ALTC Initiative Outcomes 2006-2008 (April 4, 2009)
Jacquelyn Cranney
Final Reports
Cranney, J., Provost, S., Katsikitis, M., Martin, F., White, F., Cohen, L. (2008). Designing a diverse, future-oriented vision for undergraduate psychology in Australia. Strawberry Hills, New South Wales, AU: Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from
Cranney, J. (2008). Sustainable and evidence-based learning and teaching approaches to the undergraduate psychology curriculum. Strawberry Hills, New South Wales, AU: Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from Strawberry Hills, New South Wales, AU: Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from
Graduate Attributes
The delineation of graduate attributes for the Australian UG psychology program:
Cranney, J., & Turnbull, C. (2008). Graduate attributes of the four-year Australian undergraduate psychology program. Retrieved October 19, 2009 from [This is on the APAC website. The document also forms an appendix of the Final Reports. The most up-to-date version can be found on my website at
Embedding, dissemination, and publication:
- Invitations to speak at or give workshops to several Departments of Psychology concerning Graduate Attributes and developments in psychology education.
- The Graduate Attributes are embedded in the APAC Standards. See (see in particular Standards 3.1.7 and 3.2.4)
Cranney, J., Turnbull, C., & Provost, S. (2008, July). Graduate attributes and the future of undergraduate education and training. Paper presented at the Psychology Learning and Teaching Conference, Bath.
Cranney, J., Turnbull, C., White, F., Provost, S., Martin, F., Katsikitis, M., Voudouris, N., Montgomery, J., Cohen, L., Heaven, P., Morris, S., & Varcin, K. (2008). Development of graduate attributes for the discipline of psychology. InPsych, 30, 24-25.
Cranney, J., Turnbull, C., Provost, S.C., Martin, F., Katsikitis, M., White, F.A., Voudouris, N.J., Montgomery, I.M., Heaven, P.C.L., Morris, S., Varcin, K.J. (in press). Graduate attributes of the four-year Australian undergraduate psychology program. Australian Psychologist.
Research into University Student Learning and Performance
Conference Symposia and contributions:
- Organisation of APEN/TLaPIGsymposia for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Australian Psychological Society Annual Conferences. Submission of papers to the APEN/TLaPIG symposia being organized for the 2009 APS Conference.
- Organisation of APEN/TLaPIG paper submissions to the 2006 Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference.
- Submission of papers to the 2009 First Year and ISSoTL Conferences.
Examples of peer-reviewed papers presented:
Cranney, J., Morris, S., & McKinnon, R. (2007, July). The Reality of the Testing Effect: Application to the Classroom, Judgments of Learning, and Collaborative Educational Processes. Paper presented at the International Society of Scholarship in Teaching and learning, Sydney, Australia.
Cranney, J., & Turnbull, C. (2008, September). Graduate attributes and undergraduate psychology. Paper presented at the 2008 43rd Australian Psychological Society Annual Conference, Hobart.
Cranney, J., Jones, G., Morris, S., Starfield, S., Martire, K., Newell, B., & Wong, K. (2008, October).Critical reading and writing (CRW) in first-year psychology: Mass screening and targeted assistance. Paper presented at the UniServe Science Conference, Sydney. [Abstract] Retrieved 23 October, 2008, from
Published SoTL research:
See (plus one under review, two in prep)
Models of Education and Training in Psychology; Pedagogy of Undergraduate Psychology
- The “Vision Working party” of key disciplinary leaders convened during 2008 to produce a vision for the future of the psychology discipline; this can be found at
- Work continues on further development undergraduate pedagogy and of educational approaches to the application of psychology. The nature of Year 4 in the UG psychology program continues to be investigated.
- I am the chair of the organizing committee for the International Conference on Psychology Education (ICOPE 2010); see
Committee memberships:
- Program Development Advisory Committee, Australian Psychological Society (2006 – present). This Committee advises the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, and runs site visits of academic units. This is a key committee for psychology education in Australia.
- National Psychology Education and Training Reference Group, Australian Psycholgoical Society (2008- present). This is a special committee created by APS to review models of education and training in psychology in Australia.
- Science, Academia and Research Advisory Group, Australian Psychological Society (2009-2010). My role is to present current issues in undergraduate education.
- UNSW ALTC Promoting Excellence Advisory Group (2008- present). This membership allows fruitful interdisciplinary interaction, in the service of improving learning and teaching at UNSW.
- ‘Indigenous Studies in the Curriculum’ Working Party, Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (2008-present).
Dissemination and publication:
Cranney, J., Provost, S., Martin, F., White, F.A., Cohen, L., Katsikitis, M. (2009, January). Models of education and training in psychology. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Conference of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.
McGovern, T. V., Corey, L. A., Cranney, J., Dixon, Jr., W. E., Holmes, J. D., Kuebli, J. E., Ritchey, K., Smith, R. A., & Walker, S. (in press). Psychologically literate citizens. In D. Halpern (Ed.). Undergraduate education in psychology: Blueprint for the discipline’s future.Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Networks: Australian Psychology Educators Network and the Teaching, Learning and Psychology Interest Group of APS
The Initiatives built upon the work undertaken by the previous AUTC/Carrick project which created the Australian psychology Educators Network. This is now supported by the Teaching, Learning and Psychology Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society ( This group has organized symposia for APS and EPC conferences, as well as Workshops at APS, EPC, and UniServe Science conferences. TLaPIG has undertaken a survey of its members, and is organizing symposia, a forum and a satellite meeting at the APS 2009 Conference. I am co-convenor of TLaPIG.
Cranney, J., & Zinkiewicz, L. (2008). New interest group on teaching, learning and psychology. InPsych, 30, 26.
Learning and Teaching Resources
As part of the Associate Fellowship Initiative, I conducted research into an appropriate model for acquiring, reviewing and storing learning and teaching resources in psychology, particularly for the Graduate Attributes. I have loaded some of my resources into the Psychology Graduate Attribute area of the ALTC Exchange Following extended discussions between SARAG and APEN/TLAPIG, it has now been decided that one of the activities of TLaPIG will be to review the resources. Both APS and TLaPIG will publicise the site in order to attract both contributions and visitors.
Awards
Australian Psychological Association Distinguished Contribution to Education Award, 2008.