Putting psychology skills to practice – under pressure!
Students from six universities, including Concordia’s Department of Psychology, will get to put their research skills to a time-crunching test on April 1.
The Psychology Case Competition, organized annually by Concordia’s Undergraduate Psychology Association (CUPA), is a bilingual competition where psychology undergraduate students are given 45 minutes to develop a research design in response to a question.
The goal is two-fold: to allow undergraduate psychology students to exhibit their knowledge and passion for psychology, and give them a chance to network with students in the same program from other participating universities.
“Students will get to polish and showcase their skills,” says Léa Homer, CUPA’s VP of Academic Affairs. “Undergrad psychology programs test your theoretical knowledge a lot, but not as often your practical skills.”
Each university establishes a team of four for each of the following categories: neuroscience, developmental, and clinical. Teams receive three research articles related to their category in advance, but the research question is only revealed on competition day, which will take place on the ninth floor of the MB building. After presenting their work to a panel of psychology professors, winners are crowned for each category.
“All universities are given carte blanche regarding the recruitment and selection of their participants,” Homer says. “At Concordia, we particularly pay attention to how well the students grasp teamwork and their skills in research methods.”
When CUPA first launched the event roughly four years ago, Concordia students competed against each other. This year, the student association is proud to welcome participants from more universities than ever before — McGill University, Université de Montreal, L'Université du Québec à Montréal, Université de Laval and even Queen’s University.
The evening before the competition, a 5 à 7 will be held at McGill where participating students can network amongst each other.
“I hope students challenge themselves to meet students from other universities, as well as push themselves to compete at their best,” Homer says. “Above all, I hope they have as much fun as I did last year.”
Call to Action:
Find out more about the Psychology Case Competition.
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Concordia’s Undergraduate Psychology Association