Student Views

"The 1st year psychology course allows a gradual introduction to the subject for those who haven't previously studied psychology, and deepens throughout the second semester. It's very interesting and the help available is great, I'd encourage anyone to try this course!"

Kerrin Gilbert, 1st Year student, Single Honours Psychology

"My choice to study Psychology at Stirling is perhaps the best decision I have made about my future."

Paula Forbes, 1st Year student, Single Honours Psychology

"The Psychology department at Stirling was a great place to study, the teaching was excellent and the social life that comes with it was second to none!"

Pamela Duncan, Final Year Student, Single Honours Psychology

"I came to Stirling to study psychology in 2000, and just graduated this summer. In some ways it seems like such a long time since I was sitting in the first year labs, trying to get to grips with writing lab reports. I'm much better at them now. Then again, these past four years have flown past at lightning speed.

The first year psychology classes at Stirling give an incredibly broad introduction to the subject. All the major topics are covered in class. Lecturers come in to talk about their own areas of interest, and the course textbook explains what you didn't quite catch. Now a First Year Departmental Tutor co-ordinates both first year units, and is dedicated to offering support and guidance to first years. First year gives students the chance to work out whether the scientific study of psychology is for them or not. Some people have misconceptions about what will be covered in a psychology course, and quickly learn that it is not all Freud, psychotherapy and Big Brother housemate analysis. If the introductory statistics lectures don't put you off, then there is a good chance that you might want to study psychology again in second year.

From second year onwards, the courses on offer share a broadly similar format: lectures, tutorials, writing an essay or a report (sometimes both!) before ill-advised, eleventh-hour study stints to prepare for the exam. If you get through second year with half decent marks, and if you remember to participate in experiments for fourth year dissertation students, then you will arrive in third year on an Honours program. After that it is hard work, but fortunately it is all plain sailing. You will have learned what is expected of you and how to achieve it. You also get to learn all about psychology and its many weird and wonderful theories.

The semester system is good for someone like me who gets bored easily. Classes only last for ten weeks, and then comes study leave, and then the exam. It means that even if you don't care for a particular topic then you won't have to suffer it for too long. During first and second year, you need to participate in around eight experiments run by fourth year or postgraduate students. For me, psychology is an experimental science, which is all about running experiments and arguing about what the results mean. Taking part in an experiment and then discovering what the researcher is trying to discover intrigues me. But then, I always was a bit geeky!"

- Graham McKenzie, Final Year Student, Single Honours Psychology