Prospectus

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School Psychology

Course
2025-2026

Entry requirements

  • All 60 ec of the first-year in Psychology have been obtained.

  • Students are strongly encouraged to have completed the Developmental Psychopathology course.

Description

School psychologists are becoming increasingly important in a wide variety of settings, not only in schools. Through their unique expertise in mental health, learning, behaviour and education they help children and youth succeed academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviourally. School psychologists work closely with families, teachers, school teams and other professionals to support the students´ ability to learn and to advise teachers on how to create a safe and supportive learning environment.

In this specialisation course, students will study the development of scholastic abilities and cognition such as reading, math, memory, creativity and executive functions. Students also study motivation and intelligence and how this affects school performance. This course focuses on the cognitive development of children and adolescents within a school context. However, important socio-emotional developmental aspects that influence school performance will be taken into account. Also, important preschool developments (e.g., conceptual development and causal reasoning) will be considered. Furthermore, the course touches on subjects such as learning disabilities and the developing brain, to set the stage for a successful entry to several courses within the Master’s programme in School Psychology, such as Educational Neuroscience.

Course objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will:

  • Have a clear understanding of key concepts regarding the development of learning and cognition within a school context;

  • Be able to inform, convince, and give written as well as oral recommendations to teachers, school boards, parents, policy makers, etc. concerning topics on cognitive, and socio-emotional development in the school context based on a critical interpretation of the scientific literature in the form of an essay;

  • Be able to critically read, discuss, and reflect on the recent scientific developmental literature; and

  • Be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of psychological assessments relevant to the school context (e.g., IQ tests).

Timetable

For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable

This course is offered twice a year. Students follow the course in one block (Block 2 or 4)

Registration

Education

Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of the course.

Exams

You must register for each exam in My Studymap at least 10 days before the exam date. Don’t forget! For more information, see the enrolment procedure.
You cannot take an exam without a valid registration in My Studymap.

Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.

Students who take this course as part of a LDE minor or a premaster programme, exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.

Mode of instruction

7 2-hour lectures and 7 2-hour workgroup sessions.

Attendance at the workgroup sessions is mandatory. See Brightspace for more information.

During the workgroup sessions students will discuss several case studies in which a profile(s) of a primary and/or secondary school student(s) with various problems within a school setting are given. Students will assess the problem and it’s underlying mechanisms based on course materials. Moreover, students will write a group essay taking the role of a school psychologist to make recommendations to a relevant audience (e.g. teachers, parents, school boards, policy makers etc.) based on scientific insights. . In addition, students will create a knowledge clip summarising a psychological test that is relevant to a school setting, while identifying the test’s strengths and weaknesses.

As such, during the workgroup sessions, students will complete the following assignments:
1. Students are required to explore and critically reflect on a topic relevant to the school context and write a group essay/report. This essay should be suitable for a relevant non-scientific audience (e.g., teachers, parents, school boards, policy makers, etc.). Students are also asked to review the essay outline from peers from another group.
2. In their group students are required to create a summary of a psychological test used in a school context in the form of a knowledge clip. Groups will present their summary of the test in front of the workgroup instructor and their peers during the last workgroup session.

During every workgroup session (except for the first one) students will also, in groups, prepare discussion questions pertaining to one of the course knowledge clips and are encouraged to experiment with different presentation styles. This set-up prepares students to think as a school psychologist regarding how information can best be shared to advance learning in an academic setting. Also, a case study composed of multiple parts will be discussed, in which you will take the role of a school psychologist (e.g. forming hypotheses and thinking of ways to help a child).

Lectures and workgroup sessions take up to a total of 110 hours, including the research and preparation of the assignments and lectures. In addition, students are expected to spend 170 hours preparing for the examination.

Language of instruction
Lectures are in English. Workgroup sessions are in Dutch or English (IBP). Workgroup assignments can be completed by students in Dutch or English (IBP) according to their placement in the workgroups. The questions on the examination are in English; however, students are allowed to answer in Dutch and/or English.

Assessment method

The final grade for School Psychology will be based on the following:

  • Grade for the examination (70%): The examination consists of a maximum of 7 open-ended questions (each consisting of multiple parts) based on the literature, course knowledge clips and the lectures.

  • Grade for workgroup assignments (30%): participation during group discussions; scientific essay/report; knowledge clip and final presentation.

A two and a half-hour post-examination consultation will be held within 30 days after the examination date. During this time students receive the opportunity to view their exam. The date and time of the post-exam consultation will be announced through Brightspace soon after the exam has taken place.

This course is offered twice a year. Students follow the course in one block (Block 2 or 4). The exam opportunities for the course take place after the blocks in which the course is offered: i.e. after Block 2, after Block 4. There is a third exam opportunity in the Summer resit period.

The Institute of Psychology uses fixed rules for grade calculation. It also follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. All students are required to take and pass the Scientific Integrity Test with a score of 100% in order to learn about the practice of integrity in scientific writing. Students are given access to the quiz via a module on Brightspace. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of these two policies.

Reading list

  • Peer-reviewed articles (provided on Brightspace) and book chapters from the textbook. The exact chapters can be found on Brightspace in the course Syllabus/Schedule.

  • Textbook: Lord, J. (2022). Psychology of Education: Theory, Research and Evidence-Based Practice SAGE Publications Ltd. [Paperback ISBN: 9781529762976; Hardcover ISBN: 9781529762983]

  • Lecture slides

  • Course knowledge clips

Contact information