Understanding the concepts of food habits, environment, production and systems that influence our food selection, waste, and nutritional intake and health, is fundamental to many health professions. This assessment task includes two online quizzes to assess your understanding of the learning materials from week one (1) to week ten (10).

ONLINE QUIZ #1:

• Contributes 8% to your unit mark.
• Includes 24 questions and assesses learning from weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6.
• Has a time limit of 48 minutes.
• You will only have one (1) attempt at this quiz.

ONLINE QUIZ #2:

• Contributes 12% to your unit mark.
• Includes 36 questions, and assesses learning from weeks 7, 8, 9 & 10.
• Has a time limit of 72 minutes.
• You will only have one (1) attempt at this quiz.

In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the task after the close dates.

Additional information regarding these online quizzes will be provided on the unit Moodle page.

Marks will be allocated for each correct response. There will be no loss of marks for incorrect responses.

As consumers and providers of healthcare and/or health services (in whichever field/discipline or context) we are often asked to provide advice and/or share our opinions. In our current societies, we are regularly bombarded with food and nutrition-related information from a range of sources, and this information may or may not be based on scientific evidence. In this assessment, you will have the opportunity to debate topics with others appropriately and explore the scientific literature to support or dispute your arguments and increase your knowledge of food, nutrition and health.

Group Allocation:

After Census Date in Week 4, you will be randomly allocated to a group (6-8 students per group). Each group will be provided with an online group space on the unit Moodle page. Each group space will include a discussion forum in which you should contribute your discussions. You are required to complete group discussions by Friday of Week 7 at 5.00 pm AEST. You will not be allowed to contribute any new discussions to your group forum after this date.

Individual Contribution to Group Discussions:

For this task, you are required to actively contribute to learning within your allocated group, by posting answers and written discussions of your experiences and knowledge of key topics (as outlined below):

• Food trends (organic, plant-based, sustainable, etc) and their impact on supply, waste and nutritional intake,
• Food insecurity – what is it? and how does it influence nutrition-related diseases?, and
• Factors influencing food supply at global and national levels and how supply influences our food choices and risk of nutrition-related diseases.

You are expected to contribute at least:

• Three (3) initial forum contributions, one (1) on EACH OF THE THREE DISCUSSION TOPICS listed above (250 - 350 words each excluding references)
• Two (2) follow-up contributions (no word limits) to any of the discussion topics listed above (Please see additional details in the unit Assessment Guide).

Open discussion is important. However, it is expected that you will ALWAYS weigh up the evidence (from reputable sources only) and respect the right of every student to have an opinion, even if it differs from your own. Please respect your fellow peers, always maintain a polite, respectful dialogue, and communicate professionally at all times. Please refer to Working in a Group in the unit Assessment Guide for more information on working effectively in group discussions.

Individual Report:

Each student must complete and submit an INDIVIDUAL report of the discussions had by your group by the end of week 8. The report will be approximately 1100-1600 words (and may be longer depending on the length and frequency of your contributions to the group discussions). Your report should include:

• A copy of your three (3) initial posts (250 - 350 words each) to the group discussion;
• A brief summary (250 - 350 words) of the follow-up discussions you contributed to the group discussion in addition to at least one (1) reliable/scientific source of evidence (not included in the word count) you used to support your contribution; and
• A statement about your group's overall agreement and disagreement (100 - 200 words) regarding the topics
• You are required to complete the report template provided on the unit Moodle page.

Your report will be assessed using a detailed marking rubric available on the Moodle page. The marking criteria include:

• Relevance and accuracy of initial contributions
• Clarity of the summary of follow-up contributions and the statement about the group's overall agreement and disagreement
• Writing fluency, referencing, structure, grammar and submission requirements

Students are permitted to use Generative AI for this assessment in the following ways:

• developing literature search strategies
• compiling suitable literature sources and locating data
• guidance for structuring the assignment

If Generative AI is used in any way, it must be cited as per the CQU Guidelines (Academic Learning Centre). If students choose to use generative AI, the following statement must be completed and included on the front page of the uploaded assessment: "I have used (insert technology) to (insert how you used this) in accordance with the requirements of this unit. The reason I used this was to (explain why you used it). The details of how I used it as (insert how). I hereby declare that the submission is an appropriate representation of my individual skills and abilities to meet the requirements of the task/s."

As per academic writing requirements and assessment criteria; citations of information should be of the primary source (i.e. statistics returned by AI must be fact-checked and referenced from their original source as well as the AI source).

Failure to cite primary sources as well as AI sources could be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Your use of Generative AI must be clearly outlined in an appendix as a separate file which includes the prompt used and Generative AI response (in line with marking rubric). Failure to include an appendix may result in academic integrity investigation.

You are required to conduct research on one (1) of the three (3) topics discussed in your group:

1. Food trends (organic, plant-based, sustainable, etc) and their impact on supply, waste and nutritional intake, OR
2. Food insecurity – what is it? and how does it influence nutrition-related diseases?, OR
3. Factors influencing food supply at global and national levels and how supply influences our food choices and risk of nutrition-related diseases.

You are then required to develop an essay (2000 +/-10% words) that includes:

• An introduction to the topic which you have researched;
• A body section that discusses current understanding, practices, evidence and/or statistics related to these issues/topics in Australia (and at the global level where applicable);
• A conclusion that summarises your research and findings; and
• A reference list of at least five (5) reliable/scientific sources used in the essay.

You are required to complete the essay template provided on the unit Moodle page.

Your essay will be assessed using a detailed marking rubric available on the Moodle page. The marking criteria include:

• Clarity and accuracy of the introduction, background, aim and direction of the essay
• Accuracy, relevance and flow of information and evidence discussed 
• Clarity and relevance of conclusion and implication statement
• Referencing, structure, grammar and submission requirements

Students are permitted to use Generative AI for this assessment in the following ways:

• developing literature search strategies
• compiling suitable literature sources and locating data
• guidance for structuring the assignment

If Generative AI is used in any way, it must be cited as per the CQU Guidelines (Academic Learning Centre). If students choose to use generative AI, the following statement must be completed and included on the front page of the uploaded assessment: "I have used (insert technology) to (insert how you used this) in accordance with the requirements of this unit. The reason I used this was to (explain why you used it). The details of how I used it as (insert how). I hereby declare that the submission is an appropriate representation of my individual skills and abilities to meet the requirements of the task/s."

As per academic writing requirements and assessment criteria; citations of information should be of the primary source (i.e. statistics returned by AI must be fact-checked and referenced from their original source as well as the AI source).

Failure to cite primary sources as well as AI sources could be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Your use of Generative AI must be clearly outlined in an appendix as a separate file which includes the prompt used and Generative AI response (in line with marking rubric). Failure to include an appendix may result in academic integrity investigation.