultant, you may wish to examine aspects such as change management, motivation, leadership and team- building. From your reading, you should write an Evaluation Report of between 1,700 and 2,000 words (excluding appendices and references). Use the full word limit to cover the assignment adequately. Remember to give the report a detailed title that reflects its content. Do not just call it ‘Evaluation Report’.

Introduction (200 words): Start by defining the purpose of experiential learning, linking it to employability, followed by a brief description of the organisation or setting that you conducted your experiential learning in. Conclude your introduction with an outline of the psychological theories/concepts/models (3 to 4) that you will be examining in your assessment. Note that the introduction should be 10% of the total word count, that is, between 170 to 200 words. The report should cover two key elements:

• An examination and evaluation of the application of psychological theory at your organisation For example, if you’re based at a play centre for children with special needs, you may wish to examine social support in some detail. This may include analysing the type of support offered in terms of its structure and functions, and explaining how this applies to the children who use the centre and to other people involved with the centre e.g. staff, parents, teachers. Similarly, if you’re based at an after-school homework support club, you may wish to analyse the club’s work in terms of prevention. For example, does the club have a preventive role, can this role be categorised as primary, secondary or tertiary, is it a community-wide preventive strategy?

• Suggestions on ways in which theory might be used to develop practice, and, if possible, how practice might inform the development of theory From examining the extent to which theory is put into practice, it should be possible for you to identify ways in which practice could be developed. For example, with reference to models of stress in 6 organisations, it may be possible for you to suggest ways in which an organisation can adapt its working practices to reduce risk of staff burn-out and improve client outcomes. You may organise the report as you wish.

Some students like to deal with the above elements in an integrative way so they make suggestions on developments alongside the analysis; others prefer to deal with the two elements consecutively. You should do whatever you consider appropriate for your report. However, most students find it helpful to use sub-headings relating to the particular aspects they are considering e.g. ‘The Role of Social Support’. You will probably produce a more analytic piece of work if you consider three or four aspects in depth rather than bringing in more material at a superficial level. However, you should aim to demonstrate your broader knowledge of psychology through brief but explicit links.

Remember: As with the Progress Report, you should always anonymise any organisation clients or employees that you mention in your reports. This can be as simple as changing their names and possibly their role title. You may also need to anonymise the organisation. This can be through a name change and possibly a change of location e.g. 'in a London borough' rather than 'in Hammersmith'. When you have anonymised organisations or people, state that you've done this. Also, if you have permission to name the organisation, you should state this in your assignment. Issues of confidentiality and anonymity will be discussed in class.