NEWS & VIEWS - Amazon Web Servicesjournoportfolio.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/users/...David Clarke 01723 341908 [email protected] 07905 312841 SECRETARY Denise Ward

August 2014

The Open University Psychological Society

NEWS & VIEWS

www.oups.org.uk

Tales of Achievement

Graduate Stories of Studying Psychology

Supporting Psychology Students since 1974

News & Views August 2014 2 OUPS 1974-2014

What does OUPS do?

The role of the Open University Psychological Society (OUPS)

is to advance public education in psychology amongst

members of the Open University and elsewhere who are

taking, have taken, or are preparing to take courses in

psychology or cognitive psychology subjects with the Open

University or elsewhere. The management of the Society is

carried out by members elected to the Executive Committee

who are unpaid volunteers.

OUPS CONTACTS

PRESIDENT

Dr. Lilli Hvingtoft-Foster

Tel. 020 8203 0260 [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTS Dr. Richard Stevens

Prof. Fred Toates

Open University Milton Keynes

MK7 6AA Tel. 01908 653323

[email protected] CHAIR

Dr. Alan Pechey

[email protected] VICE CHAIR

David Clarke

01723 341908 [email protected]

SECRETARY Denise Ward


TREASURER

Alex Sandham [email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITOR

Lorna Rouse [email protected]

PUBLICATIONS OFFICER

Jane Barker [email protected]

PUBLICITY & MARKETING

TEAM

Abigail Robins [email protected]

Shenelle Turnbull [email protected]

Student Support Officer

Janet Simpson Tel. 01296 580748

[email protected]

WEBSITE OFFICER

Paul Reid

[email protected] WEEKENDS OFFICERS

March Weekend

Dr. Alan Pechey

[email protected] May weekend

David Clark [email protected].

01723 341908 Summer weekend

Denise Ward


Revision weekend

Evelyn Slavid [email protected]

OUSA Liaison Officer

Abigail Robbins [email protected]

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR

Irene Baumgartl

OUPS, P.O. Box 986 Bromley

Kent BR1 9LN Tel. 020 8315 0049 [email protected]

Contact times: Monday

9.30 am to 12 pm Thursday

6.00 pm to 8 pm

Saturday

4.00 pm to 7.00 pm

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Alison Bravington [email protected]

LONDON REGION

[email protected] 07905 312841

NORTHERN REGION

Alison Bravington [email protected]

SOUTHERN REGION

Vanessa Jones

[email protected]

OUPS CAMBRIDGE

Lorna Rouse [email protected]

OUPS SCOTLAND

Shenelle Turnbull [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

3 News & Views August 2014 Celebrating Achievement

Copyright 2008 by OUPS. News and Views is published by the Open University Psychological

Society, P.O. Box 986, Bromley, Kent, BR1 9LN. News and Views is available by subscription

and is circulated to members of the Society. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without permission. The views ex-

pressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the

views of the Society. To subscribe call the Business Administrator on 020 8315 0049 or

write to P.O. Box 986, Bromley, Kent, BR1 9LN.

Pages

4 Editorial

5 Memories of Studying Psychology – David Matthew Glynn

6 LOUPS Day Conference & Course Overview Day Advert

7-9 Experiences of a Mature Student at the OU – Emel Soylu

10 Worried About the Exam? OUPS September Revision Weekend

11 Statistics and Research Methods Workshops Advert

12-14 Cognitive Column

15-21 The Open University, Psychology and Me – Julie L. Birch

22-23 Some Reflections On The Changing Face of Psychology – Richard Stevens

24-28 What Rob Taught Me… (and a few others too) – Angela Thompson

29 SDK228 Springboard Weekend Advert

30 September Revision Weekend Advert

31-34 Abilities, Disabilities & Possibilities – Laura Tan

35 OUPS Cambridge Evening Talk – Working Memory and Classroom Learning

36 Mental Health & Wellbeing – OUPS Cambridge Day Conference Advert

37-39 My OU Journey — Louise Beaton

40 Consolidation and Inspiration Weekend March 2015 Advert

41 Revision Weekend May 2015 Advert

42-45 Graduation, ceremonies and the end of a journey… - Red Anderton-Tyers

46 OUPS North DD307 Overview Day Advert

47-50 National Events Booking Form

51 OUPS Events Calendar 2014

CONTENTS


FROM THE EDITOR

FROM

THE

EDITOR

Welcome to the August edition of News &

Views, celebrating success with

inspirational stories from a range of

recent OU Psychology graduates.

This summer’s recent conference

included some fascinating and

thought-provoking talks from brilliant

speakers brought together by

Vice-President Fred Toates to examine

the provocative question of whether the

new neuroscience is a friend or foe. The

conference raised some fundamental

questions about methodology,

possibilities and limitations of

neuroscience, as well as some tricky

moral and ethical issues arising from

neuroscience and the application of its

findings. In the next edition of the

newsletter you will be able to read an

overview of these talks as well as

member and speaker perspectives on the

topic.

The weekend was a special one for OUPS

and the 40th anniversary celebrations

brought the bonus of a birthday party

with an entertaining after dinner speech

by Professor Neil Frude. It was great to

speak to two former newsletter editors,

finding out about similar and different

challenges they faced as well as picking

up some tips.

The wealth of contributions I received

meant that when putting together the

commemorative edition of News & Views

I faced the unusual problem of having too

many articles! The current edition is

therefore a collection of the stories

received from recent graduates charting

the highs and lows of their OU journeys

and ultimate achievements. Many of our

members will have taken part in recent

graduation ceremonies, an uplifting

experience captured here in her article by

Red Anderton-Tyers who provided the

cover pictures for this edition of the

newsletter.

Continuing the Anniversary theme, OUPS

Vice-President Richard Stevens charts

landmarks in psychology over the 40

years since OUPS began.

Plans are well underway for future events.

The next OUPS national event will be the

September revision and SDK228

springboard weekend and you can find

details of this weekend, regional activities

and national events for 2015.

Looking forward to the 2015 conference

on learning disabilities, we also have an

article from Laura Tan on her recent

Master’s project about supporting

students with exceptional abilities and

co-occurring learning disabilities.

If you have any thoughts on the articles

from this edition, feel inspired to write

about your own degree or postgraduate

experience or would like to comment on

the recent conference topic of the new

neuroscience friend or foe, please do

contact me at [email protected].

Lorna Rouse


Memories of Studying

Psychology

By David Matthew Glynn

I was asked to write a short piece on my

experiences of studying psychology with

the OU and what I’d like to write about is

a wonderful tutor and human-being

Arthur Brown who was my tutor for my

first course of study with the OU in 1997,

D103. D103 was an introductory social

science course and its purpose was to

introduce and prepare students for the

degree in psychology.

I had left school in 1983 and had taken

part in no academic study since my

school days. I left school with literacy

difficulties and had been diagnosed with

mild dyslexia. I found the demands of

D103 very challenging, the material

fascinated me but I was lacking basic

literacy ability which made the course

seem like pushing a very large bolder up

a very steep hill.

Three quarters into the course I bowed to

the challenge and gave up studying.

I was in a terrible place at that time and

my failure really knocked my confidence.

Arthur rang my job and my home but for

two weeks I ignored his calls. He

persisted and left messages with my

employer to contact him. Eventually, he

caught me on the phone and convinced

me to continue with my studies, which I

did, which led to me passing the course

and thus putting myself in a position to

start the degree.

Although, I passed the course I realised

my literacy skills were lacking and would

not be adequate to get me through the

degree programme. With this insight, on

completion of D103 I signed up for two

years of one to one basic literacy skills

with the VEC. Arthur also gave me a

personal reference which aided me in

securing employment with a mental

health organisation. With work, my

literacy ability improved to a standard

where I felt confident to continue with my

OU studies and in 2008 I qualified with a

2:1 (Hon) psychology degree.

The day I received my results from my

last course with the OU programme I was

out walking with my dog in a local park

and to my amazement, who did I bump

into but Arthur. I was overjoyed to tell

him the good news and I thanked him for

all he had done for me. I remain truly

grateful to Arthur and the OU for making

such a profound difference to the quality

of my life. Arthur saw a potential in me

and with his persistence and nurturing

skills he made it possible for me to live

my dream and I remain extremely

grateful to him.

GRADUATE STORIES


REGIONAL EVENTS


Experiences of a Mature

Student at the OU

By Emel Soylu

I studied psychology in Turkey around the

early 80s as a second degree. My first

degree was in Applied Linguistics. One of

the subjects of the Programme was

Psycholinguistics* and I fell in love with

the subject. Around that time I was

working as a linguist at the National

Language Authority preparing specialist

dictionaries; among them were a

Terminology of Psychiatry and a

Terminology of Psychology. All these led

to a growing interest in psychology,

particularly Psycholinguistics. However,

Psycholinguistics was a PhD Programme

and I had to study Psychology to progress

towards it. Following painful entry exams

on six psychology subjects and

methodology and statistics, I managed to

get a place in a Clinical Psychology MSc

Programme. I had to study harder than

the others as they had studied

psychology for four years at the

university, whereas I self studied by

reading text books in my free time, whilst

working full time. This is how I gained the

self-discipline and motivation, which is

required for distance learning.

Also being an English Language teacher

was very helpful as the language of the

Programme was English. Many

psychology graduates struggled with that.

But we found a way out – we were a

group of eight people. When we were

given chapters and chapters of material

to read, we would split the texts

according to individual abilities; a couple

of days later we would meet at one of the

member’s house to exchange the

knowledge we gained. This also allowed

us to exchange views, discuss, debate,

dispute, all of which led to an improved

level of critical thinking.

When I got my degree as a Clinical

Psychologist, I came to a crossroads;

whether to continue on the path I started

and apply for PhD in Psycholinguistics or

accept the offer from the University

Hospital where I had been practising for

a year at the psychiatry department. Fate

had other plans for me. For family

reasons first I moved town, then moved

country, settling in the United Kingdom.

I faced the same crossroads in the UK

too; should I continue studying or work?

GRADUATE STORIES


As I had a one-year-old baby, I thought

combining work and study wouldn’t do.

I wasn’t aware of the Open University

then, so opted for work. During my

Master’s study, I worked part-time as a

journalist. I had language skills. I was a

teacher and translator. I could use those

skills. On the other hand, psychology was

always a driving force for me. Yet, I did

not feel confident enough to pursue

psychology. I was trained as a

psychoanalyst and I felt my spoken

language was not good enough to

understand English native speakers

during counseling. Also I had no clue of

how the NHS or academia worked on the

area of psychology or clinical psychology.

So the choice was towards languages

and journalism.

I got a job at the BBC and that was it.

I was a researcher/monitor/journalist for

16 years. Is there such a thing as a 16-

year-itch? There was one for me. I was

volunteering for a charity at the

foundation stage. Later I became one of

its founders. Here, I found the

opportunity to get back to psychology. It

was obvious that I could not do this

straight away. Firstly my degree was too

dusty. Psychology had progressed a lot

since 80s. Secondly, if I wanted a

position anywhere as a psychologist, I

had to get accreditation from the British

Psychological Society.

After 20 years in the UK, I was now a bit

more informed about the education

system and the field of psychology. I was

also aware of the Open University and I

knew that I could do my accreditation

through distance learning. I approached

the OU and to my dismay, I learned they

could only transfer 75 credits (out of

280) that I gained in Turkey and I had to

take six compulsory modules. Well, that

was that and in September 2011, at the

age of 56, I enrolled in the BSc Honours,

Psychology Programme at the OU,

starting with two modules; Educational

Psychology and Social Psychology.

Student Services warned me that these

might be a bit too ambitious to start with

and advised to start with one Level 2

module. I was so overconfident. I thought

that as I had done this before, I could do

it again easily. I had my first shock when I

got 45 per cent from my first TMA in

Social Psychology. I knew the subject so

well. So where did I go wrong? Well, first

of all, my language was “too journalistic”

according to my tutor. Twenty years of

journalism both in English and Turkish

language had to have some effect!

Secondly, my overconfidence worked

against me. I wrote the essays in short

breaks, while others spent ages, in

making draft after draft. Unfortunately, I

did not have the time to write drafts.

Working full-time and studying two

modules worked against my study. The

result was low marks. The exams were

the worst with just 8 days in-between; I

had to prepare for two exams. A horrible

experience!

Still, this did not stop me doubling up my

modules the following year, as the clock

was ticking and I wanted to finish my

GRADUATE STORIES


studies before I was 60. But the work

was too hard, as I had to do two

residential weeks one after another -

Exploring Psychology and Cognitive

Psychology, which required writing two

hefty reports following the residential

weeks. It was the busiest time of my

study, if not my life. But I had learnt my

lesson from the first year. I was now able

to use the invaluable tutor guidance;

corresponding with them regularly,

asking anything that I did not

understand, as well as attending all

tutorials. I also established friendships

with fellow OU students both online and

in real time. This allowed us to exchange

information and meet to study together.

Best of all were the OUPS events. The

first year I was overconfident and

thought I could to without them. The

second year the driving force was to

learn well as well as improving my marks.

To achieve this I knew that I had to try

different ways. I saved for several

Overview Days and Revision Weekends.

These events were extremely useful in

allowing me to acquire a much needed

community spirit as well as an

information gathering exercise. I met so

many people who were from different

backgrounds and had different

experiences. These days also helped me

to meet more tutors, some of whom were

previous OU students and some were still

studying at the OU. I became more and

more proud of being part of a community

like the OU.

I graduated in October 2013, received

my degree in April 2014 and I am now

accredited as a psychologist by the BPS, I

can confidently say that if it wasn’t for

the OU and its community (fellow

students, tutors and the support

workers), I could never have got this

accreditation. I would also like to say to

any new comers: Do not try to show off

what you know, as you may intimidate

those who don’t know as much as you

do. Do not hesitate to show what you

don’t know, as if you don’t ask, you won’t

get the answers. And remember, all your

fellow students are people like yourself,

people who are trying to juggle their daily

lives (work, children, care responsibilities

etc.) and their study. We are all in the

same boat, so please support each other

and let others support you.

Emel Soylu, BSc Hons, Psychology

* Psycholinguistics or psychology of

language is the study of the

psychological and neurobiological factors

that enable humans to acquire, use, and

understand (Science Daily, http://

www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/

psycholinguistics.htm accessed on 12

May 2014).

GRADUATE STORIES

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/psycholinguistics.htm




Worried About the

Exam?

OUPS is here to

help

Revision Weekend DSE212; DD307 and

DD303

5th-7th September : Warwick University

This offers an intensive weekend (a total

of nine 90 minute sessions) for each of

the above courses. It will cover the

revision of course material and themes,

practice in exam questions, revision and

exam techniques and more! Many

students feel it helped them to achieve a

higher grade than they expected. Each

course has a team of experienced tutors,

including chapter authors and exam

markers, so they are ideally placed to

help you understand what is needed to

achieve a good mark.

For more details go to http://

www.oups.org.uk/component/content/

article/16

SDK228 Springboard Weekend: 'The

science of the mind: investigating mental

health'

This weekend school is intended to give a

very gentle ‘hand-holding’ guide to the

course SDK228. It will introduce some of

the more accessible parts of the course

as well as some of those likely to give

trouble (based on past experience). It will

look at some of the broad over-arching

themes of the course such as the

biopsychosocial perspective. It will give

signposts as to how to approach the

chapters and how to be critical of them.

The tutors for the weekend are Professor

Frederick Toates and Profesor Neil Frude,

who were both involved in the

development of the course and also

course authors.

It is ideal for anyone about to start

SDK228 but will also be of interest to

anyone who is interested in mental health

issues but is not planning to study the

course.

For more details go to http://

www.oups.org.uk/component/content/

article/57

Feedback September 2013

Revision

‘Very helpful – I had a light-bulb moment

and now feel very clear about the

weekend.’

‘Yet again, another very useful OUPS

weekend – great tutors who could explain

complex ideas in simple terms –Feel very

prepared for revision now.’

Tutors very friendly and approachable.

‘Attending this revision weekend has

totally boosted my confidence level for

the exam.’

SDK228

‘I definitely think it was beneficial in

getting a head start on the module and

for reassuring me that I have chosen the

right module this year.’

‘Very clear and informative, engaging.’

‘Fred and Neil were excellent – delivered

material in inspiring ways – thoroughly

enjoyed the talks.’

NATIONAL EVENTS

http://www.oups.org.uk/component/content/article/16







NATIONAL EVENTS


August 2014

These Newsletters seem to be coming

thick and fast! I feel as if I’ve written

three Cog-Columns back to back, but it’s

no doubt increasing age making the

weeks slip by ever faster. I have spent the

last three weeks Course Directing (or

Module Directing as it is now called) the

DD303 Residential School at Sussex

University. It’s a surprisingly demanding

role, but very rewarding and enjoyable.

The students were delightful, as were the

tutors in my team, and also the weather.

The latter gave me the chance, on our

Tuesday afternoons off, for some lovely

walks on the Downs, and some of the

more energetic students and tutors

bravely kept me company – it was a

fifteen mile route.

Summer Schools offer a good opportunity

for the occasional intellectual debate.

The tutors and I got onto the subject of

freewill which, if you’ve read many of my

Columns, you will know is a topic that

fascinates me. In some circles the issue

is quite contentious, but I was interested

to find that almost every tutor took it as

read that there could be no such thing as

freewill, and that our sensations of

deciding and choosing are illusory.

I suppose people with a background in

Cognitive Psychology are likely to find this

a natural position to adopt. There were,

however, a couple of tutors who kept

quiet in the discussion, then admitted to

doubts later. They were able to go so far

as accepting that our brains control our

behaviour, but they were unable to

abandon the feeling that there was

freedom of choice in selecting that

behaviour. The problem with that line is

that the choosing process is also

conducted by the brain; “My brain made

me do it,” became a frequent excuse for

the remainder of the Summer School!

I think it follows from the above line of

reasoning that, unless a person has

significant brain dysfunction, whatever

they do or feel must be a natural process

of the brain. If we are surprised by

people’s behaviour it shows only that we

are ignorant of the factors operating in

their brain; it doesn’t mean that

something odd is going on inside their

heads. I find that residential schools are

not merely places where I can assist

people with their work; there are also

those who come to seek help for personal

issues that are troubling them. They

often use phrases such as “I sometimes

COGNITIVE COLUMN

Cognitive

Column

Dr Peter Naish


think I’m going mad,” or “I know this

sounds weird.” I always reassure them

that they are not going mad and do not

sound weird; their brain is merely doing

what any brain would do in those

circumstances. Of course, the

‘circumstances’ include all the things that

have happened to them up to the

present. Although people such as my

‘freewill tutors’ are ill at ease with the

concept that we are slaves to that

remarkable organ between our ears, an

acknowledgment of that fact can make it

far easier to be accepting of others and

also of ourselves. A particularly

encouraging factor is that brains are very

malleable, so, if a person’s brain has a

processing style that leads to

unhappiness, there is no reason to

suppose that the situation must always

remain the same. That’s what therapy is

all about: changing brains.

Residential schools form little

microcosms, very insulated from the

outside world; at the end one returns to

reality, and is amazed to discover

everything that has been going on.

Notwithstanding this, over the last few

weeks the enormity of what was

happening in the World could not fail to

penetrate the Summer School screen;

wherever one looks there are people

behaving ‘weirdly’ in the worst possible

ways imaginable. It’s hard to understand

how people can behead others, for the

unforgivable crime of being members of a

different sect of the same religion as the

executioners. Similarly, it is incredible

that, day after day, a superior military

force can rain death upon innocent

women and children. Nevertheless, I do

not imagine that the brains of the

perpetrators are fundamentally very

different from my own; their behaviour is

‘natural’. I mentioned a Column or two

ago that part of what is achieved by

civilisation and education appears to be

the overruling of natural instincts; I gave

xenophobia as an example. The problem

with this is that the processes of

civilisation have an arbitrary quality.

Evolution is not arbitrary, it inexorably

moves toward characteristics that

maximise the chances of genes being

passed on; the fact that modern Western

societies condemn sectarian violence is

an arbitrary development, although I have

to say (as a biased insider) it does seem

like a good development. To some Arabic

groups it doesn’t.

How should the rest of the ‘civilised’

world respond to all these troubles?

Certainly not by beating one side or

another into submission. Violence

de-civilises, breaking down the thin veil

that keeps the natural instincts in check,

while they themselves become more

vigorously expressed. Moreover, not

forgetting that the brain’s current

response is coloured by all its

experiences to date, we should note that

the violence wreaks immeasurable

damage upon the minds of a generation

of children, with who knows what

consequences for the future. The West

went into Iraq and Afghanistan, and they

are both a mess. They stayed out of

Syria, and it’s a mess. Neither of those

COGNITIVE COLUMN


strategies works and nor do the collective

admonitions of the Pope, the Secretary

General of the United Nations and the

so-called leader of the free World (a

concept as unbelievable as free will). Of

course their voices carry no weight - their

offices have been proven impotent or

worse too many times in the past. We

must hope that things are becoming so

dreadful, and on such a large scale, that

people with intellectual and moral rigour

will come in humility to seek solutions,

rather than having the usual suspects

riding in on their arrogance to impose

them. At the same time, I fear that while

the World can appoint the likes of Tony

Blair as a peace envoy there is little hope

that anything very much will change.

Returning to more parochial matters, for

many of you the next OU landmark will be

the exams. I do hope the revision and

the exams themselves go well. How

much to revise? I was marking an exam

once and came across an answer with a

delightful misquotation: The whole is

greater than some of its parts.

Presumably then some parts are actually

greater than the whole. If that’s true of

the course text, some chapters will tell

you more than the whole book – those

are the ones to concentrate on! Perhaps

I will see some of you before the exam, at

the OUPS Revision Weekend. I shall look

forward to a nice chat and I promise to

keep off politics – unless that’s what you

want to talk about!

Very best wishes,

Peter

COGNITIVE COLUMN


T h e O p e n

Universi ty,

Psychology

and Me

By

Julie L. Birch

My journey with psychology started at

sixteen. I had to decide which subjects to

study at sixth form. I’d chosen Geography

and English as these were my best at

GCSE but I needed a third. My form

teacher suggested psychology. He said

I’d probably like it. He was wrong. I loved

it! Learning why people behaved as they

did was fascinating and the experiments

were all really interesting. That was the

beginning. That was twenty-two years

ago.

At the end of my school career, I did what

was expected and applied to university.

My vocation aim was to be a primary

school teacher, however to do this I

needed to study a national curriculum

subject at university. I didn’t want to

endure English or Geography as I wanted

to continue exploring my new found

subject of psychology. So at that point in

my life I gave up on my prospective

teaching career and applied for

psychology degrees, not really knowing

where that might take me. As it was, at

eighteen, I didn’t pass my A’ Levels

(achieving an N for psychology). So, I

accepted I wasn’t clever enough to study

higher education and went into the real

world of work to gain some life

experience instead.

Even with my N grade years behind me,

as an adult I still found myself thinking

about psychological concepts. Day to

day, I found myself taking an interest in

people; why they do what they do. I’m

also interested in counselling which has

strong links with psychology and it was

through completing a counselling course I

decided to continue studying as an adult.

A friend told me about the Open

University and how I could apply for a

degree and funding. I work in a

secondary school as a Behaviour Mentor

and therefore my annual income was just

below the eligibility limit which meant I

could apply for funding for course fees

and a grant. I’m a single parent in receipt

of working and child tax credits, which

also meant I would get help with financial

assistance. I instantly knew if I was going

to study anything at higher education it

would be psychology.

I applied with trepidation, thinking, ‘What

if I’m not clever enough to do a degree?

What if I fail again, like my A’ Levels?

What if I’m wasting everyone’s time and

money?’ Once I understood that each

year was a separate module, I realised I

could learn at my own pace, I could try it

on for size. The first year’s module even

offered a qualification in its own right. I

didn’t tell anyone I was studying for a

degree in that first year; I just said I was

doing a course. It gave me an out. If I

couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t have to say I’d

failed a degree, I could just say I’d done a

course for a year, whatever the outcome.

The first module was called An

GRADUATE STORIES


Introduction to the social sciences:

understanding social change (DD100). I

was advised to do this for my level one

module as a starter into psychology (and

studying at this level). Attending the first

tutorial was exciting and scary. There

were a dozen people sitting with folders

and pens and books. They all looked

really intelligent and appeared to know

what they were talking about. I was just

getting to grips with it all and felt like I

barely understood it enough to write an

essay, not nearly enough to have a

conversation. I just kept quiet and

listened! As the year went on less people

attended the tutorials. By the last one,

there were three of us. One student,

Robert (who is now a really good friend)

was also beginning the psychology

degree, so from then on, we did the

modules together. He became my ‘study

buddy’ (person to revise, stress out and

cry with, but also drive to summer school

and party with) throughout the rest of my

OU journey! I passed the first module

with an overall continuous assessment

score of 75%. I was over the moon and it

gave me the confidence to move on.

The next module Exploring psychology

(DSE212) was great. I remembered

studies I’d covered at A Level and

revisiting them was wonderful. My tutor

was excellent and thoroughly prepared. I

always felt I was learning at her tutorials.

The exam was terrifying. I hadn’t sat one

since I was eighteen and all my

insecurities about failing came back to

haunt me. On the morning before the

exam I sat in Roberts’s garden,

discussing our options if we failed. ‘Could

we possibly re-take it? Maybe they would

let us if we’d done okay on the

assignments?’ I shouldn’t have worried,

the feeling after the exam was fantastic,

a sense of absolute relief. I thought I’d

answered all the short questions correctly

and hoped I’d done okay on the essays. I

actually got my result the day before

summer school. A distinction! 81%! I

didn’t know how I’d managed it; I just felt

my luck was changing.

My result gave me a much needed

confidence boost and helped me enjoy

the Exploring Psychology project

(DXR222) module at Bath University. My

time at an actual, real university made

me feel like a proper student; it gave me

a connection to the often-talked about

‘brick universities’ that students and

tutors frequently discuss. I was part of

something that, from the age of eighteen,

I thought I’d never do, something I

believed I’d missed the boat on. It was

liberating to not only be there studying

real life psychology, conducting

experiments and attending lectures in

actual lecture halls, but also meeting

people who were interested in the same

subject as me. People from many walks

of life, different countries and cultures, all

wanting to study this amazing subject.

GRADUATE STORIES

Rob & Julie


(And many working in applied psychology,

in one form or another).

Most people, when I talk about

psychology, either think it’s psychobabble

or get scared because they think I’m

analysing them! This included the

‘engineering boys’, studying a completely

different subject, mostly scared because

they thought, as psychology students, we

could read minds! So that was fun, too!

Speaking with other students and tutors

at summer school (hearing about their

lives and their careers) was fascinating

and they were interested in talking with

me about what I do.

There was also the selfish aspect, a

whole week of me time! I’m a single

mum to a young son (who, by the way,

absolutely loved a week’s holiday at his

Nana’s while I was away and wasn’t at all

worried about where I was or missed me!)

So being in student accommodation for a

week, where I didn’t have to cook, clean,

wash up, or be responsible for anyone

apart from me… was wonderful! It gave

me the experience of being young again.

I can imagine how the thrill of uni’ life

takes over when you’re just entering

adulthood. The tutors were incredible,

too, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

I was in awe of most of them, hearing

about their research and theories.

Summer school was emotional; all day

working, attending lectures and tutorials,

fitting in lunch and a quick chat with

classmates, then evening lectures and

listening to the tutors for another couple

of hours, before the night life and

spending the rest of the evening with your

new-found best friends, drinking and

chatting into the night. It’s like Big

Brother; you’re thrown into a university

with strangers and get to know them

quickly because you spend every waking

moment together. Tiredness kicks in

about halfway through the week (you’re

running on adrenalin until then!) Then

they give you an afternoon off to recharge

before you’re back doing it all again the

next day, but mostly everyone wants to

escape for a few hours and explore the

city, or drink!

The end of the week was sad; leaving my

new friends I spent all week getting to

know, possibly forever. On the way home

there was a traffic jam. The main road

out of Bath was closed; my satnav kept

telling me to get on that road. I didn’t

know how to get home and I didn’t have a

road atlas. I was frustrated and so

exhausted from my week away that I just

sat in the car… and cried! I scored an

acceptable grade 3 pass on my summer

school module with 62%. I’d put so much

work into it, but I gained much more than

the score and credits for this module. I

experienced something I never thought I

would.

After summer school I needed to do a

short course for fifteen credits. I chose

Applying psychology (DSE232) as I loved

the idea of reading about how psychology

is applied in real life. This course was

fascinating as I learned a lot of

interesting things about autism, stress,

telling lies and relationships (which apply

to my job in school with students who

have behavioural issues). I really enjoyed

this module and I’m sure it had

absolutely nothing to do with the fact

GRADUATE STORIES


there was no exam at the end! I was

happy with my Grade 2 pass of 70% and

really enjoyed the practice of writing

professional letters and reports.

In the next module I started exploring that

old grey matter known as Brian, or at

least that’s what I typed a few times in my

assignments! Biological psychology:

exploring the brain (SD226) was one of

the toughest modules of my degree. I

chose to do this one before Child

development because I expected it to be

difficult (I’d read the reviews) and I’d

have a module to look forward to

afterwards. I assumed I wouldn’t enjoy it,

but it was one of the best parts of the

whole degree! The links between the

brain (biology) and the mind (psychology)

were really interesting. It took lots of

reading, and was frustrating reading

things over and not getting it. However,

the feeling you get when suddenly it just

clicks into place is amazing. Suddenly it’s

like, ‘Oh, that’s what they mean, I get it

now!’ I had an outstanding tutor on this

module who could explain terms and

concepts really well, which helped, she

really knew her subject! I was ecstatic

with my result, a distinction with 86%.

On telling my son the next course was

Child development (ED209), he

responded it might be useful for him. I

agreed it might and asked him, “Would it

be okay to conduct psychological studies

on you?” He answered, “Yes that’s fine

Mummy as long as you don’t have to take

my head off!” The module wasn’t quite

as interesting as I’d thought, a lot of the

studies were on babies (eye movements

and such), however, I did learn quite a lot

about my tutors’ children that year! I

wonder if they realise they’re her

participants and the basis for several of

her lesson plans?! I also enjoyed

answering a SEEN question in the exam.

I chose psychology and education, as it

was very relevant to what I do in my job in

school.

I also attended an OUPS revision

weekend at Warwick. There was much to

learn in this module and I thought a

weekend away to study might be

beneficial. I’d read on the OU forums

about the OUPS and how there were a

handful of funded places for people in my

situation. I managed to get one and I had

an amazing two days and met lovely

people. Again, being at a real university,

(if only for a weekend) made me feel like

a real student. It was interesting to see a

different university too and their

stationary shop is incredible!! I even felt

a bit like a celebrity spotter meeting the

amazing Professor Frederick Toates, who

until then I’d only known through his

work! The revision weekend paid off, I

gained a distinction on this module.

Stepping up to the level three module

Social psychology: critical perspectives on

self and others (DD307) was demanding.

You know the saying don’t be fooled by

first appearances? Well this is applicable

to this module! When the course books

arrived, I thought they seemed lovely. I’d

grown to love the excitement of the

delivery of new books. There were only

two, ‘Would there be more delivered

later? No just these two! Maybe they’re

expecting us to read them twice’, I

thought? Some experiments we had to

GRADUATE STORIES


critique I remembered from school and

found them interesting, some of it was

really hard to understand and get your

head around the concepts. During this

module I got to choose what I wanted to

research and write my project on (I

looked at positive aspects of becoming a

mother and how this affects identity).

This was the best part of the course. I

loved the interviews and analysing the

transcripts, I was researching something I

had chosen rather than what I had been

told to investigate!

About three weeks before the exam I

sustained a knee injury playing netball

and couldn’t walk for three weeks. I was

signed off work and told to rest. I was

hobbling with crutches and couldn’t drive.

Mmm what to do, ‘Oh yes… revise!’

Although I did get some stick from

students and colleagues saying that I’d

faked a knee injury to get some extra

revision time!

At the start of the exam I was desperate

to turn the paper over to see if the

chapters I’d chosen were there. The

invigilator came over and, in a quiet and

delicate voice, said, “I can see you’ve got

a stick!” She then asked me if I wanted

to be nearer the toilet. I politely declined,

thinking ‘I don’t want any special

treatment. I’m going nowhere until the

exam is over!’ I was happy to get a grade

2 pass for this difficult module.

The final module Cognitive Psychology

(DD303) I’d chosen to do last because I

thought it would be demanding and it

involved a compulsory summer school. I

thought of it as a treat to end my degree

as I had enjoyed the previous one.

I loved this second summer school as

much as the first, if not more, because I

knew what to expect. I wanted to

appreciate it as much as I could and

attend all the evening lectures, which I

did. The tutors were incredible; mine was

only in her twenties and was already a

Doctor! At this level we could design and

conduct our own research, analyse the

results and write up our own projects.

This was an amazing experience, so was

taking part in other people’s research.

Walking around the university grounds

and reading signs for ‘Psychology

Research Labs’ made the authentic

student experience real. It made me feel

like a proper student.

I suspect none of the other students

knew how much it meant; to go away to

university. It meant I’m not too thick, it

meant I got to experience something all

my mates did years earlier, something I

thought was completely out of reach,

something I would never get to do

because if you don’t go to uni’ when

you’re eighteen you’ve missed the boat.

Well, the people I met at summer school

proved to me I hadn’t missed the boat

and I could still have that experience,

even if only for a week (a week was

enough, trust me!)

The run up to the final exam was the

most stressful time of my life. I found

myself crying on the way to work most

mornings, just thinking about the end. It

was a combination of worry about the

amount of information I needed to

remember and the stresses of thoughts

like ‘This is my final exam and could

determine my degree classification’. I

GRADUATE STORIES


didn’t want to mess it all up at the final

hurdle. I had come such a long way and

spent such a long time doing this. It had

become such a huge part of my life and

had taken up so much time and energy. I

would bite people’s heads off if they

kindly asked me, “How’s your revision

going?” or, “When’s your exam?” I didn’t

want to talk about it. In hindsight I was

also a little sad (unconsciously of course)

that it was all coming to an end and, once

the exam was finished, I would have no

more OU work, no more reading, no more

TMAs.

The day of the final exam had arrived. I’d

spent the last few months revising,

reading, drawing mind maps and sticking

them all over the walls in my house -

applying the psychology I had learned

along the journey, mnemonics and

memory retrieval techniques. I

embarked on the now familiar but

uncomfortable drive to the examination

centre with Robert. We tried to support

and encourage each other but the

stomach churning was overwhelming. My

worry was there was so much to know I

just might open the exam paper and not

be able to answer all three questions. I

had revised as much as my brain would

possibly contain. Once inside there was

the customary waiting around, check your

name on the list and go to the toilet, until

they let you into the examination hall.

Finally they let us in. I found my seat and

tried to get comfortable. The paper was

there on the desk. I was desperate to

open it and look; I just wanted to know if

my chosen chapters were there.

“You may begin”. I opened the paper and

read each question. ‘Yes! I could answer

them!’ As I scanned through each

section, I found a question I could

answer. I had spotted a familiar name,

phrase or word. The chapters I had

revised had come up! Tears started

rolling down my cheeks. ‘Get a grip’, I

told myself. ‘You have three essays to

write’. I composed myself and started

scrawling. Two hours and thirty minutes

later, the invigilator said, “You have thirty

minutes left”. At this point I had a

complete meltdown; it wasn’t just thirty

minutes of the exam left, it was thirty

minutes left of the last six years of my

life. It was half an hour to finish off this

essay and I had so much more to cram in.

I panicked. My writing turned to scribble.

It was like I suddenly realised this was the

end. I rushed that last half an hour and

was in tears when they said, “Time’s up,

pen’s down”. The invigilators must have

thought I’d done really badly. In

retrospect it was the emotion of it all.

They were happy tears, tears because I’d

finished and had been able to answer all

the questions. I could barely speak to

anyone on the way out!

Since I started with the Open University, I

haven’t looked back once! I’ve loved

every single minute of studying

psychology. It hasn’t been easy; I’ve had

to fit it around my full-time job in a

secondary school and my responsibilities

as a parent. I’ve studied late into the

night after a day at work and in the half

term holidays; I’ve been seen sitting at

the back of my son’s karate class or

swimming lessons reading psychology

books. When I’ve had an assignment

GRADUATE STORIES


due, I’ve put a DVD on for him so I can

write it (I’ve learned to concentrate with

Power Rangers on in the background!)

Even though there have had to be

sacrifices, my son has had weeks and

weekends at his relatives (which he’s

loved). I’d do it all again. Although I’ve

spent a lot of time studying while my son

was young (and trust me I’ve felt guilty

about this) I believe I’ve given him a great

work ethic. He sees me studying and

sees how worthwhile it is and hopefully it

will pay off when he’s older. He will go to

university, I’ve told him that!

At the end of November 2013 I received

a text from Robert telling me the results

were out. I quickly logged onto my Open

University homepage to get my result and

degree classification. I was alone, at the

computer. I felt sick logging in. I kept

thinking, ‘Even to have got this far is an

amazing achievement’. Six years ago I

didn’t even think I could complete the

first module never mind carry on and

achieve a degree. Twenty-one years ago,

that young woman who failed her A

Levels told herself she wasn’t clever

enough to go to university. Well, this was

it, the culmination of six years; the

chance to heal the eighteen year old

young woman who had failed her

A Levels. I typed my username and

password. My hands were shaking. I

scrolled with the mouse and hovered over

module result. I had worked out (as I

think everyone does when they get to a

certain point) that if I achieved a

distinction for my final module result, in

combination with the previous module

results, I would be awarded a First-class

Honours. I paused. This is it, prepare

yourself. I told myself, ‘It doesn’t matter

what the result it is, as long as it’s a

pass’. I clicked… There it was in red.

Distinction! I was ecstatic! I’d got a first!

I will actually graduate in June 2014.

I will be 38! So I have a couple of months

left until it’s really all over, but you never

know, I hear the Open University are

looking at a psychology masters over the

next couple of years?! I will be eternally

indebted to the Open University and the

Open University Psychological Society for

the funding which has enabled me to

complete my degree and change my life

forever. Plus now I have my degree I can

pursue my original career aim of

teaching. There are also so many people

who have been supportive; family, friends

and colleagues. I would like to thank

them all for the love and support they’ve

shown me over the last six years. I also

want to tell all the people, who like me,

think they can’t do it or they’re not clever

enough… YOU ARE!

GRADUATE STORIES


SOME

REFLECTIONS

ON THE

CHANGING

FACE OF

PSYCHOLOGY

By Richard Stevens

Psychology is a discipline with changing

fashions and orthodoxies. How has it

changed during the 40 years that OUPS

has been going?

In many respects, psychology has

remained much the same, in others it has

undergone radical change. When I was a

student, behaviourism was the vogue.

Methodology dominated content.

Behaviour was considered a product of

environmental influence. It was

considered more important that a piece

of research fitted natural science criteria,

regardless of how trivial it might be. The

methodological tail wagged the

psychology dog. By the time that OUPS

was founded in 1974, the dominant

paradigm had become experimental

cognitive psychology. Methodology still

remained dominant and still does for

much of psychology but it began to be

applied to the study of the way we think.

What we have seen in particular during

the period in which OUPS has flourished,

is a gradual broadening of the theoretical

base for psychology. The OU Social

Psychology courses with their emphasis

on a multi-perspective approach to

understanding behavior and experience

have been one of the groundbreakers for

this.

Early on, for example, what was known as

ethological psychology (the study of the

behaviour of organisms in natural

surroundings) was only regarded as of

peripheral interest. And in psychology

more generally, the idea of instinct or the

biological control of behaviour was

heresy. In the lifetime of OUPS, we have

seen the rise and increasing acceptance

of evolutionary psychology which has

transformed our understanding of why we

behave as we do.

In the sixties and seventies, humanistic

psychology also began to have influence

in some parts of psychology. Although as

a movement it was relatively short-lived,

its influence has remained with us - both

in clinical and health psychology, and also

in the interest in well-being and personal

development that has been taken up by

positive psychology.

Psychoanalysis has had varying fortunes.

For many if not most Psychology degree

courses it has been regarded as

irrelevant because of its lack of a

scientific base. But it stubbornly refuses

to go away. It has also featured in OU

courses and its concepts and ideas still

underpin a lot of clinical practice if not

research.

Social constructionism is premised on the

idea that what fundamentally underpins

what is it is to be human are our social

practices and the way we talk about

things. This was once the province of

METHODS


literature and some aspects of sociology.

In the last years of the twentieth century

and the first years of this, it began to

impact on psychology proper (and began

to feature in OU courses). Again, though

like humanistic psychology, it may well be

that it’s influence as a major paradigm

will be short-lived while a residue will

remain.

Perhaps the biggest change in recent

years and perhaps now the most

influential of all the paradigms has been

the rise of neuroscience. Many hopes

have been pinned on the potential of

brain scans, for example, for revealing

what is going on in the human mind. And

some have presumed that if we can

understand the physiological and

biochemical processes within the brain

then we will solve the secrets of the

human mind. Whether or not this promise

can be fulfilled was the theme of the

OUPS conference at Warwick in July of

this year. On the positive side, it was

argued that neuroscience does hold great

promise as a means of understanding the

biological basis of behaviour and mental

states, in terms of which parts of the

brain do what. It has already proved its

worth in terms of techniques for the relief

of distress in patients suffering pain and

Parkinson’s disease, amongst other

conditions. It has also given some insight

into the possible nature of conscious

awareness of those in so-called

vegetative states. However, some

delegates argued that its claims have

been exaggerated and a more balanced

approach is needed in which traditional

psychological methods have an important

place.

Although there has been scientific

progress to greater understanding in

specific areas of psychology like

neuroscience, it still remains an open

question how much of the varied

phenomena of human experience can be

effectively subjected to the methods

which have proved so successful in the

physical sciences. The human mind,

while premised on a material base, is

different to matter. It is comprised of

meanings and symbols which require

their own kind of understanding and

investigation. What psychology still lacks

is a framework which can link and

interface the very different attributes and

aspects of being human.

Dr Richard Stevens, who is currently a Vice

President of OUPS, was previously Head of

Psychology at the OU. Richard was one of

the first members of the Open University

Psychology Department, joining from Trinity

College, Dublin where he was previously

Lecturer in Psychology. He has been active

with OUPS since it was initiated in the early

1970s. He was Chair of the first Social

Psychology course at the OU (D305),

contributed to all but the most recent of the

Introductory courses in Psychology and the

Social Sciences Foundation courses. He

has been an active tutor for many years at

OUPS events and has organized and

chaired several of the General Conferences

including those on Consciousness, Key

thinkers in Psychology (‘Mindshapers’) and

the Psychology of Well-being.

METHODS


What Rob taught Me…(and a

few others too)

By

Angela Thompson

(This piece was under construction as

part of the 40th Anniversary of the Open

University Psychological Society-OUPS,

when news arrived of the death of Rob

Wilde and so it is a celebration of a

remarkable tutor, an exemplar of all that

was good about the Open University and

Psychology and the key lessons he

taught me and others)

It was a typical winter’s night, windy, cold

and a smattering of rain at a very

uninspiring and relatively deserted

training centre located in the low end of

Coventry. It was also the first tutorial of

the Exploring Psychology module, the

start of the potential psychology degree.

The room was spartan, tables functional

and organised in a wide horseshoe. We

were a motley crew, eyeing each other

up, including amongst us a fork lift driver

(who later went on to get a first class)

and one who was already in possession

of a Doctorate and was working

simultaneously on qualifying as a

personal trainer (she later got a first, the

personal training qualification and got

me a lot fitter as well). There were an

assortment of women (with and without

partners), mums with the full range of

children in ages, with and without

educational and health complications,

dads working and not working, the odd

grandparent, professional and

aspirational. In short the full cast for a

comedy or serious drama, and over time

we had both.

Rob was a George Smiley type of chap

(the chief protagonist in John le Carré’s

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy), one who

could pass you anonymously on the

street but with the same forensic sharp

intellect and the wisdom of people his

alter ego possessed. Rob was in the

words of my husband a quiet man of

deep knowledge. Maybe that is the first

lesson, others don’t need to be told how

good you are, they will find out soon

enough if you really are that good. If not

it’s best to watch and learn. It is possible

to discover more by listening to the

answers to well-formed questions than

maybe initially appreciated. This was not

a difficult lesson to realize, he valued

questions that were genuine and

challenging as well as the simple and

basic. He once commented that he liked

the obvious questions, they were often

the ones people wanted to know but

GRADUATE STORIES

Rob Wilde


were too afraid to ask.

Lesson two: psychology (and its students)

makes progress through asking the basic

questions as well as some of the more

complex ones, but you do need to ask

them! Grandstanding I doubt would have

got far with him, fortunately we all

understood that, we understood he really

was that good even if the group was

unaware for most of the module that he

was the former Head of the Department

for Psychology at Coventry University. The

environment with its harsh neon lights

and basic set up may have been a

compromise, but we all rapidly realised

there was not going to be anything

second best about the acquisition of

knowledge. This was a degree of exacting

standards and excellence and we had to

work for it. We may have arrived as a

motley crew but if we wanted that degree

we had to earn it, with anonymous

markers of unseen exams to impress as

well as the tutor marked assignments by

him.

Like Smiley, Rob was a revolutionary in

disguise. He had the appearance of

unobtrusive conventionality but on a

regular basis the Course/Module party

line was covertly put to challenge; but his

opinion was always well hidden, though

he was not a blank wall. He was

immensely proud of his family and had

us all in stiches laughing as he explained

‘flashbulb memory’, an account that

involved, his wife, Princess Diana,

something about stairs and I think

marmalade. He was not a teacher who

advocated, so as a student you could not

write to his preferred position, rather he

expected you to develop a critical stance

which was anchored in evidence. We

didn’t know the term critical reasoning,

he just modelled it and we learned, and

maybe that was the most important

lesson he taught, to think for yourself. It

is the key to success and freedom. Rob

seemingly valued those independent

thinkers no matter how taxing they were.

Throughout his feedback (which was

extensive, full of dry humour as well as

serious comment) and in every session,

as well as providing explanation, he

challenged the assumed accepted

accounts, even those embedded in the

module text books. Like gentle pebbles

thrown into a pool they would be lobbed

into a discussion with a phrase such as

“do you really think….?” and then he

would ask for your reasoning. However

this was reasoning with a difference, it

was about respect for the knowledge

earned by others and the limits of its

claims, it was about becoming an

independent thinking psychologist.

That tolerance of independence

extended to supporting students when

they questioned some of the basics. I

remember getting into a debate by email

and phone (he was very good at support,

many commented on that) about

conducting a Stroop test (where lists of

words such as ‘green’ are printed in

contrary colours such as orange ink, and

the task is to state the colour of the ink),

a common enough test in psychology

GRADUATE STORIES


departments and available on the

internet. For this part of the module we

needed to recruit a sample of the public

and run the test and control as part of

the induction to experimental psychology.

I was questioning the ethics of

conducting this study which may

generate feelings of ‘ill at ease’ because

it is quite difficult to override reading the

word in favour of stating the colour. He

reflected back how it was important to

listen to personal concerns, to listen to

the self when things are causing

discomfort, he also noted that simply

because something had been done

previously did not necessarily make it

right, but he also asked me how I could

mitigate the potential effects, how the

concept of harm was broad and complex

and the challenges posed by knowledge

production when working with people.

Finally that I needed to address this in

the write up. The ability to empower a

student was demonstrated just in this

simple event.

For a person such as myself who has

dyslexia and all the subtle as well as

obvious challenges that come with it as

part of their profile, the most difficult

lesson was learning to read and write. I

had not actually appreciated prior to the

course that I could not really read; it is

amazing how far one can get without it,

but also how it limits life and opportunity.

Writing, or inability of, I already knew

about…. The Open University was a

remarkable place for students such as I,

books ring bound so they were flat, came

also as audio versions so I listened and

read, technology such as Dragon Dictate,

was also helpful, and for me tinted

lenses did reduce the fatigue and

gradually for reading I became

reasonably proficient - after a fashion.

However the writing bit… that was

something I had to master and reach the

standard. It was not going to be enough

that I had good ideas and understood, I

needed to meet the same standard as

everyone else; writing really was a

challenge.

That I can write this is largely down to the

fundamental foundation work Rob did.

Later tutors built on this work and

enabled me to develop an academic

voice [in chronological order the

Exploring Psychology project team at

Bath Uni 2008, Sue Neiland

(Developmental psychology), Hazel Hart

(Biological psychology), Lyn Gulliman-

Turner (Critical Social Psychology) and Liz

Blagrove/Alan Pechey (Cognitive

Psychology) Cognitive Psychology project

team Sussex University 2012] but the

key was the initial foundations. Rob said

it took three attempts by him to get

through to me. He secured some

additional writing tutorials and took me

to task (he had done something similar

for others in need of direction). I needed

to understand what a reference really

was; the famous quote was a question by

me “What exactly do you mean by a

reference Rob?” Back came the reply,

”Ah that is a problem if you don’t

understand that”. What I learned, it was

GRADUATE STORIES


not cherry picking bits of the work of

others to support your predefined

argument (a politician’s or poor

academic’s approach) it was genuinely

engaging with and describing (in the

words of the Exploring Psychology

module team: conflicting, complementary

and co-existing) work of others and

allowing their ideas to drive your own

thinking. I learned about the importance

of focus; his face was a picture when I

showed him the mind map of a question

he had set me. It literally spanned, albeit

in large print, a couple of metres. The

comment from him “now I understand

the problem” was a significant

understatement. So through questioning

he got me to identify the important

essence of the mind map and how to

structure the question, to define and

describe, to use illustration appropriately

to evaluate and suggest directions for

the future. I learned the role of a tightly

worded introduction that covered all of

the above and of an effective conclusion.

What I learnt was that it is only possible

to write clearly if you have thought

through your ideas clearly and stick to

the point. This was exemplary teaching,

he made me do all the work and I

learned. Others had tried to

communicate this in the past when I was

failing, but he was the one that actually

analysed the problem and explained it

all.

For all his students who came to

tutorials, which were in general well

attended (given the time and location an

achievement- for those in prison Rob

went out to them), Rob put effort in. He

did edited notes for us on a CD disk so

we had something to work with for exam

revision, but also as a model of how to

make notes. There was no PowerPoint, it

was him, us, a flip chart and sometimes

projected images. A few years later at the

residential summer school, a group at

lunch were discussing tutors (as

students do). It turned out 3 of the 6 of

us had been taught by Rob in different

years. There was unanimity on how good

he was, and how his support had been

valued when circumstances were

challenging. He went well above and

beyond the requirements of the job and

was committed to the principle of The

Open University and protecting its

reputation, only those who met the

standard passed. He had from what I

recall little time for dumbing down and

the business drivers impacting on

education. This was an important lesson,

the need to maintain clarity on your

standards, to seek out and to emulate

the best you know in your own work, not

necessarily doing what is expedient, but

to be realistic as well, pragmatism is

important.

I am not sure how he would have viewed

the financial changes to Open University

funding and fees, but I think he would

have ruefully noted that a key proportion

of the women (including me) and some

men sitting round the table on the

winter’s night in 2007 would not be there

today. £15,000 is too high a personal

GRADUATE STORIES


and family price to pay for a chance of

freedom and the associated health

benefits for many of us round that table,

and I think that would have been a

source of disappointment to him. He was

proud of his former students and used

their stories to encourage us. He had a

knack of talent spotting (unconventional

prospects) both in the main job at

Coventry University and the Open

University, hooking people up and

allowing them to show what they had.

Perhaps this was the last lesson, there

are many ways to shine, but allowing

others to do so is the rare gift of the truly

great, and I hope in the fullness of time

all of those lessons he taught me (and

others) I will be able to apply in my work

as a psychologist. I (and my family) and

undoubtedly others were indeed lucky to

be taught by Rob, and like all good

teachers his teaching lives on through

contributing to the changed lives of the

person who was the student and those

around them. In the end I suspect that

would be the thing that pleased him

most about his time in education and in

particular the Open University, that his

legacy is a living one.

In memory of Rob Wilde (1948-2014)

former Head of Psychology, Coventry

University and Open University tutor and

examiner who passed away 23rd May

2014.

Angela Thompson went on to achieve a

1st Class BSc (Hons) Psych (Open)

degree and is currently on the MSc by

Research/PhD programme at the

Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement

Research Centre , Coventry University on

a fully funded scholarship.

GRADUATE STORIES

Angela Thompson


NATIONAL EVENTS


NATIONAL EVENTS


Abilities, Disabilities and Possibilities

How do you support students with

exceptional abilities and co-occurring

learning disabilities?

By Laura Tan

The great thing about studying

Psychology is that it really is incredibly

diverse. It’s difficult to think of many

other courses where you can literally

learn about the influence of dance on

improving life for Parkinson’s Disease

sufferers, then walk straight into another

lecture on theories of offending and end

the day with a lab about how to conduct

the Stroop Test and the automaticity of

language processing. I had always been a

bit of an all-rounder at school so deciding

on one subject was quite difficult for me.

However, studying such a multi-faceted

discipline as Psychology meant that I was

able to pursue many multiple interests at

the same time.

One of my areas of interest was

education and more specifically, gifted

and talented education. I worked on

Gifted and Talented master classes while

I was a Student Ambassador at the

University of Hertfordshire and felt that

this was highly rewarding as it helped

raise their aspirations. I was saddened to

find that many had circumstances e.g.

low income background, a learning

disability, English as a second language,

which made them doubt whether

university could ever become a reality for

them. I knew that I wanted to find out

how these students could be better

supported. For my placement, I opted to

assist in one of the top performing

schools in Cambridgeshire and during

this time, was able to conduct interviews

with students on the gifted and talented

register about their academic and social

experiences. These interviews were short

but did shed light on the sorts of things

that they felt were important to their

success; good teachers, a strong and

positive school ethos, supportive families

and I enjoyed hearing their stories.

Running in parallel to my interest in

education was a strong interest in

learning disabilities. I was able to study

them during several different modules,

some which looked at dyslexia and

autism in terms of their biological causes

(Brain Disorders), some which looked at

them more developmentally

(Developmental Psychology) considering

interventions which may help to break the

relationship between learning disabilities,

bullying and mental health conditions.

Upon applying to study for a Masters in

Social and Developmental Psychology at

the University of Cambridge, I knew that if

I was going to be serious about trying to

get a place and more importantly, if I was

going to do well during this degree, I was

going to have to write the mother of all

research proposals. It had to be

something which I could be really

passionate about and enjoy investigating

for the best part of a year. That’s when I

decided to look at the 1-2.5% of the

population who not only fall into the

‘gifted and talented’ category but who

also exhibit a learning disability e.g.

dyslexia, dyspraxia or Autism Spectrum

Disorder. While these groups are typically

RESEARCH


thought of as disparate groups, students

who belong to either/or category actually

have a lot in common. For example, they

are both more likely to be bullied and

both are more likely to have heightened

anxiety. So what about students who do

belong to both categories?

From the literature, I was startled to find

that only 5% of the literature in the area

was actually empirical (Lovett & Sparks,

2011). While many recommendations

had been written, this area was actually

highly under-researched. For those that

had researched this area, very few had

used qualitative methods. This puzzled

me as, in my opinion, interviewing people

about their experiences (especially when

you want to ask them questions of a

sensitive nature e.g. about bullying and

anxiety) is a brilliant way of finding out

what is and what isn’t working. There are

things I found out that a.) I wouldn’t have

thought to ask on a questionnaire or

b.) even if I had, that the people wouldn’t

have given away about themselves via a

self-report questionnaire. There are some

things so private, so part of ourselves

that they can only really be revealed

through establishing trust with a real life

person rather than circles on a page.

Another problem with research in this

area was that sample sizes were rarely

over 3 or 4 participants perhaps due to

the amount of time that interviews take

up as well as geographic regions making

it difficult to find participants. I was very

lucky to have good links with schools and

to be researching in Cambridge, that’s for

sure!

I e-mailed various SENCOs in local

secondary schools as well as the

Disability Departments of local

universities to try and recruit participants.

I managed to talk to 18 lovely students in

the end; 12 were at university and 6 were

at secondary school (mean age = 21

years). All of the students were very able

although their specific subjects of high

ability really did vary. The most common

areas of high ability were social sciences,

languages, mathematics and drama.

Eight of the students had dyslexia, three

had dyspraxia, three had both dyslexia

and dyspraxia and the remaining four had

Autism Spectrum Disorder. I used a semi-

structured interview schedule which I

devised myself although it was loosely

based on a number of questionnaires

that I adapted for British students. I

asked questions about extra-curricular

activities, friendships and bullying

experiences, social support (family,

teachers, mentors, technology), future

ambitions although other topics came up

too. I spent a very long time transcribing

each and every interview, some of which

were over 1 ½ hours long and then began

coding using a process known as

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

I actually really enjoyed coding as I love

analysing language and it was great to

see patterns emerge despite the students

coming from different schools and

different backgrounds. I’ve included

some illustrative quotes below (page 38)

which show the eight themes which were

generated: everyday life, extra activities,

family and friends, wider support such as

teachers and technology, identification,

underachievement, anxiety and depression

and coping and awareness.

I always had in mind that my Masters

research had to be meaningful. It’s a pet

hate of mine to attend seminars where I

feel the speaker is more interested in

boosting their own ego and getting out

publications than advancing science. I

think if you’re going for applause rather

than the cause then social science

shouldn’t be what you pursue. For me, I

wanted to further our understanding of

what can be done to address societal

RESEARCH



issues such as widening participation in

universities and reducing the prevalence

of mental health conditions.

From my research, I was able to see that

schools mere miles apart provided very

differently for this group of students.

More consistency between schools and

universities is needed in terms of the

extra-curricular activities they provide to

not only boost and challenge, but to

improve the areas of relative ‘weakness’.

The interviews also highlighted that more

awareness of learning disabilities is

needed in schools and universities to

prevent bullying. In particular, while most

agreed that autism is now more widely

understood, dyspraxia is still a bit of a

mystery to many, with even teachers

saying they were unsure how to deal with

students who exhibited such symptoms.

For those who had a dual diagnosis of

dyslexia and dyspraxia, the students felt

that dyslexia was much better identified

and handled. Having said that, many still

see it as ‘poor reading’ and fail to

empathise with other impairing aspects

of the disorder such as disorganisation of

thought. Much of the Disabled Students

Allowance can be used to fund

technological support and my research

really opened my eyes to the sorts of

things that students are entitled to.

However, while there was much offered,

many of the students said they had not

used things like speech-to-text software

to help with typing assignments but would

have instead have benefited from more

human support such as a mentor or

specialist tutor.

Another interesting point of discussion

was about the future, about ambitions,

hopes and concerns. Students with

dyslexia were unsurprisingly nervous

about the written part of the applications

but felt that they were more at home

during interviews when they could

articulate themselves verbally. Help for

such students may come more in the

form of assisting with personal

organisation and meeting deadlines as

they quite enjoyed the social aspects of

applying. Gifted students with ASD found

interviews and securing personal

references difficult therefore help with

these aspects may improve students’

prospects as well as happiness.

For anybody that’s considering a research

project, bear in mind that you should be

trying to study something which you are

passionate about, that you know

something about or have some

experience of. I would advise anyone

considering postgraduate study to get in

touch with potential supervisors early, to

run your ideas by them and get help on

how to conduct the all-important

literature review and to get advice on

what methods will help you find the

answers to the questions you can’t wait

to investigate. Many of the skills that I

utilised to complete my Masters research

were developed during my undergraduate

degree; things like interpersonal skills,

presentation skills, organisational skills

so do always consider what skills you

have and which ones you’d really like to

develop. Lastly, whether it’s dance, inside

the mind of a murderer or the good old

Stroop, bear in mind that Psychology is

diverse and while there’s so much we

know about what it is to be human,

there’s still so much behaviour that is yet

to be explained, and you could help do

just that!

Laura Tan became an Associate Lecturer

with the Open University in January and is

thoroughly enjoying it! Her background is

in P s y c h o l o g y a n d h e r i n t e r e s t s

include learning disabilities, mental

health issues, bullying as well as

educational technology.

RESEARCH


REGIONAL EVENTS


REGIONAL EVENTS


My OU Journey

By Louise Beaton

No one tells you when you start studying

with the OU that it is addictive. Like so

many others I came to the OU only

intending to do one module. I ended up

staying for nine years and twelve

modules.

For me, it was a combination of reading

Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly

Everything” and having friends who I

knew were studying with the OU that

kicked started it all. I realized that there

was so much I didn’t know about science

and it seemed like a good way to learn

more. I had studied part time before,

gaining a professional qualification, so I

knew that I could manage it while

working full time. In 2004 I started my

first module; S103 Discovering science. I

really didn’t know what I was letting

myself in for as it included physics,

biology, chemistry and geology. As well as

quite a lot of maths. The latter made me

realize that I if I wanted to keep studying

science I would need more maths. I am

still not quite sure what came over me,

but I next signed up for, and passed,

S151 Maths for science.

I realized that if I was going to keep

studying I really need to be able to get to

tutorials. This was a key motivator in

helping me finally pass my driving test,

shortly after turning 30. “Just one

module” then turned into another

science module; S250 Science in

context, which lead onto S204 Biology

and then a residential SXR270

Investigative biology. This was a little

more exciting than I had planned on as it

finished just as the floods of 2007 took

hold and it took me two and a half days

to get home as our train station was shut

due to being completely under water.

Huge thanks to my parents at this point

for driving to Birmingham to come and

get me when we discovered there would

be no trains for several days at least.

I had slightly more time to revise for my

first exam with OU than I had bargained

for as I was made redundant for the

second time in my career three weeks

before the exam. I started a new job a

week before the exam…which I passed,

despite a lot of nerves and a total lack of

affinity with biochemistry!

But what does this have to do with

psychology? Well, I realized at this point

that I was racking up quite a few points

with my modules and it wouldn’t take

that many more for this “one module” to

become a degree. I realized that if I

added psychology modules, then it could

GRADUATE STORIES


grow up to be a Life Sciences degree. I

started with DSE212 Exploring

psychology which I really enjoyed. The

timing at this point becomes a little fuzzy,

but at some point I had a chat with the

careers advisors and was advised that if I

wanted to go further with psychology,

such as becoming a lecturer or going into

research then I would really need the

named psychology degree. That would

mean not just two years to do the level

three modules, but going back and doing

two more level 2 modules too... Well, I

really enjoyed my psychology modules,

and really felt this was for me and that

this could be a good career change, so

away I went.

However life is rarely that simple. I

started my first psychology module in

2007, shortly after the aforementioned

change of job. In 2008, two days before I

was due to go on my first psychology

residential, I was diagnosed with

pneumonia and I spent the week in

hospital instead. Complications led to a

repeat stay in September and major

chest surgery early the following year.

Recovery was slow and painful, but I kept

myself occupied with a 15 point

psychology module (Applying psychology).

This could be done at a pace slow

enough to match my recuperation. I also

returned to work, gradually increasing my

hours.

I was just starting to get somewhere near

full time hours again at work in early

2010 when I was diagnosed with

depression. In the space of that year my

house was burgled, my relationship of

almost twelve years ended and I was

diagnosed with chronic pain following my

chest surgery.

During this time I completed the first of

my third level psychology modules

(DD307 Critical social psychology) and

the online version of the psychology

project that I had missed due to my

alternative vacation in the local General

three years before.

I started to learn to live alone again, kept

company by my study companion; my

cat. I used to refer to her as my furry

paperweight as the minute I put my study

stuff down, she would curl up on it and

go to sleep.

I had moved onto DD303 Cognitive

psychology and studying gave me

something to focus on while everything

else seemed to be unravelling around

me.

Sadly my cat passed away a week after

the residential part of DD303, three

GRADUATE STORIES


weeks away from her 19th birthday. The

DD303 textbook is very thick and she

seemed to think it made a great pillow.

The loss did not help with my worsening

depression, along with the realisation

that no matter how hard I pushed myself,

my stamina had never returned following

my operation and continued to cause

other health issues. This meant I was

forced to reduce my hours at work and

between this and the effects of my

medication I had to give up my job

altogether early the following year. I was

finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue

Syndrome earlier this year.

However, there was some light in the

dark; I got my best mark in the exam for

my essay on the effects of depression on

cognition, thanks to my own lived

experience. My mental health nurse used

to comment that I was never without a

textbook as I would read in the waiting

room prior to my appointments.

My tutor for my next module, SD226

Biological psychology was fantastically

supportive, once I had plucked up the

courage to admit the problems I was

experiencing, and the OU themselves

were brilliant as they arranged a home

exam for my final module, ED209 Child

development, when I wasn’t able to

travel after our local exam centre was

closed.

I passed my final module and last year I

finally achieved my degree. I still hope to

continue my studies at a postgraduate

level, but this is currently on hold while I

try and improve my health. I have help

with this though, as I adopted a cat again

two years ago. She has no interest in

lying on my books however, she just

wants me to put them down and feed her

instead.

It wasn’t quite the journey I had planned,

or even expected, when I thought I’d ‘just

give a science module a go’ almost a

decade ago, but it has been an amazing

experience and allowed me to make

some really great friends and achieve

something that at times seemed

completely impossible.

GRADUATE STORIES


NATIONAL EVENTS


NATIONAL EVENTS


Graduation, ceremonies and the end of a

journey…

By Red Anderton-Tyers, BSc (Hons)

I suspect that every Open University

student, regardless of all the many

memories inherent throughout their

degree, share two overwhelming

moments: the day the course books first

arrive and the graduation ceremony.

For me the day the text books arrived in

the post was the moment the course

became real. Without the experience of

inductions and first walks around

campus, meeting lecturers and fellow

students that other University students

have, the day the course books arrive is

the first moment that summons the

thought, ‘Am I actually doing this?’ That

wonderful moment of excitement and

trepidation, for me, was quickly followed

(as I flipped through the textbook) with

the nervous question of was I really up for

it, and would I ever actually have a

degree on the other side?

Most University students probably share

such trepidations – but I feel it may be

particularly true of OU students given the

vast array of ages, circumstances and life

stories which bring individuals to the OU

– leaving the question of whether we will

be able to juggle all the life commitments

most of us began and ended our degrees

with.

I think many of us found it hard to see the

day when we would finally reach that

other momentous milestone: standing in

a gown on a stage, holding the proof of a

completed degree in front of friends and

family. I was well into my second year of

my BSc in Psychology before I even

contemplated going to a graduation

ceremony (a thought which at first filled

me with excitement and then nervous

anticipation at the idea of another new

experience to undertake, and was quickly

put aside again whilst I completed yet

another TMA…). For me, the sense of

accomplishment when the day finally

arrived was all the more profound for

remembering that precarious and rocky

starting point, and all the many hurdles

faced along the way. Perhaps this is why

these moments, which mark the effective

beginning and end of the degree

experience, make such a lasting

impression.

Yet many students are faced with the

question, ‘Is it really worth going to the

ceremony?’ For most, the ceremony

comes months after the degree results

are in and the certificate sent. Given the

nature of the OU and the huge disparity in

location amongst its students, the

ceremony often represents a long journey

and time spent getting to and from – and

GRADUATE STORIES


with all our day to day commitments (and

future prospects of careers and further

study often underway) the question of the

importance of making the trip for a day of

cap-and-gowning leaves some students

uncertain.

These were all questions I posed myself

not long ago, as my degree results came

in in December 2013. I spent most of

my Open University career living in the

highlands of Scotland where even

tutorials were often at far-reaching

locations and became – like many other

OU students – profoundly helped by the

online structure of the course. More

specifically, I found the forums and

interactions available with other students

invaluable. I had the very good fortune to

share much of my degree courses in

common with the same group of students

(the uniquely self-dubbed ‘Kumquats’)

who were a constant source of support,

help and comic relief through the

sometimes treacherous waters of Child

Development, Biological Psychology, and

perhaps most of all – the gruelling

DD303 and Cognitive Psychology. By the

time my fourth and final year approached,

this group (and many others who had

come and gone along the way) were as

close as friends who lived nearby, and as

loved and respected as if we had been

sitting next to each other in lectures for

four years, rather than scattered all

across the country, having rarely (if ever)

met in person.

For me, this is what going to the

ceremony became about. Finishing my

degree was a very important moment in

my life, and one that I felt I owed myself a

day of true celebration for. My graduation

day was a moment for me to feel that I

had genuinely done the work and

accomplished all that I had striven for; sit

back and revel in the accumulated

experience of those very difficult and

profoundly rewarding years. But even

more than that – I wanted to share the

day with the people who had truly helped

make that possible.

This, I believe, is something that is

important for most OU students,

regardless of who those people are who

helped them along the way. For myself, I

had some very impressive and helpful

tutors in my time with the OU, but it was

the individual students who I could reach

out to at one, two, even three in the

morning sometimes when I was certain I

had misunderstood the question after

having just submitted a final TMA, or

when a certain topic just would not

unwind itself in my mind and I needed

another’s thoughts on the subject. Even

sometimes getting on and explaining a

topic to others would suddenly make it all

GRADUATE STORIES

Red Anderton (left) & Carol Foy (right)


make sense to me, and for this I felt the

deep and profound need to share a real

moment with those students who had

become such a valued and real part of

my life.

Luckily a move to the south of England in

the final months of my degree made the

decision of where to go for my ceremony

a bit easier. The Barbican in London

seemed the overwhelming venue of

choice for students graduating with me,

and so it was that a number of us all

booked together for March 29th 2014.

In many ways, the few months which

preceded the ceremony led us all in our

separate directions, thinking about new

jobs, new work experience, applying for

postgrad studies - or just getting the

chance to finally clean our houses, spend

time with family or travel again. It was, in

actuality, the first time in four years I’d

gone more than a month or so without

speaking with this group every day, and

as the graduation ceremony approached I

relished the chance to catch up with

many of these companions with new

vigour.

The day was on a sunny weekend in

March – what better could be expected

from a graduation in London? A two hour

drive from Somerset found us on the

Tube in our finery and heading towards

the Barbican. If I am completely honest, I

had been so concerned with meeting up

with other students that I had all but

forgotten that I had to get up on stage,

and for a brief moment the size of the

venue reminded me what a great and

distinguished moment this really was.

But the atmosphere was surprisingly

relaxed and jovial and, after getting my

seating assignment and putting the

(admittedly) very warm robe on, I found

the other students outside and, once

again - with their support - it suddenly all

became doable and a good laugh to boot.

The day was a profound experience for

me in the end. There was a deeply

important element of closure – of ‘we

really did it’ that resonated throughout

the venue as we took our seats in the

glorious hall and listened to the orator

discuss what we had achieved. As the

video played prior to the event beginning,

recapping life as an OU student, I think

we all felt a real sense of pride and

solidarity that we had actually completed

this – and we had completed it well. The

truth of all the little moments of TMAs

and late night studying, first moments in

exams and exaltation at results

resonated through us all, and our hands

tingled with numbed excitement as we

made sure we clapped our proud

enthusiasm for every student who walked

on the stage and received their degree.

GRADUATE STORIES


Regardless of the degree achieved or the

student’s name, for those hours we felt

like a family – and we rejoiced for each

student who walked on the stage,

because every person there knew what it

had taken to arrive in that moment.

The day was not without a few tears,

either.

Fellow OU graduate Claire Bone, BSc

(Hons) remembered “I didn't think I was

going to get emotional at the graduation

ceremony, but hearing and identifying

with some of the experiences that other

OU students shared (such as TMA writing

through the night) gave me goose bumps

as well as making me smile. It was great

to hear the names of people I have met

or grown to know (through tutorials,

residential schools and also Facebook

groups) being called out on stage and

being able to cheer them on!”

For me, this opportunity was largely to

remind myself that I had really and truly

accomplished my degree – and it was

worth all the hard work and effort put in,

as well as a chance to share that

gratitude with the people who helped me

get there. Similarly for others it was

about sharing the day with family and

friends who had supported them at

home, who had taken on burdens (or

asked endless flashcard questions in

preparations for exams), to weekends

and holidays together lost to study, and

patience and support through many

difficult times. The feeling of sharing this

proud completion with the family who

believed in you was very prominent on

the day. One fellow student, Justin

Barley, BSc (Hons), said “I found the day

to be an amazing experience for me and

my family. It was a chance to connect

with the closest people to me in

celebration of an achievement that I am

extremely proud of and I know they are

too. The ceremony made me quite

emotional as it brought closure to a roller

coaster of highs and lows - a journey that

involved many other people. The day

gave me an opportunity to reflect on the

support given to me over the years of

study from others - a joyous occasion all

round”

In the end, I could not be happier that I

had this day to look back and remember

all that came before it in a fantastic

moment of laughter and tears with the

people who were most important in

helping me get there. Whatever

questions students may have about

whether going to the ceremony is actually

worth it, I would say this to them: as OU

students, we often feel we are an island –

with only a lifeline out into the world of

psychology and learning and all that we

want to achieve in our future. But it is

rarely on our own that we actually achieve

these aspirations. It is with the help of

others - be it family and friends, fellow

students, course tutors or OU faculty -

that we find our way and complete our

goals. The degree ceremony, for me,

was a culmination of all of that – and to

realise the truth that none of us were an

island, but together made up the proud

and tenacious Open University Class of

2013.

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