University of St Andrews

Programme Specification for Bachelor of Science (Honours) Computer Science and Psychology

Awarding institution:	University of St Andrews
Teaching institution:	University of St Andrews
Programme type:	Undergraduate (Joint)
Programme title:	Computer Science - Psychology
Faculty:	Faculty of Science
Schools:	School of Computer Science School of Psychology
Language of study:	English
Programme length:	4 years
SCQF credit level:	Level 10
UCAS code:	CG84
Contact details:	See the School of Computer Science website at http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/ For further details about this programme contact compsci-dot@st-andrews.ac.uk See the School of Psychology website at http://psy.st-andrews.ac.uk/ For further details about this programme contact psydot@st-andrews.ac.uk
Admissions criteria:	AABB Highers AAB A-levels 36 IB points
Accreditation details:	Joint Honours degrees in Psychology may also be recognised by the British Psychological Society, though the choice of Honours modules is constrained in this case. Students should take advice from their academic advisor.
QAA benchmarks:	For general QAA information on academic infrastructure see http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/default.asp
Date(s) of production:	June 2009
Date(s) of revision:
Authorised by:	Prof Kevin Hammond Dr Gerry Quinn
Route code:	USHFCSCJPSY

Educational aims of programme

This programme will involve study of Computer Science and Psychology at an advanced, research-led level. Students will gain an understanding of how knowledge is created, advanced and renewed. The programme will encourage in all students a desire to pursue learning with curiosity, integrity, tolerance and intellectual rigour.

Programme outcomes / Graduate attributes

In the course of this programme students will develop programme-specific skills. On completing the programme students should be able to demonstrate the graduate attributes outlined below.

a) Intellectual skills and attributes

• Ability to construct a coherent argument or debate
• Ability to create a hypothesis and appreciation of how hypotheses relate to broader theories
• Ability to evaluate hypotheses, theories, methods and evidence within their proper contexts
• Ability to reason from the particular to the general
• Ability to solve complex problems by critical understanding, analysis and synthesis
• Capacity for close analysis of visual material and comparative analysis
• Clarity of expression
• Creativity and originality
• Curiosity and an enquiring mind
• Deductive reasoning
• Direct engagement with current research and developments in the subject
• Discipline specific technical abilities
• Engagement with both primary and secondary material and an appreciation of the differences between them
• Independence of thought
• Informatics
• Logical processing of information
• Numeracy
• Quantitative and Qualitative methods of analysis
• Sophisticated use of a range of resources appropriate to the task at hand
• Identification of goals
• Planning and strategy
• Taking responsibility
• Objectives orientation; focus on goals
• Adaptability in response to developments and feedback
• Delivery of outcomes to time and scale demands
• Self motivation and independence
• Self-reflection

b) Transferable skills

• Aural presentations
• History taking
• Listening
• Oral presentations
• Rapport building
• Audio-Visual presentations
• Web/electronic presentations
• Written material
• Team working
• Active engagement
• Collective responsibility
• Initiative
• Leadership

Teaching, Learning and Assessment strategies

The skills and graduate attributes listed above will be accomplished through delivery of the following teaching, learning and assessment strategies appropriate to the programme aims.

a) Teaching and Learning

Students will engage with independent and group study in a supportive framework of teaching and learning. The strategy is to use methods of teaching and assessment that will facilitate learning appropriate to the aims of the joint honours degree programme. The following methods will be employed where appropriate to the level of study and the particular content of each module in the programme.

• Autonomous learning groups
• Demonstrations
• Dissertation
• Independent study activities (supervised and unsupervised)
• Laboratory work
• Lectures
• One-to-one discussion
• Practical work
• Problem solving in laboratory style environment
• Project work
• Regular practice exercises
  
• Seminars
• Small group discussion tutorials
• Tutorials

b) Material submitted for assessment

Assessment can be a blend of diagnostic work to determine student needs, formative work submitted for assessment and feedback (but not necessarily for academic credit) or summative work submitted for academic credit.

Continuous assessment

• AV media presentations
  
• Class tests
• Data analysis exercises
• Essays, dissertations (short and long)
• Laboratory reports
• Oral presentations
• Poster presentations
  
• Practical reports
• Research project
• Review essay

End of semester examinations

• Unseen written examination - standard end of module examinations (including for example multiple choice questionnaires, multiple short answer questions, essays)

c) Learning and Teaching support

Students' scholarship skills (in, for example, academic writing, information gathering and academic conduct) will be supported and developed through this programme. The following will be available, where appropriate to the level of study and the particular content of each module in the programme.

• Access to specialist University support units
• Class handouts/handbooks
• eLearning - web-based and via the virtual learning environment (VLE)
• Feedback on work submitted (in accordance with School and University policies)
• School guidelines for good scholarship
• Library support
• Recommended reading lists and booklets (for the programme and specific modules and courses)

Programme structure

This is a four-year programme of study leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours). As with all St Andrews programmes, it is made up of credit bearing modules. Students must earn 480 credits over the duration of the programme, with 120 credits normally earned each academic year. Typically, the first two years of study include core modules specific to the programme as well as other modules chosen from a range of options (in some cases, including modules from a different Faculty). The remaining years offer advanced research-led learning through modules that provide a programme-specific curriculum.

For information about core and optional modules for each programme, please consult the Course Catalogue, which can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/admissions/ug/Choosingyourdegree/Coursecatalogue/. This catalogue describes the detailed structure of the course and the contents of all the modules that can be included in the programme. Teaching, learning and assessment are progressive, with both the content and methods of delivery changing to suit the increasing level of complexity in the material, and independence of students, as they work through the programme.

Distinctive programme features

Distinctive features of this programme include:

a) School of Computer Science

The opportunity to engage with a number of specialist topics including for example databases, programming language design and implementation, operating systems, logic, security, component technology, software engineering, artificial intelligence and computer graphics.

b) School of Psychology

A broad foundation across the range of modern scientific psychology. The programme progresses from sub-honours modules providing solid grounding in each of the subject areas of psychology and their methodologies to a choice of advanced Honours modules that provide in depth training exploring the state of the art in specific areas connected to the research expertise of members of the School. Examples include social cognition and evolution, group processes, emotion, visual perception, or memory processes.