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ItalianoGraduation
From a didactic standpoint, the final test's preparation and execution implies student's acquisition of a number of competences developed and practiced during the three years, by attending the classes and participating to the highly specialised training specifically dedicated to the execution of the final test.
Through this training, the student will be followed by the teacher he/she will have chosen as his/her supervisor at the beginning of the first year and will have the possibility to participate to highly specialised activities, such as administration of questionnaires, data collection and analysis, etc.
Another goal of this training is to help the student to acquire a number of basic competences related to the ability of consulting bibliographical sources available on the Internet, being able to critically interpret scientific articles in another language in addition to Italian, being able to put into writing the topic chosen with the supervisor and subject of the final test thesis, and finally being able to orally express the contents of his/her work.
Obviously the final test is also the verification about student's acquisition and mastery of the above-mentioned competences.
That's why the final exam is an oral presentation of the student's work in front of a panel of Course's teachers.
The training conducting to the final test is organised as a compulsory path along the three years and that gives the student the possibility to attend and practice highly specialised activities, where he/she is individually followed and monitored by the reference teacher.
At the beginning of the first year, each student has to choose a teacher among those belonging to his/her Course.
Each student chooses freely on the basis of the information on the Course's website about the interests and the scientific-disciplinary profile of each teacher.
In order to guarantee a proper supervision of each student, each teacher can follow a limited number of students.
So the students can choose also according to the places available of each teacher; in this way, the number of students is more or less equal among all teachers.
Each group will carry out a training with a common goal, consisting in the development of the following competences:
- the ability to make a bibliographical research online by using software as Psyc-Info, Psycho-lit, Pro-Quest, etc.;
- the ability to read and interpret scientific articles in another language in addition to Italian (with a special reference to English);
- the ability to put into writing a report on the contents of scientific articles;
- the ability to orally express the contents of scientific articles by using software as PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, etc.
In addition to this common nucleus, that gives the student the possibility to master competences required in the job opportunities at the end of the three years, students can participate to activities that regard the specific area of interest of their teachers/supervisors and that are in all respects highly specialised activities (limited to the nature of the three-year courses, obviously).
For this purpose, students can be involved in activities, such as:
- participation to small empirical projects
- data collection and analysis by means of techniques of statistical analysis learned during the training
- questionnaire administration
- administration of structured and semi-structured surveys
- observation of clinical assessments by expert professionals
- interpretation and scoring of protocols of clinical investigation
At the end of this training, students, along with their teachers/supervisors, will choose the topic that will be the theme of their final test.
Even if the students will choose their reference teachers at the beginning of the Course, it can be possible to take into consideration a change in their supervisors in view of the final test.
In this case too, this possibility will depend on the availability of places in the various groups of students.
The topic of the final test can be a literary review or an empirical topic.
In the first case, the student will collect a limited number of articles on the chosen topic and will discuss them critically in the form of a written report.
In the second case, the student will participate to a research, reporting in a written form hypotheses and conclusions, including, too, a limited number of scientific articles connected to the theme/goal of the research.
The final exam consists of an oral presentation of the themes developed in one's written composition.
Such a presentation will be discussed in front of a Panel appointed by the Dean and made up of at least seven teachers of the Programme; one of them is appointed as a chairman (usually this role is played by the full professor or the associate professor who for the longest time has had the role).
The score can range between 0 and 6 points, is proposed by the supervisor/teacher, and approved by the Panel.
There will be not any co-examiner, discussant, or co-supervisor: the Panel's Chairman and/or other Panel's member can play this role.
At the end of the discussion, the Panel will communicate the final mark to the candidate, without issuing his/her proclamation.
Proclamations are issued with an open ceremony immediately after the end of all degree exams, or in the following days, by the Programme Coordinator.
During this ceremony, the students who have passed the final test are proclaimed "doctors" and are given the degrees.
The final test for the students “in corso” usually takes place in three sessions: summer (July), autumn (September), and spring (March).
All the preparation leading to the final test consists of 3 ECTS, that are 75 work hours.
The following are the titles of some final tests of the latest years:
Psychophysical Disorders and Stressors in the Workplace - An Empirical Contribute
Mentoring Role in the Process of Organisational Socialisation of New Employees
Destructive Leadership - A Theoretical Review
Handling Errors within Organisations - Organisational Culture and Leaders' Role
Role of Ephrins and Other Factors of Cell Adhesion in Neuronal and Hippocampal Plasticity
Genetic and Personality Features in a sample of Transsexual Persons
Sleep Alterations in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Sleep EEG as an Early Marker of Alzheimer's Disease
Conflict in Separation
Development of Self-Control in Preschool Children
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Effect of Mass Media and Videogames on Child Development
Psychological Lexicon in the Second Year of Life
An Empirical Research on a Single Case
Neurobiological Aspects of Schizophrenic Auditory Hallucinations within Vygotsky's Theory