Master of Science (MSc) in School & Applied Child Psychology

The Master of Science in School and Applied Child Psychology is an on-campus, thesis-based program. In addition to Faculty of Graduate Studies admission requirements, GPE requirements include:

(a) Honours degree in Psychology (or equivalent) is preferred, with a grade point average of 3.0 over the courses taken during the last two years of study;

(b) Normally, a minimum of 18 units (3.0 full-course equivalents) in Educational Psychology or Psychology. This must include:

1. One undergraduate course in statistics
2. One senior undergraduate Psychology or Educational Psychology course in cognitive-affective bases of behaviour.
3. One senior undergraduate Psychology or Educational Psychology course in development. (The course would need to include content related to pregnancy (fetal development) all the way through adolescence (and ideally emerging adulthood).

All prerequisite coursework must be completed with a grade of “B-” or above.

(c) Two letters of reference, one of which is normally from the undergraduate honours supervisor, if applicable. References are due on the application deadline, so you should complete the online application earlier in order to give your referees sufficient time to submit their reference. Referees will receive notification on how to submit their reference after you submit your application and are due on the application deadline regardless of when they receive the notification. Please ensure that your references are aware of the supporting document submission deadline. Applications without completed reference forms will be considered incomplete after the application deadline has passed.

(d) A completed Pre-Admission Checklist is required, including details of courses completed, practicum experiences, awards and scholarships, scholarly work, research experience, and employment and volunteering.

(e) Curriculum Vitae - include the following items as applicable:  Educational history, awards and scholarships, presentations and publications, employment, research experience, volunteering, and professional development. Applicants are encouraged to use this template to ensure they document information.

(f)  A short statement of intent (approximately 500 words) of your research and professional interest in school psychology (e.g., expected contribution to the field; understanding of school psychology) indicating your reasons for wanting to pursue graduate work in this degree.  Applicants are encouraged to list one or more SACP faculty members they feel best align with their research interests. 

(g) Meeting the English language proficiency requirement. Proficiency in the English language is essential for the pursuit and successful completion of graduate programs in the Werklund School of Education. Prior to admission to Graduate Programs in Education, an applicant whose primary language is not English must fulfill the English language proficiency requirement. For additional information, please visit our How to Apply page.

(h) Prior to admission, the most promising applicants will be interviewed to evaluate their understanding of and motivation for entry into the field of School and Applied Child Psychology.

Transcripts

Applications, transcripts and all supporting documents must be submitted 11:59 pm MT on the application deadline date for each program. Please visit the FGS applicant transcript page to answer frequently asked questions on transcripts. 

For additional information on transcripts and where to send them, please visit our How to Apply page.

Additional Information

Successful applicants will need to produce the results of a Police Information Check before they will be permitted to participate in practicum or internship experiences associated with the program.

Offers of admission are valid only for the term to which applications are made. Graduate Programs in Education will not grant deferrals of admission. Students unable to take up an offer will be required to submit a new application.

The MSc in School & Applied Child Psychology requires a minimum of two years of full-time study, on-campus to complete.

Police Information Check

Please see Practicum and Internship section below.

Core Courses:
The following core courses (14 half-course equivalents or 42 credit hours) are considered to be central to the MSc program in School & Applied Child Psychology. Students must complete all of the requirements outlined below:

There are two practicum courses in the School and Applied Child Psychology program (EDPS 662 and 663). Each practicum consists of 200 hours of practicum work.

Program Plan

Year 1:

Fall term
EDPS 609 Research Design and Statistics II
EDPS 614 Professional Ethics in Educational Psychology
EDPS 653 Professional Practice of School Psychology
EDPS 665 Cognitive Assessment and Intervention

Winter term
EDPS 651 Disorders of Learning and Behaviour
EDPS 654 Neurobiological and Developmental Bases of Learning
EDPS 669 Social-Emotional Assessment and Intervention
EDPS 685 Child and Adolescent Counselling

Spring term
EDSP 659 Academic Assessment and Intervention
Thesis*

Summer term
Thesis*

Year 2:

Fall term
EDPS 618 Multivariate Analysis
EDPS 662 Practicum I in School Psychology (Clinic Based)
EDPS 683 Consultation in School Psychology
Thesis*

Winter term
EDPS 663 Psychology Practicum II (School Based)
EDPS 650 Family and Social Bases of Behaviour

Thesis*

Spring term
Thesis*

Summer term
Thesis*

*Thesis - The Masters thesis is the focus of the degree program. In consultation with the supervisor, the student should formulate an appropriate thesis topic as early as possible because the nature and type of proposed research will affect the time needed to complete the program.

GPE Thesis Rubric and the Student Guide to the Thesis Oral.

Please note: Ethics approval is required for all research projects involving the use of human subjects before data collection begins and for research using secondary data. Prior to submitting an ethics application, students are required to complete the TCPS 2 tutorial and upload the certificate of completion into their Researcher Profile in IRISS. Do NOT upload in the documentation section of a study. Register on theTCPS 2 website https://tcps2core.ca/register. When registering, be sure to use your institution email address (name @ucalgary.ca)

To initiate the ethics approval process, the student’s supervisor must submit an application to either the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board or the Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board. The application is typically completed in conjunction with the student. Applications to the CFREB or CHREB are created and submitted online using IRISS. There are no paper application forms.

Summary of Program Requirements:

• 14 half courses including 400 practicum hours
• Thesis
• Two Years full-time study
• Completion within 4 years

As a Graduate Student you are expected to devote the time, effort, and energy necessary to engage in scholarship.  As a graduate student, you will determine the specific milestones and requirements of your program of study in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar and with your graduate supervisor. 

An integral part of the masters experience is working closely with a supervisor on the development and completion of a research project.  A graduate supervisor mentors graduate students through regular meetings and research training aimed at research, scholarship, teaching and professional development. Graduate supervisors support students in the timely completion of their programs.  As a Graduate Student, you are expected to meet with your graduate supervisor on a regular basis.  While each student-supervisor relationship is unique, graduate supervisors can assist graduate students in a number of ways: advising on course selection, applying for awards and scholarships, obtaining research funds, applying for teaching assistant and sessional teaching opportunities, developing track records in refereed publications and conference presentations, getting involved in leadership and service, and encouraging and supporting apprenticeship in a research community of practice (collaborative review of papers, grants, academic writing, and data analysis). 

In the MSc program an interim supervisor is normally appointed at the time of admission.  Students are responsible for initiating discussions with potential permanent supervisors and are expected to have finalized supervisory arrangements by their second annual registration.

Practicum are completed in our Integrated Services in Education (ISE) clinic and in the field. The mission of ISE is to provide psychological and counselling services to individuals in the community. ISE was awarded the CPA Foundation (CPAF) Access to Innovative Psychological Services in 2009.  Field-based experiences are normally completed in schools.

Police Information Check

All successful applicants to the Werklund School of Education School and Applied Child Psychology program are required to provide a current clear Police Information Check which includes a Criminal Record Check and a Vulnerable Sector Search. All successful applicants will be also required to acknowledge the requirement for a Police Information Check by submitting an "Acknowledgment of PIC Requirement" declaration form prior to the start of the program. Students who are not residents of Calgary must arrange for a Police Information Check through their nearest police service or RCMP detachment in the area where they reside. In order to be considered "current", the Police Information Check must be completed no earlier than June 30 and students will be required to request a new Police Information Check every year in which they enroll in a practicum course (Educational Psychology 662, 663). The original Police Information Check must be presented to the administration in the Graduate Program Office in the Werklund School of Education before the start of Fall Term classes and to the organization hosting the student on or before the first day of the practicum.

Students who are concerned about the presence of a criminal record should contact the police department to discuss the process for eliminating or erasing such a record.

A current clear Police Information Check is required for all third-party and University of Calgary practicum placements. Failure to present a Police Information Check may result in the student being unable to complete their Practicum. Successful completion of Practicum is required for graduation.

Students are obligated to inform the Faculty immediately of any change in status of their criminal record.

Intervention Record Check

In addition, it is strongly recommended that students obtain an Intervention Record Check (IRC) in each year that they participate in a practicum. Even if your site does not specifically require this check, it is to your advantage to have an IRC done so as to prevent a potential issue should there be a last minute change in your placement site.

NOTE: IRCs are not required by the Werklund School of Education (WSE), and should not be submitted to WSE. Results should be kept in your personal records, and shown to your practicum site should they request to view them.

Teaching Facilities

Typically, our courses are scheduled in classrooms in the University’s Education Block and Tower buildings.  For clinical and laboratory work, observation, and role-play, the program has access to space in our in-house clinic, Integrated Services in Education.  ISE has nine rooms with audio-visual recording capabilities in the Education Tower. All have one-way mirrors for live observations.

Library Facilities

Students at the University of Calgary have access to resources through Libraries and Cultural Resources (LCR) (http://lcr.ucalgary.ca/), which operates eight university libraries on campus and across the city of Calgary. In addition, students have extensive access to library resources on-line and can access the holdings of other national and international libraries through inter-library loans. The Doucette Library is our closest library, located in the Education Block and has a dedicated resource librarian available for faculty and graduate students in Education. Specialized resources include an extensive collection of psychology, counselling psychology, and assessment-related books and journals as well as a video collection of counselling-related adjunctive instructional material.

Work Space for Students

Shared work space is provided, with priority given to students in the first three years of the PhD program and first two years of the MSc program. Following renovations to upgrade our building, students are now housed in dedicated and secure workspaces that have large study carrels. Given the number of graduate students in our programs, students are clustered on various floors in the Education Tower. Students are guaranteed workspace during residency years and may request space beyond that period of time. Touch-down spaces and lockers will be available for students who are past their residency years in their respective programs.

Research Space for Faculty and Students

Research space varies depending on the faculty member you are working with and area of research.  Most faculty do not have labs as such, as their research programs are field-based.  Faculty members with lab-based requirements have research space in Werklund or affiliated institutes (e.g., Owerko).  The instructional video suite in the ISE Clinic described earlier is available for faculty or graduate students (who apply and can demonstrate CFREB or CHREB ethical approval) to potentially schedule for research purposes. A separate application form is required to gain access.

Assessment Materials and Supplies including Scoring Facilities

The Werklund School of Education also operates a test library located in the ISE Clinic.  The ISE test library contains a large and varied collection of testing materials and accompanying expendable materials (test forms and rating scales) that can be used by graduate students for coursework that involves instruction in administration of assessment measures as well as for clinical practicum work. The library also has archival storage in the basement of our building for those who may need access to earlier versions of tests. Students do not have to pay to access these materials, although fees are charged for lost materials. Additionally, the ISE houses three computers that may be used by graduate students to score clinical assessment measures or work on assessment reports. The clinic also provides other relevant materials such as portable video camera recorders and stopwatches. Graduate students may also apply to access ISE resources for research purposes, although priority is given to clinical work. 

Computer Facilities

Students can access university computers through the main library, the Werklund School of Education of Education’s Doucette Library computers, or the Computer Lab located on the 3rd floor of the classroom block. All students are also given free access to the University’s server through their home computer, including email accounts and free access to data analysis and word processing packages.

Resources to Support Data Analysis

The University and Werklund School of Education provides workshops, either free of charge or at minimal cost, to faculty and graduate students, in the use of reference management programs such as Covidence, EndNote, Mendeley, and Refworks; data analysis software such as SPSS, BMDP, SAS; and common computer applications such as Microsoft Office. Our faculty and students are provided access to a computer lab on the 3rd floor of the Education Classroom Block. At this time, commonly used data programs such as SPSS, LISREL, NVIVO etc. have been installed on those computers for use by faculty and students.

Recording Equipment

The ISE instructional suite described earlier contains nine rooms equipped with closed-circuit video recording capability. Additional audio and video recording equipment is available for sign out through the ISE Clinic, or the Doucette Library housed in the Werklund School of Education of Education building. Extensive audio and video dubbing facilities are available to all students through the Com Media Department or the Learning Commons.

Facilities and Technical Support for Building Research Equipment

This is available in an “as needs require” basis, through the office of Information Technology and also through the computer support network available to all faculty. In addition, equipment pertaining to communications media (video cameras, video records, etc. are available through the Communications Media Department (COM Media) through an agreement paid for by the Werklund School of Education. Requirements beyond the above are paid for through faculty research grants.

Facilities to Enable Access for Students with Disabilities

The University is an access friendly facility for students with special needs. The University has an “Academic Accommodation Policy” for students requiring special accommodations during exams or other term assignments, operated through Student Accessibility Services (http://www.ucalgary.ca/access/). The Education Tower is equipped with wheelchair-accessible facilities, including auto-entry electronic doors, larger stalls, and motion- sensor sinks and soap dispensers in washrooms.

Availability and Nature of Financial, Academic, Counselling, and Other Support Systems

The University offers many services for its students. Some of these include:

• The Counselling Centre
• The Student Success Centre
• Academic Services
• University Health Clinic
• Computer Technical Support
• International Centre
• Teaching and Learning Centre
• Graduate Students’ Association
• Recreational activities

A complete listing of Student and Academic Services can be found at https://www.ucalgary.ca/current-students/student-services

The University offers comprehensive, holistic, and accessible programs and services to foster student wellness through the SU Wellness Centre, which includes Health Services, the Counselling Centre, and the Faith and Spirituality Centre. There are also services and clubs on campus that pertain to the needs of diverse groups. At the University of Calgary, for example, there is a Student Success Centre, an International Student Centre, a Native Centre, a Women’s Resource Centre, and a club for sexually- and gender-diverse individuals (called Q).  The University offers accommodations for students with disabilities through several specialized support services including Student Accessibility Services and the Nat Christie Adaptive Technology Centre.