Donald's Maze!
A web site for final year and MSc students and anyone from anywhere who is interested.
This web site is run by Donald Ridley principal lecturer in organisational psychology at the University of East London. Sorry about the picture! Here's a better one LOL!
Welcome! This is the antidote to those awful, over controlled, so called virtual learning environments such as UEL Plus and Blackboard. These environments are about controlling access and narrowing down the conceptual nature of learning to (a) Downloadable lectures (b) Course deadlines (c) discussions about coursework deadlines. They have very narrow, convergent quality criteria. You should pray to any higher power of your choice that whoever is responsible for designing the person system interface of VLEs is never let near a safety critical system (eg an aeroplane!). We will be in deep trouble if they are. I shall be cycling everywhere: From a professional view point the interface is appalling and is clearly led by a large sprawling, incoherent needs analysis. Sorry to moan VLEs do have good points as well.
This maze has no pretensions of any kind. Its a semi-structured, rambling resource for you to browse. The act of seeking and browsing and thinking and evaluating is the key to using this resource. It contains all sorts of stuff for you to dig out. It has many web links. These die from time to time and I do weed on a regular basis. Sorry for the ones that don't work. If you need to tell me or whinge at me about them email me at d.ridley@uel.ac.uk.
Sirry aboot any tie-poes (sic). I do check. I am a bad proof reader.
This rather large front page contains:
These are suggestions of various kind with links to Amazon
Lectures that cover many topics. These are written both by myself and one or two colleagues. Browse the links for the topics that you are interested. Many of my lectures have notes attached in the 'Power Point' notes view. You can only see these if you download the files and open them in Power Point. If you open them in a browser, you will NOT see the notes and you life will be less rich than otherwise might be the case!!
Handouts for specific courses. No paper handouts. There are some downloadable guest lectures here.
General learning stuff!
E. Website containing helpful advice about doing your dissertation
My very small wisdom concerning dissertation completion, based on, (shudder), supervising more than 500 disserations.
F. Self generated course text (i.e. shared course work)
Some MSc papers on Organisational culture, communication, error and so on. A VERY useful resource
But none of them is a 'course text'. Sorry, but that's not how university study works.
1. Work and Organisational Psychology – An Introduction With Attitude. C.R.Doyle. A diffeent type of book by our sadly deceased forme colleague Chritine
2. A Guide to Task Analysis, edited by Barry Kirwan and Les Ainsworth that tells you all you need to know and far far more than you need to know. An excellent book that will serve you well for years. I was aprt of the team that wrote it and don't get royalties.
3. Psychology at Work by Peter Warr.
4. Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology: A European Perspective by Nik Chmiel
5. Human Error by James Reason. Good basics. Not a perfect tome
6. Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: An Integrated Approach Derek Rollinson and others, there are two editions, both are fine Heaps of stuff about organisations. A UK authored book.
7. 'Understanding Occupational and Organisational Psychology by Lynne Millward, Sage, ISBN 0 7619 4134 7: A worthy book . Covers the entire course in the sense that it give a lot of background. Quite academic as opposed to practical.
8. Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman. The description of the Challenger shuttle inquiry is the best and most readable account of the relationship between organisations and is good for half the taught part of the course if not more.
9. 'The Prince' by Machiavelli is arguably the first book on Organisational Development.
10.
War Diaries, 1939-1945: Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke (Paperback)
Only if you have a strong interest in modern history, read how
Alan Brooke organised the UK War effort despite Churchill. Its a love story as
well but it shows how good managers do it way before we were inundated by
Business Schools, guru-istic text books etc.
Error and Risk in Complex systems
Organisational Structure and Development
Psychosocial Health in the work place
Personality and work behaviour
Selection and Assessment (Donna)
Comparative organisational issues between commercial, public and charitable organisations.
Shift Work (but see Carla's lectures below!)
Student generated resources on Shift Work
Shift Work 2008 student generated resources
Careers talk in Occupational Psychology by Mark
Mark Holloway's lectures for PYM3013
MSc Organisational and Occupational Psychology (ergonomics)
MSc Organisational and Occupational Psychology (Organisational Behaviour and Organisational Development)
Some shared notes on Leadership by Samreen Aslam
Shift work - The prequel, from Carla Oct 05
BSc Occupational Psychology PY3103
Case studies Make sure to read at least one of them
Your own experience in organisations is very important in making sense of this course
Examination preparation and execution are things that you should be thinking about now.
Teaching and Learning Outcomes (generally speaking)
WWW links - a sample of what is available.
PY303 2003 exam paper
PY303 2003 exam feedback
Many, many past MSc papers here
See some thoughts and reminders following comments from a student here.
Reading week (if we have them)
E. Website containing helpful advice about doing your dissertation
