Welcome to your Sport and Exercise Psychology course

Our MSc runs both full-time and part-time. Those of you on the part-time (2 years) version will study one module at a time, and those of you on the full-time (1 year) version will study two modules at a time. The courses are fully online and there is no formal timetable for you to attend at particular times. 99% of the content is asynchronous meaning that we put content up for you to access on a weekly basis and you access and complete it at a time that is convenient for you. We have a small number of live webinars, which vary from module to module. As we have students from across the globe there is never a perfect time to do these, so we record them to ensure everyone has access to all of the content irrespective of your other commitments. Indeed, one of the early tasks you may wish to create is your own timetable: What times during the week are you going to be studying? When do you work best?

Five 20 credit modules, alongside a further two 40 credit modules make up the MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology awards. The material covered will provide you with a critical understanding of current issues relating to the theory and practice of both sport and exercise psychology. Some of the topics relate predominantly to exercise settings (e.g., physical activity and mental health), while other relate predominantly to sport settings (e.g., skilled performance under pressure) however most of the topics covered relate equally to both sport and exercise settings and include an exploration of the role of social processes in sport and exercise settings, the practice of sport and exercise psychology, and research methods and data analysis.

Throughout the award a conscious decision has been made to have a strong link between theory and practice with many assignments requiring students to apply current theoretical and research knowledge to hypothetical ‘real life’ scenarios. Throughout the course every effort has also been made to draw upon the wealth of research and applied experience which the staff team have.

Sport and Exercise Online Orientation Course:

Before the beginning of term (w/c 30^th September) you will need to complete the ‘Sport and Exercise Online Orientation Course’.

The online course will take approximately 6 hours to fully complete and consists of a series of information to read and tasks for you to undertake via our Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard Ultra). Please feel free to work through the course in your own time, splitting it into easy to manage chunks- much like your main programme of study. This orientation course covers all aspects of online learning that you will experience and focuses on gaining an understanding of the key area of support that are present to you as an online student. The information and tasks within the course are based around key aspects of your postgraduate course and experience. For example, you will be introduced to Blackboard Ultra and online content, library and learning support, the Sport and Exercise department, and key personnel who will help during your master’s online experience.

One particularly important task which forms part of the orientation course is we want you to download and install SPSS (which is free to access via the university software centre). This is to ensure that you have this software installed and working by the time you get to the ‘Advanced Research Methods and Data Analysis’ module in November. We want to make sure that we have resolved any IT issues before the module starts in order to prevent any delays in completing the weekly tasks.

So, watch out for an email invitation in your university Outlook inbox, where you will find the information that you need to access the online orientation course.

We hope that you find it enjoyable and informative!

Ensure that you have the most current versions of the software listed below:

• Microsoft Teams
• SPSS
• Microsoft Outlook

Software link: https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/software/SitePages/Home.aspx

Welcome Week Website:

Even though you are a distance learning student, and there is not any obligation for you to come onto our Leek Road campus, you are still part of the Staffordshire University family. Therefore, you may wish to visit our ‘welcome website’ which will provide you the link to your new student life. It's all about how you find your place at university, including everything from how to meet friends, feel confident in doing your academic work, being a member of your Student Union and getting involved in Union Societies, Academic Societies, Sports, Volunteering or representing your peers in your School. Part of this Welcome Week - we have an exciting program of University and course level activities planned for you for your first week in September. We are also building an extended program for you to join a series of events throughout the first half of the autumn term. Further details will be shared with you via the Welcome website and Students' Union pages over the coming weeks.

Check your email:

Please make sure you check your student email account regularly over the next few weeks. We will be sending you lots of information about the course and upcoming activities. We do not send communications to your personal email accounts.

Social media:

Twitter: @SEPsychStaffs

Academic Skills:

Whether you're joining us from school or college, or you're returning to education after some time away, everyone can benefit from the Academic Study Skills resources provided by the University library.

The Academic Skills team is here to support you throughout your academic journey and to help you gain the skills you need to reach your full potential. They can assist with academic reading and writing skills, give advice on how best to plan assignments, and help improve your time management.

The library's Academic Skills Guides offer the key information to make studying easier and give a comprehensive guide to the learning resources and services we offer

• Mental Wellbeing - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/study/disabled/mental_wellbeing/
• Student Support - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/students
• Financial Support - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/students/money-matters/student-support-fund
• Study Support from the Library - https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/c.php?g=654666&p=4599175 and http://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/libraryresources