Oscail BA Humanities - DCU

krisbecs

Hi

After spending 13+ years in hospitality sector & due to recession have retrained in childcare with an income of 50% less than 2009!
But I want to gain a Psychology degree but want to keep as many options open as possible so wondering about the BA in Humanities through Oscail @DCU couple of questions though:

1. Has anyone done this BA & if so how was it?

2. Are you left to your own devices or is there good support?

3. If I do 6 Psyc modules & 3 history & 3 Literature would it qualify for Teaching council?

4. Do I have to do all 6 psych modules to fully qualify in psychology?

5. Say i pick 4 modules each year eg. 1 x lit, 1 x Hist & 2 x psych would they run all 4 at once or is it something like 2 in sept to xmas & then 2 from jan - may?

I would appreciate any input as this is such a major decision I need to get it right literally can not afford to make a mistake!:)

Freiheit

I did 2 Psychology modules and it was ok. When you say 'qualify' it really depends on what you want to do when it's over. Why do you want this B.A.?. If you want do Counselling you'l have to do further study. I dont think you can do 3 modules in 2 different subjects,it's 6 and 6,a module lasts the whole year. Its very hard though to study from home,the best of on-line support won't be that good,theres so much more on a non-virtual campus. Their psychology degree isnt recognised by the Irish Psychological society either.

krisbecs

Freiheit wrote: »

I did 2 Psychology modules and it was ok. When you say 'qualify' it really depends on what you want to do when it's over. Why do you want this B.A.?. If you want do Counselling you'l have to do further study. I dont think you can do 3 modules in 2 different subjects,it's 6 and 6,a module lasts the whole year. Its very hard though to study from home,the best of on-line support won't be that good,theres so much more on a non-virtual campus. Their psychology degree isnt recognised by the Irish Psychological society either.

I retrained already as a preschool teacher and currently work as an SNA in a special school with kids with both intellectual and physical disabilities.
I want to become an Educational Psychologist but am a single parent and have to work can't afford to go to college full time and the selection of part time degrees is awful!!
I was looking at this degree as it seemed to offer oppertunity for psychology and a teaching subject which in turn would allow for doing a PGDE and registration with the teaching council. I am aware it's not recognised by the PSI but seems to be recognised by Uk not sure if that counts. I know I will have to do further study which I am willing to do.
Do you think this course would be worth it or a waste of time?

Teaandcoffee

I have also been looking at this degree but am unsure. The costs associated with it seem quite high.

Is the English and History degree recognised overseas or for that matter Ireland?

BuffyBot

Recognised the same as any other degree from DCU

krisbecs

Teaandcoffee wrote: »

I have also been looking at this degree but am unsure. The costs associated with it seem quite high.

Is the English and History degree recognised overseas or for that matter Ireland?

The Eng & Hist degree seems to be recognised here. The subject(s) you wish to teach must be a minimum of 30% of your overall degree and then you can do the postgrad and register with the teaching council of Ireland.
Not sure about it being recognised overseas I only know about the psych because it said on the dcu website. But I would say if you went overseas you would probably have to do a post grad in education in that country too.

I agree it is very expensive but I have looked at open university courses too and they are much more expensive upwards of €5k per year.
I must admit I am very disappointed in the selection of part time/ evening/distance degrees on offer here considering the vast majority of the population are wanting to up skill the colleges are missing a huge market.

Teaandcoffee

Totally agree. The selection of courses are dreadful.

As soon as I upskill I am moving abroad so I have to be very careful what I spend.

I looked on the Open University website and whilst expensive there is an option to pay by monthly direct debit but it's still very expensive.

Agent J

OU beats Oscail in organisation hands down. Generally speaking you are on your own. Ah that's not really fair there is support but you need to be proactive about it. Personally i work much better alone so it wasn't relevant to me.

Just to be warned the Pysch modules don't count for anything along the pychologcal field. So if you have any consideration about doing anything pychology related you should look elsewhere. Iie OU.

The modules run from Sept to May.

So 4 modules would run all year from Sept to May. I've done 4 modules in oscail(on the IT side) before. If you are working full time & you have no family commitments & are willing to give up anything resembling a social life... even then i wouldnt recommend it.

FYI, OU is getting more expensive from September.

Freiheit

I suppose that could work Krisbecs,you'd need to ask further questions in different places but it might. Would you like to do the H.Dip in Ed. eventually?.

It struck me alright how at a non virtual university modules are semesterised ie a module doesn't last the year. I'd imagine it would be very hard doing 4 modules on your own over the year,the Moodle on line support while better than nothing can't compare with a conventional academic environment,where you can ask questions not just in class,but also bounce ideas off other students in the canteen etc.

I rate Oscail as ok,no more,I wanted to get some experience of Psychology because I want to be a Counsellor and I figured that some modules would further my cause by interview,they have.

Check out how other universities rank it in terms of further study might be a good step.

ABruce

krisbecs wrote: »

Hi

After spending 13+ years in hospitality sector & due to recession have retrained in childcare with an income of 50% less than 2009!
But I want to gain a Psychology degree but want to keep as many options open as possible so wondering about the BA in Humanities through Oscail @DCU couple of questions though:

1. Has anyone done this BA & if so how was it?

2. Are you left to your own devices or is there good support?

3. If I do 6 Psyc modules & 3 history & 3 Literature would it qualify for Teaching council?

4. Do I have to do all 6 psych modules to fully qualify in psychology?

5. Say i pick 4 modules each year eg. 1 x lit, 1 x Hist & 2 x psych would they run all 4 at once or is it something like 2 in sept to xmas & then 2 from jan - may?

I would appreciate any input as this is such a major decision I need to get it right literally can not afford to make a mistake!:)

Hi,

I have done the BA in Humanities from Oscail. Completed in 2009. I done 5 psych modules, 5 History 2 Sociology. It was ok, sometimes I felt like i needed more support but i survived it with working full time also. I am currently talking to the Teaching Council who have told me that they will only recognise me to teach History at a post primary level. Cause psychology is not a leaving cert subject. I done 3 modules per year for four years. Some of the teachers are fantastic and give you great support and some not so much. I really enjoyed the psychology modules, however if i would have known now that the teaching council dont recognise it I may have done different subject.
Hope this helps.

ABruce

Teaandcoffee wrote: »

I have also been looking at this degree but am unsure. The costs associated with it seem quite high.

Is the English and History degree recognised overseas or for that matter Ireland?

History is definately recognised, just confirmed with the teaching council. I done 5 modules of History and they are willing to recognise that. However I also done 5 modules of psychology and they will not recognise that.

krisbecs

ABruce wrote: »

History is definately recognised, just confirmed with the teaching council. I done 5 modules of History and they are willing to recognise that. However I also done 5 modules of psychology and they will not recognise that.

In the long run my aim is to become an educational psychologist so need a primary psych degree plus education. That's why I thought the BA in Humanities majoring in psychology but have discovered the PSI do not recognise this the only part time psychology they do recognise is in DBS and is too expensive and logistically impossible for me to attend. The Open University is also way out of my price range
I think I will just have to go the History & English route and forget psychology although i know in my heart it's psychology I want.
Will the teaching council recognise your sociology modules along with the history or only history?

easterbride

As far as I know you also need a PGDE (H.Dip) in Education for the Teaching Council to recognise your qualification.