PSY4420 – Selection and development
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
Human Resources (HR) is one of the main fields of employment in work and organizational Psychology. Especially in personnel selection and development, the competencies of work and organizational psychologists are sought after. However, more generally, work and organizational psychologists are relevant at all stages of the employee lifecycle, from attracting the right individuals over hiring and developing these up to retaining or aiding their exit process.
This course, therefore, focuses on the complete employee lifecycle, with a particular emphasis on personnel selection and development.
A brief description of the contents of the course:
1. Attracting the right individuals and how to find a match
2. Selecting the right individuals
- The competency model framework
- Overview of selection methods with an emphasis on assessment centers
- Good and poor interview questions and the multi-modal interview
- Validity of selection methods
- Biases in personnel selection
3. How to develop the right individuals
- The need for personnel development
- Types of personnel development
- Career planning
- The development of learning approaches and what good training entails
- Evaluation
4. Besides these core topics, exemplary recent developments and current issues in HR are taught in this course. These can include:
- Hybrid work and work-life policies
- Knowledge sharing
- Artificial Intelligence in HR
Learning outcome
Knowledge and comprehension in the following fields:
- Competence models and their application
- Methods of recruitment and selection
- Advantages and disadvantages of methods of recruitment and selection
- Methods of HR development
- Advantages and disadvantages of HR development methods
- Recent developments in HR
Analysis in the following fields:
- Practices of selection
- Practices of HR development
- Practices of recent developments in HR
Knowledge utilization in the fields of:
- Planning a (bias-free) selection process based on scientific knowledge
- Planning and carrying our part of a training
- Planning an approach for the future of work
Metacognition in:
- The role of work and organizational psychology in the employee lifecycle
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Teaching
Teaching methods:
This course uses mostly a flipped classroom format, so that the teacher and the students co-create the course. Besides short theoretical impulses, we use a problem-based learning approach. Thereby, we will do several exercises, including role-plays or group discussions. The students will prepare for this course by reading the literature as announced on our Canvas platform and by completing the respective tasks.
Participation in seminars is compulsory (min. 50%).
Compulsory tuition activities are valid for the 2 next semesters after approval date.
Absence from compulsory tuition activities
If you are ill or have another valid reason for being absent from compulsory tuition activities, your absence may be approved or the compulsory activity may be postponed.
Access to teaching
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
Home examination.
The students will have to work on two assignments:
- One individual assignment
- One group assignment.
Students have to pass both assignments.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
The department may use the acknowledged plagiarism filter for all written assignments when in doubt there may be a case of plagiarism in the submitted work.
Resit an examination
If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.
See also our information about resitting an exam.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.