Program Description
All of Vermont State University’s Psychological Science programs focus on understanding the mind and behavior including the influence of biology, emotions, society, and culture. Students learn to apply scientific evidence to explain general behavioral phenomena, while appreciating that we are each unique. The program encourages students to understand the value of diversity, to recognize and discourage inequity, and to foster inclusion toward a just society. Students explore personal biases as barriers to understanding self and others and learn how to use psychology to make positive changes in their lives, communities, and in the world.
Psychological Science is a versatile field that is relevant to every aspect of daily life including social media, beliefs, attitudes, gender, aggression, love, and mental illness. This broad knowledge is useful to working in therapeutic, educational, hospital, research, and business settings. Students can fulfill their degree in Psychological Science ensuring that their education fits their interests by choosing from a menu of course options. Students apply and develop their knowledge through internship and field experiences that suit their passions whether working with at-risk children, in mental health or crisis clinics, within the criminal justice system, in schools or camps, with shelter or therapeutic animals, or doing wilderness therapy, for example. Additionally, they may decide to work alongside a faculty member as an assistant in a psychology laboratory, or to pursue their own research questions, presenting their findings at regional and national conferences. With careful planning, a VTSU psychology degree can be completed in 3 or 3½ years.
The BS in Psychological Science is tailored to students interested in pursuing any of the many careers in psychology, including clinical psychology, counseling, school psychology, or experimental psychology. It is designed to prepare students for application to both Masters and PhD programs in these areas. It is distinct from the BA in Psychological Science in that it requires 6 credits of experiential in-person research-based coursework.
Program Outcomes
These goals are adapted from the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs. We use the same broad learning goals for all Psychological Sciences programs, but they are differentially assessed depending on the program.
Goal 1: Content Knowledge and Applications: Students will demonstrate comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavior and mental processes.
Goal 2: Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking: Students will develop the skills involved in scientific reasoning and investigation including proficiencies in research methods and statistics, knowledge of and sensitivity to diversity-related issues in research design and evaluating the extent to which research findings can be generalized to groups beyond the research sample. NOTE: This outcome is assessed at the foundational level for BA students and at the baccalaureate level for BS students.
Goal 3: Values in Psychological Science: Students will develop ethical reasoning and practices as well as interpersonal and intercultural responsiveness, including developing self-reflection and accountability. Students will recognize ethical violations and/or the risk for such violations.
Goal 4: Communication, Psychological Literacy, and Technology Skills: Students will build and maintain effective communication skills in processing and expressing information both in their writing and interpersonal communication. Students will develop psychological literacy, including applying research skills necessary to be an informed consumer of research or critic regarding unsupported claims about behavior.
Goal 5: Personal and Professional Development: The skills in this domain refer to abilities that sharpen students’ readiness for the workplace whether the student’s future involves graduate school or a job following the associate or bachelor’s degree.
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