MSc Forensic Psychology – frequently asked questions
Find out everything you need to know as an offer holder on the MSc Forensic Psychology course.
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Where will teaching take place?
Most of our teaching sessions are delivered on campus. Yet, we learned much from teaching during the pandemic and are a truly blended programme.
Over the summer of 2021 we conducted a comprehensive peer review of our online teaching and worked closely with our students. We identified the pros and cons from online teaching.
Our students told us that online teaching saved time and the cost of coming to campus, but they felt they missed out on the typical informal social interactions.
Therefore, we are keen to teach on campus for most of our sessions but will deliver seven days of teaching online. The delivery of each session will be clearly noted on Blackboard at the start of the academic year.
Our students have told us that the online/Zoom meetings with supervisors and academic advisors have been a significant benefit. We are keen to keep this approach should students prefer an online meeting over coming to campus.
How is teaching delivered?
One of the key learning outcomes of the pandemic was our recognition of the benefits of ‘flipped learning’. This is an approach where you complete asynchronous learning materials (materials that can be done at a time that suits you) prior to live sessions. Live sessions then focus on discussing the material, using case examples to apply the theory and research evidence to forensic practice.
We invested heavily in creating pre-teaching materials to support deep learning and discussion. We noticed improvements in student ability to interrogate and critically analyse the evidence during live sessions, having had time and space to digest the key content beforehand.
Our students told us they enjoyed the opportunity to complete the content in their own time. They felt they gained more understanding from this approach than traditional lecture style, were significantly more prepared for group activities and discussions, and that this was a time-efficient way to learn.
Our students told us they expect they will use this material in the future too. Therefore, we will keep this approach for all future cohorts.
What are the implications of flipped learning for me?
You will need to commit to engaging with pre-teaching material before attending live teaching sessions.
Our students have advised us that it is important to schedule time to complete the pre-teaching materials, rather than seeking to rush through these the night before the sessions. They said this made teaching sessions more effective and beneficial.
What are the core teaching hours?
All teaching is delivered 10-4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will be outlined clearly in Blackboard at the start of term whether sessions are on campus or online.
Online sessions will be slightly shorter in duration to reduce the risk of Zoom fatigue. The exact start and finish times for online sessions will be available in Blackboard.
How can I best prepare for the MSc?
The Open University offers has a free course called Succeeding in Postgraduate Study. This offers invaluable advice about reflection and critical thinking.
You will be contacted before the MSc begins to firm up your idea for your research. Once you have an agreed project, it can be useful to start collating your literature in preparation for your literature review.
Please do ensure that you register as soon as possible so that you can access the asynchronous content for the induction programme.
If any of you are keen to start reading over the summer, there are some general textbooks from our reading list that cover many topics of relevance to the Semester 1 units. These are outlined below.
Please note that you will get free access to these books once you enrol, so you do not have to purchase any books.
- Bourne, V., James, A.I., & Wilson-Smith, K (2021). Understanding quantitative and qualitative research in psychology: a practical guide to methods, statistics, and analysis. Oxford University Press.
- Crighton, D. A., & Towl, G. J (2021). Forensic psychology (third edition). Wiley.
- Gredecki, N., & Turner, P (2022). Forensic psychology. Routledge.
- McGuire, J., & Duff, S (2018). Forensic psychology: routes through the system. Palgrave Macmillan.