Aims

This module aims to introduce students to the field of applied sport and exercise psychology. The content of the module focuses on the application of psychological interventions developed from a relevant psychological model or theory, to address common psychological issues/disorders experienced by individuals in sport and exercise settings, such as performance anxiety or self-confidence. The module is devised to provide students with a thorough theoretical grounding, as well as providing the opportunity to develop practitioner skills. Issues of ethical and professional conduct in the practice of sport and exercise psychology will also be covered.

Outline Of Syllabus

Students will cover a broad range of topics within applied sport and exercise psychology as outlined
below:

Sport
-       Needs Analysis Technique
-       Case Formulation
-       Expert Performance
-       Psychological Skills Training
-       Social Support
-       Challenge/Threat States

Exercise
-       Theories and Models of Exercise Behaviour
-       Problems of Exercise Adoption and Adherence Across the Lifespan
-       Strategies for Enhancing Adoption and Adherence to Exercise
-       Understanding the Effect of Exercise on Well-Being and Mental Health

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The teaching methods will involve weekly delivery of lecture materials and seminars, and independent study. The weekly lecture material will provide students with an understanding of the core topics and include relevant theory and empirical content to present an overview of key information. These sessions will be interactive and require students to work in small groups on practical activities, such as problem-based case studies, which will encourage group discussion, problem- solving, reflection, and collaborative learning. The bi-weekly seminars will focus on similar topics but with a greater emphasis on learning and developing debating and presenting skills, in order to prepare the students for assessment 1.

Use of practical activities are also designed to enable students to develop skills in interpreting data within a theoretical framework, critical thinking, creative problem solving skills and linking theory to practice. The requirement for the student to access and interpret research will encourage enquiry based learning. In addition to the timetabled contact, students are expected to invest independent study time in directed reading of set articles and journal articles, study tasks, and reading around the subject. It is expected that students will come to lectures having completed the relevant reading and study tasks.

Scheduled learning and teaching activities: timetabled activities with a member of staff present, may be either in a physical or virtual teaching space, that run synchronously.

Structured guided learning: Structured learning and teaching activities developed by staff to support and scaffold student engagement with the module learning, but where the activities are undertaken by students or groups of students without direct staff supervision/participation.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessment of this module consists of two components. The first component is the oral presentation which is framed as a persuasive presentation in order to emphasise the importance of learning and developing this skill. Students will present, in a persuasive style, arguments for one side of a topic chosen by the group and based on options previously covered during the module. The assessor will then ask questions of each group in order to ensure fair and consistent testing across all students. Individual marks will be allocated based on five equally weighted criteria: 1) presentation content, 2) knowledge and understanding of content, 3) persuasiveness of argument, 4) contribution to the group, and 5) presenting style. Note; “presenting style” is akin to the ‘professional skills’ component within the assessment of stage 3 research projects, that is, students will be marked on their professionalism and engagement during the whole process (i.e. both the presentation and the questions/answers).

The second component is a case study analysis of a hypothetical sport/exercise scenario. Students will be expected to analyse some need analysis data, that will be provided for them. Students will then be required to propose a suitable psychological skills training intervention, justified by relevant literature. The scenarios will be based on topics covered in the lectures.

The above assessments will assess both the intended knowledge and skills outcomes for the module. In particular the assessment and teaching are based on having students practice, experience, and be assessed on skills that are relevant in their future work (i.e. debating opinions, presenting persuasively, and analysing and writing reports based on (hypothetical) real-world scenarios).