MUED1009: Psychology of Learning and Instruction

Tutorial presentation (25%), Collaborative learning task (20%), Quiz (25%), Essay (30%).

None

MUED1009 is a compulsory unit for Music Education students and is the first of two educational psychology classes we have to take. I don't really like complaining and being critical for no reason but this unit was really upsetting. I was told by a lot of people in the cohorts about me that this would be one of the best units I would take in the degree and it was far from being a unit I enjoyed, let alone my favourite.

This unit was run entirely online this semester but while I honestly want to attribute this as the key reason why the subject was unsuccessful, there were just so many other things that went wrong that I could only give my lecturer the benefit of the doubt from the fact that it was conducted remotely. Firstly, the assessment tasks were incredibly demanding and unreasonable. Four tasks, of which three involved major research and two being presentations, is already too much to work within what is supposed to only be a 3 credit point subject. Our first task which asked of us to have a presentation, resource and script was due in the third week of semester when we had hardly gone through any content. The marking in this subject was so jarring and inconsistent; it is no wonder only a small handful of people managed to get Distinctions in it. The essay question was horrible (I could rant for hours about this but I won't) and I received next to no feedback explaining why I barely passed the assessment. I felt so much stress because of this unit in terms of the workload alone but the classes themselves were just as disappointing. The content was okay but I was really disengaged throughout the semester. The textbook is outdated, the slides have definitely been recycled and I felt as though I learnt more from doing outside research and making my own notes in preparation for the quiz than from the actual course itself. To top all of this off, I had never been so unimpressed by a lecturer ever. I was okay with Deborah not being experienced in online teaching but it didn't help that she chose to be uncooperative with students who raised concerns to her, act passive aggressive to us after our quizzes and treat us poorly due to her own struggles with navigating Zoom. I am sympathetic to her because last semester was such a challenge for all of us but unlike her, my other lecturers were humble, compassionate and helpful.

Overall, my final impressions of the unit are rather negative and I am slightly dreading my second educational psychology unit this semester. However, I am hoping to put my performance in MUED1009 aside and to work harder so I can improve. I hope having Deborah in person this semester will also increase my engagement in her classes because I strongly believe in second chances and look forward to reporting about Adolescent Behaviour and Development with more positive remarks.

1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

4/5

Yes; all classes were run live and recordings were uploaded by the end of the day.

Deborah Chadwick

None; all the readings and resources for this unit were provided on Canvas for us to access.

2/5

Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning 6th edition (D. McInerney & Valentina McInerney)

2020, Semester 2

72 CR