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Occupational Psychology 2023 WhatsApp Group - Join Group

 

Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.

 

Online Sessions' Link

To connect to the online sessions of this study programme please click on this link. You will be asked to register your attendance for each session you join, if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.

Meeting ID: 829 7740 3086
Passcode: 594841

Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.

 

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

LectureDateTimePresentationNotes (If Any)Session Recording
Lecture 0119 October 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 01Request
Lecture 0226 October 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 02Request
Lecture 032 November 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 03What is the Employee Life Cycle?Request
Lecture 049 November 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 04A case study into change influences within a large British multinational
Transformational leadership and change
Change and tactics with LMX
Charismatic leadership hindering change
Change in hospitals
Minimizing tradeoffs when redesigning work
Power and Authority in the Workplace		Request
Lecture 0516 November 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 05Personnel Selection - Hough and Oswald
Personnel Selection - Robertson and Smith
Personnel Selection - Sackett and Lievens
Reconsidering the Use of Personality Tests in Personnel Selection Contexts - Morgeson et al
The Critical Incident Technique - Flanagan
The Validity of Employment Interviews - McDaniel et al
A Review of Recent Developments in Integrity Test Research - Berry et al
First Impressions in Recruitment - Cassar
How broadly does education contribute to job performance - Ng and Feldman
In Support of Personality Assessment in Organizational Settings - Ones et al
Mind the Gap - Gamliel and Cahan		Request
Lecture 0623 November 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 06Request
Lecture 0730 November 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 07 A
Presentation 07 B		Request
Lecture 0814 December 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 08Request
Lecture 0921 December 202317:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 09Request
Lecture 1011 January 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 10Request
Lecture 1118 January 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 11Request
Lecture 1225 January 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 12Reading 1 - Warr - Learning and training
Reading 2 - Patrick - Systems approaches to training
Reading 3 - Annett - Skill Acquisition
Reading 4 - Colley and Beech - Acquiring and performing cognitive skills
Reading 5 - Patrick - The trainee
Reading 6 - Kirwan and Ainsworth - Summary of task analysis techniques
Reading 7 - Stanton - HTA - developments, applications and extensions
Reading 8 - Diaper - Understanding TA for human-computer interaction
Reading 9 - Shepherd - Analysis of tasks some illustrations
Reading 10 - Gagne Briggs and Wager - The events of instruction		Request

 

Lecturers 

Dr Ann Bugeja

Mr Calvin Cassar

Ms Raisa Rizzo

Mr Angelito Sciberras

 

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading

 

Lecture 1 - What is Occupational Psychology? - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes:

  • The Consultancy Cycle
  • Loyalties gained popularity and how the nature of work has changed over the years.
  • You have a chance to identify the selling points of an Occupational Psychologist and its consultancy cycle.
  • You will gain awareness of how an Occupational Psychologist collects and presents its observations to its client.

Topics Covered:

  • Terms of Reference of the field
  • Sub-Branches in Occupational Psychology
  • Contribution to wider disciplines
  • Definition of Occupational Psychology
  • A Brief History
  • The Changing Nature of Work
  • Selling Points of Occupational Psychology

Core Reading List

  • Steptoe-Warren, G. (2013, January 25). Occupational Psychology. Pearson Education.
  • Byrne, Z. (2015, February 11). Organizational Psychology and Behavior. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
  • Schneider, C. (2019, June 11). Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace.
  • Pattinson, G. (2019, June 26). Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
  • Conte, J. M., & Landy, F. J. (2019, January 1). Work in the 21st Century. John Wiley & Sons.

 

Lecture 2 - Workplace Safety, Error Prevention & Risk Management - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes

  • Understanding the difference between Safety Culture vs. Safety Climate.
  • Understanding what is Safety Management and how to address the indicators of good and poor safety management.
  • Implementing Risk Management and what is involved.
  • Identify the importance of ergonomics and its four main areas of ergonomics.

Topics Covered

  • Safety Culture Vs. Safety Climate
  • Guidelines to Create a Safety Climate
  • Measures of Safety Culture/Climate
  • Safety Management
  • Implementation of Safety Programmes
  • Ergonomics

Core Reading List

  • Bridger, R., 2009. Introduction To Ergonomics. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
  • Parsons, K., 2000. Environmental ergonomics: a review of principles, methods and models. Applied Ergonomics, [online] 31(6), pp.581-594. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003687000000442.
  • Neal, A. and Griffin, M., 2002. Safety Climate and Safety Behaviour. Australian Journal of Management, [online] 27(1_suppl), pp.67-75. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/031289620202701s08.
  • Vredenburgh, A., 2013. Organizational safety: Which management practices are most effective in reducing employee injury rates?. Journal of Safety Research, 33(2).

 

Lecture 3 - Applied Techniques in Occupational Psychology - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes

  • To be able to systematically evaluate and select appropriate principles, research findings and techniques for Occupational Psychology interventions.
  • To understand the utility and best practices associated with the scientific application of the psychological theories and principles learnt within the workplace context.

Topics Covered

  • Observational Approaches
  • Critical Incident Approaches
  • Repertory Grids Approach
  • Appreciative Enquiry Approach
  • Psychometric Testing Approach
  • Employee Life-Cycle

Core Reading List

  • Ehigie, B. O., & Ehigie, R. I. (2005). Applying Qualitative Methods in Organizations: A Note for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists. The Qualitative Report, 10(3), 621-638. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol10/iss3/10
  • Bannister, D., Fransella, F. and Bell, R., 2004. A Manual For Repertory Grid Technique. 2nd ed. West Sussex, England: Wiley.
  • Chai, D., Jeong, S., Kim, S. and Hamlin, B., 2019. A Case Of Critical Incident Technique: Perceived Managerial And Leadership Effectiveness. SAGE Publications Limited.
  • Saunders, M. and Tosey, P., 2015. Handbook Of Research Methods On Human Resource Development. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
  • Levy, P. (2019, August 1). Industrial/Organizational Psychology Understanding the Workplace. Worth

 

Lecture 4 - Introduction to Organisational Change & Development - Mr Calvin Cassar

In the session we will be looking at the meaning of organisational change, and look into developing a framework for tackling the process.
Different theoretical models will be reviewed including those tied to process such as Lewin’s and Kotter’s as well as those associated with the emotional aspects tied to change including the model of Kubler Ross.

The leader’s role in bringing about and influencing change will also be discussed.

Core Reading List - Please see links in timetable above

  • Bramford D, (2006) A Case Study into Change Influences within a Large British Multinational.
  • Bommer William H, Rich Gregory A, Rubin Robert S. (2005) Changing attitudes about change: longitudinal effects of transformational leader behaviour on employee cynicism about organizational change.
  • Furst Stacie A, Cable D (2008) Employee Resistance to Organizational Change: Managerial Influence Tactics and Leader-Member Exchange
  • Levay C, (2010) Charismatic leadership in resistance to change.
  • Mayfield S, The Fear Factor – Will you guide, lead or be dragged into a new era of technological innovation?
  • Morgeson Frederick P, Campion Michael A, (2002) Minimising Tradeoffs When Redesigning Work: Evidence from a Longitudinal Quasi-Experiment.
  • Calvin C, Power and Authority in the Workplace

 

Lecture 5 - Recruitment - Ms Calvin Cassar

The session will provide an overview of organisational recruitment processes and will present and critically review the properties, strengths and weaknesses of selection methods. The following areas will be covered:

  • A financial quantification of the cost of recruitment, highlighting the significance of doing the process right in order to get it right.
  • Review of statistical concepts tied to reliability, validity and fairness, setting the stage for an objective evaluation of selection methods, and one which is based on data rather than hunches or impressions.
  • A deep dive into key selection methods, namely interviewing (reviewing best practice, and research-driven recommendations for the process) and psychometric testing.

Core Reading List - Please see links in timetable above

  • Berry, C. M., Sackett, P. R., & Wiemann, S. (2007) A review of recent developments in intergirty test research. Personnel Psychology, 60, 271-301.
  • Cassar, C. (2011). First Impressions in Recruitment. Sunday Times, 2011.
  • Ng, T. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2009). How broadly does education contribute to job performance. Personnel Psychology, 62, 89-134.
  • Deniz, S., Vismervaran, C. & Judge T. A. (2007). In support of personality assessment in organizational settings. Personnel Psychology, 60, 995-1027.
  • Gamliel, E. & Cahan, S. (2007). Mind the gap: Between-group differences and fair test use. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 273-282.
  • Hough, L. & Oswald, F. (2000). Personnel Selection: Looking toward the future – remembering the past. Annual Review of Psychology, 51,634-664.
  • Robertson, I. T., & Smith M. (2001). Personnel Selection. Journal of Occupational and Organizatonal Psychology, 74, 441-472.
  • Sackett, P. R., & Lievens, F. (2008). Personnel Selection. Annual Review of Psychology, 59,419-450.
  • Morgeson, F., et al (2007). Reconsidering the use of personality tests in personnel selection contexts. Personnel Psychology, 60, 683-729.
  • Flanagan, J. (1954). The Critcal Incident Technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327-358.
  • McDaniel, et al (1994). The validity of employment interviews: a comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 599-616.

 

Lecture 6 - Designing Jobs & Work Environments - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understanding what job design and the outcomes is associated with it.
  • Evaluation of the various job characteristics models and considerations of future developments.
  • Understanding the link between job motivation and job satisfaction.

Topics Covered:

  • Definition of Job Design
  • A Brief History
  • Motivation
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Managing Motivation & Satisfaction

Core Reading List

  • Grant, A. M. (2007). Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference. The Academy of Management Review, 32, 393–417.
  • Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250–279.
  • Piccolo R.F., Greenbaum R.L., Eissa G. (2012) Ethical Leadership and Core Job Characteristics: Designing Jobs for Employee Well-Being. In: Reilly N., Sirgy M., Gorman C. (eds) Work and Quality of Life. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4059-4_16
  • Conte, J. M., & Landy, F. J. (2019, January 1). Work in the 21st Century. John Wiley & Sons
  • Stajkovic, A. D., & Sergent, K. (2019, June 10). Cognitive Automation and Organizational Psychology. Routledge.
  • Lawrence, T. B., & Phillips, N. (2019, January 1). Constructing Organizational Life. Oxford University Press, USA.

 

Lecture 7 - Ethical & Legal Considerations in Occupational Psychology - Dr Ann Bugeja & Mr Angelito Sciberras

Learning Outcomes

  • You will gain an understanding of some key laws that will be relevant in Occupational Psychology.
  • You will have the chance to discuss some examples of tricky situations that you might encounter as you practice Occupational Psychology.
  • You will gain awareness of how you can protect yourself whilst conducting your job

Topics Covered

  • The Equality Act
  • Direct Vs. Indirect Discrimination
  • Discrimination by Association
  • Dual Discrimination
  • Occupational Health & Safety Authority Act
  • Employer’s Key Responsibilities
  • Employee’s Key Responsibilities
  • Data Protection Act
  • Data Protection Key Principles
  • Exemptions
  • Rights of Data Subjects

Core Reading List

 

Lecture 8 - Leadership (Part 1) - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes

  • Understanding the broad concept of leadership and the attributes required to be a leader.
  • Identifying how leadership is constructed.

Topics Covered

  • Defining Leadership
  • Leadership Vs. Management
  • Leadership Approaches
  • Leadership Styles

Core Reading List

 

Lecture 9 - Leadership (Part 2) - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes

  • Gain an understanding of groups and teams dynamics.
  • Developing an understanding of how leadership types influence change in the work place.
  • Understanding the effect of leadership on organsiaitonal performance.

Topics Covered

  • Groups & Teams
  • Strategic Leadership
  • Organisational Performance

Core Reading List

  • Kozlowski, S., 2017. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams: A Reflection. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), pp.205-212.
  • Kozlowski, S. and Bell, B., 2012. Work Groups and Teams in Organisations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology III. ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 12.
  • Rowe, W., 2001. Creating wealth in organizations: The role of strategic leadership. Academy of Management Perspectives, 15(1), pp.81-94.
  • Barbara J. Davies & Brent Davies * (2004) Strategic leadership, School Leadership & Management, 24:1, 29-38, DOI: 10.1080/1363243042000172804
  • Hollander, E. (1980) "Leadership And Social Exchange Processes." in Social Exchange - Advances In Theory And Research [online] ed. by Gergen, K., Greenberg, M. and Willis, R. New York: Plenum Press, 103. available from https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4613-3087-5#about
  • McLean, P. (2019, May 21). Self as Coach, Self as Leader. John Wiley & Sons

 

Lecture 10 - Work & Well-Being - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes:

  • Gain an understanding of how work links with an individual’s personal and organisational well-being.
  • Identifying the negative aspects of work including stress, work-place bullying and the roles of emotions as well as the symptoms and disorders, and potential interventions to increase well-being at work.

Topics Covered:

  • Factors affecting Well-Being
  • Positive impact on Well-Being
  • Negative impact on Well-Being
  • The Link between Attributes & Behaviour
  • How to build Resilience & Thrive?
  • Bullying at Work & Counterproductive Behaviours
  • Work-Life Balance
  • Managing Stress
  • Physical Activity at Work

Core Reading List

  • De Jonge, J. and Schaufeli, W. (1998) "Job Characteristics And Employee Well-Being: A Test Of Warr's Vitamin Model In Health Care Workers Using Structural Equation Modelling". Journal Of Organizational Behavior 19 (4), 387-407
  • Dollard, M. and Bakker, A. (2010) "Psychosocial Safety Climate As A Precursor To Conducive Work Environments, Psychological Health Problems, And Employee Engagement". Journal Of Occupational And Organizational Psychology 83 (3), 579-599
  • Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D. and Cooper, C. (2010) Bullying And Harassment In The Workplace. Developments In Theory, Research And Practice. New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis
  • HSE (2018) Work Related Stress Depression Or Anxiety Statistics In Great Britain, 2018 [online] Annual Statistics. HSE in collaboration with the National Statistics. available from <http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.pdf> [29 December 2018]
  • Steptoe-Warren, G. (2013, January 25). Occupational Psychology. Pearson Education.
  • Byrne, Z. (2015, February 11). Organizational Psychology and Behavior. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
  • Grant, M., & Notter, J. (2019, January 1). The Non-Obvious Guide to Employee Engagement (for Millennials, Boomers and Everyone Else). IdeaPress Publishing.

 

Lecture 11 - Performance Coaching - Ms Raisa Rizzo

Learning Outcomes

  • Developing the ability to identify both wellbeing and performance indicators which suggest the need for Performance Coaching within the workplace.
  • Developing an understanding and ability to demonstrate the benefits of implementing Performance Coaching techniques upon both employee wellbeing and organisational performance.

Topics Covered

  • The Principles of Coaching
  • How is Coaching different to Counselling?
  • Relationships in Workplace Counselling
  • Employee Assistance Programmes
  • Ethical Considerations
  • Coaching & Developing Employees
  • Workplace Interventions

Core Reading List

 

Lecture 12 - Introduction to Learning, Training and Development - Mr Calvin Cassar

In the session we will look into approaches tied to training and development. We will start off by looking at established models and theories of learning including classical conditioning, operant conditioning and cognitive theories.

We will then specifically look into models and approaches to managing training and development within organisations, with a focus and deep dive on using competency modelling to help develop a training needs analysis, across a company, but also going to department and individual level.

Practical aspects to training implementation and training cycle will also be covered.

Core Reading List - Please see links in timetable above

  • Warr P, Learning and Training.
  • Patrick, Systems Approach to Training.
  • Annett J, Skill Acquisition.
  • Colley Ann M & Beech John R, Acquiring and performing cognitive skills.
  • Patrick, The Trainee.
  • Kirwan & Ainsworth, Summary of Task Analysis Techniques.
  • Stanton Neville A, Hierarchical task analysis: Developments, applications and extensions.
  • Diaper D, Understanding Task Analysis for Human Computer Interaction.
  • Shepherd, Analysis of task – some illustrations.
  • Gagne, Briggs and Wager, The Events of Instruction.

 

Methods of Assessment

There will be one in class group quiz during the 7th lecture. Information on how this will be carried out may be obtained from this note. The Quiz will carry 20% of the final score.

For your final assignment, you have to choose 1 out of the 3 questions which has been made available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignments should be submitted by not later than Thursday 22 February 2024. Assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form. The assignment will carry 80% of the final score.

 

Assignment

You have to choose 1 out of the 3 questions which will be made available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignment should be submitted by not later than Thursday 22 February 2024. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form through 21 Academy's plagiarism software Turnitin. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form and upload assignment in pdf format. Do not scan assignment but convert/save it directly to pdf. We ask you to keep the similarity percentage very low and definitely below 20%. You should  review and rephrase any assignments which show more than 20% similarity. Any assignments submitted above 20% similarity will not be scored and considered as failed.

Assignment Submission Form

Please read further below in how you are expected to plan, design and submit your assignment and how your assignment will be assessed.

If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded.

 

Referencing Style

Your assignments, presentations and reflective noted should be referenced using the Harvard Referencing style. Please follow this video to understand this referencing style.  Harvard Referencing Style.

 

Submitting Assignments - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by Turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".

At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through Turnitin - submitting a paper

To understand the similarity report generated by Turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report