Survey - Proposed Research Experience Course

Psychology undergraduate students,

UBC psychology faculty would like your feedback on a new course that is currently under development by the Psychology Curriculum Committee. Research and lab experience is a key component of an undergraduate student’s experience in psychology at UBC — and a pre-requisite for graduate school in the field. Each year, psychology labs have hundreds of students volunteering their time, doing research alongside faculty, graduate students, and post-docs. At the same time, many students who are unable to volunteer as research assistants, whether for personal or financial reasons, are excluded from a key experience in their psychology education at UBC.

The Department of Psychology is hoping to address this gap in several ways. Today, we are asking for your feedback on a proposed second-year research experience course that would allow students to join a psychology lab for course credit. This course and its structure is still being developed, and there are many details that are still not finalized, but as things stand students who have completed either PSYC 101 or 102 would be eligible to join (no GPA minimums or additional pre-reqs would be required) by submitting a form on a website that would indicate which labs are recruiting for the course.

Students would indicate their interest in 3-4 of the labs and then be matched to them. Then the student and the lab would agree on the number of hours per week, which would then translate to credits (in a ratio of 4-5h/week for each 1 credit). Students could flexibly choose the number of credits/hours they would do in up to two semesters. The course would also require students to write short monthly reflection journals. We are hoping to make it a pass/fail course, rather than graded on a scale.

Although we understand that you may have many questions about the fine print details of how the course would work, for now we are hoping for a more general sense of whether a course like this would be something students are interested in general, and we will use your feedback to further tailor the specifics of the course afterwards.

Here is the link to a short, 2-3 minute course survey on this proposed course: https://tinyurl.com/2bt3bwxf

We would like many undergrad psychology majors to share their feedback, whether they are interested in this course or not, and even if you are in your third- or fourth-year (in this case, you would be asked to indicate whether a course like this would have been valuable in your Psychology Major had it been offered when you were in second year). This will help us understand: (a) the general interest in a course like this; (b) the barriers students typically experience when asked to volunteer their time; and (c) potential barriers students feel might prevent them from taking a course like the one we are proposing.

We hope to hear from you and we thank you for your participation in the survey!

The UBC Psychosocial Flourishing and Health Lab is currently hiring undergraduate volunteer research assistants who can commit a minimum of 8 hours a week. This is a great way to gain research experience and work in a fun team of diverse research-minded individuals! As a research assistant, students will have the opportunity to gain hands on research experience, attend fun and insightful lab meetings, direct career mentorship and regular individual meetings with our team (i.e., lab manager, grad student, Postdoc, Faculty), and more.

Lab’s Mission
Be part of a team that substantially improves the psychological and physical health of as many older adults as possible (across the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic spectrum), via rigorous research that informs the development of scalable individual-level interventions, and policies that drive systemic change in our society.

Basic Qualifications

• Exceptional attention to detail
• A genuine and deep-rooted desire to help others
• Undergraduate student enrolled at the University of British Columbia (preferably 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year study)
• Ability to learn quickly, and work both independently (self-directed problem–solver) and collaboratively in a fast-paced and collegial research environment
• Excellent communication-, interpersonal-, and organizational-skills
• Familiarity with online research tools and search databases (e.g., PsycInfo, PubMed, Google Scholar)
• Have a strong quantitative background (or desire to learn)

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• At least one-year of related experience (this does not apply to 1st year students and not as much to 2nd years students)
• Interest in health psychology (the interface between psychological factors and physical health), as well as aging

Applications
Application review will begin immediately and we will stop taking applications on March 21st 5pm PST. If you are interested in this position, please send an email to Esther Choi (esther.choi@ubc.ca) and attach:

• Academic CV or resume
• Writing sample (e.g. a term paper)
• Unofficial transcript (SSC screenshot is acceptable)
• Cover letter which includes a brief equity, diversity, and inclusion statement

This position is no longer available.

Opportunity: Conduct Psychological Assessments in Clinical Populations. Volunteer Position

The UBC Behavioral Reward, Affect, and Impulsivity Neuroscience (BRAIN) Lab is looking for a clinical psychology graduate research assistant to join their team at the Heartwood Centre for Women! The chosen candidate will gain invaluable experience through:

• Administering standardized psychodiagnostic, risk, and violence assessments to in-patients with complex mental health presentations in an integrated addictions treatment centre
• Receiving supervision by an MD and/or PhD (not R.Psych)

Requirements

• Minimum 10 hours/week, including minimum 5-6 hours/week of in-person assessment administration (please note: hours will not count toward clinical hours to satisfy predoctoral residency requirements, but if you are able to secure your own licensed supervisor we can help facilitate)
• Minimum 2 semesters
• Able to adhere to strict study protocols and communicate with team members
• Female (including trans) preferred

If interested, please send your CV, transcripts, and a brief statement of interest to Dr. Myriam Juda at myriam.juda@ubc.ca

The Early Development Research Group (EDRG) is recruiting volunteer research assistants. The EDRG is a group of six research centres at UBC’s Department of Psychology. They study the development of language, cognition, and social understanding in infants and children.

The EDRG is looking for motivated undergraduate students who:

• Are interested in developmental research
• Have great interpersonal skills
• Have excellent attention to detail
• Can commit to 4-6 hours per week for at least 2 terms

This position requires excellent communication and organisation skills as well as high attention to detail. Volunteers will be involved in our social media projects, database inputting, participant recruitment, appointment scheduling and other tasks at the Early Development Research Group. This is a great opportunity to gain invaluable hands-on experience in a dynamic research environment.

To apply, contact Vera Mueller at: earlydev@psych.ubc.ca

Deadline to apply: October 8, 2020.