Overview
This unit will develop student understanding of public health nutrition, which encompasses the biological, social and environmental dimensions of health in promoting and maintaining the nutritional health of populations. Nutritional issues facing population groups in Australia and the role of public health practitioners in promoting health and preventing disease will be considered. Frameworks, policies and legislation relating to nutrition and health promotion practice will be explored along with practical aspects of public health nutrition practice.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: BMED19006 or NUTR12002
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2019
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Formal student feedback
The group activity promoted collaboration and teamwork
Group work activity will be maintained in the unit to promote development of skills and understanding of teamwork in public health nutrition.
Feedback from Formal student feedback
Broader consideration of a range of public health nutrition issues could enhance skill development in relation to public health nutrition.
Learning content for this unit will be reviewed for 2019.
Feedback from Unit coordinator
The online group activity was difficult to coordinate for the number of students enrolled.
Modifications to the design and delivery of online group assessment activities will be considered based on student enrolments.
Feedback from Unit coordinator Student feedback Nutrition Society of Australia competencies
Nutrition-practice based learning and tasks are needed with consideration for national and international contexts
Changes will be made to learning and assessment activities to address changes in competencies released by the Nutrition Society of Australia
- Examine ecological issues of food supply and food policy.
- Interpret government policy on nutrition guidelines, food standards and food regulation legislation.
- Describe food consumption trends and nutrition related problems of at-risk Australian groups and communities.
- Demonstrate understanding of public health nutrition concepts and how they relate to the health of our populations and communities.
- Undertake research which illustrates systematic analysis of a current issue in public health nutrition.
- Demonstrate skills in data collection, analysis and reporting of public health nutrition data.
- Demonstrate skills in group education for public health nutrition promotion.
Per NPC1118
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 70% | |||||||
| 2 - Group Work - 30% | |||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 70% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Group Work - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Camera and microphone for attending Zoom tutorials
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.p.williams@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction and Orientation to Public Health Nutrition
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Introduction and Orientation to Public Health Nutrition
Module/Topic
1. Principles & Policy in Public Health Nutrition
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Group work and assessment activities
Module/Topic
2. Communities & Settings
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Communities, settings and at-risk groups
Module/Topic
3. Community Needs Assessment
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Healthy Food Access (HFAB) Surveys: Data collection, data entry and data files
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
HFAB data entry due
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
4. Research Methods & Skills
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Data analysis, tables and graphs
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Report writing
Module/Topic
Oral Presentations & Reporting
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial: Oral presentations
Module/Topic
5. Reflective Practice & Communication
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online oral presentations will be scheduled this week
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Your Unit Coordinator and Lecturer this term is: Dr. Susan Williams (Senior Lecturer in Nutrition), Room LG1.13/Building 7, CQUniversity Bruce Highway, North Rockhampton. You may contact me via the forum Moodle site OR via telephone: 07 49 232213.
Learning design - What is different about this unit?
This unit is a core unit in the Bachelor of Medical Science (Nutrition) course.
This unit is based on the concept of experiential learning (learning through reflection and 'doing') where you are expected to play an active role in your learning. Your assessment tasks provide the framework for your learning but it is expected that you will explore learning topics beyond the basic concepts provided and develop appreciation for how your learning can be applied to different contexts. By way of professional development and shared learning, it is also expected that you will share your learning and exploration with the group.
The unit learning content has been divided into four (4) key modules and key concepts are introduced in recorded lectures. Your learning will be supported by regular tutorials and group meetings held throughout the term.
Group Work
Throughout this unit you should assume the role of a member of a community health organisation which employs public health nutritionists and who as a group, are responsible for achieving a set of activities (i.e. your assessment tasks). As with most good workplaces, staff are expected to communicate regularly (and in a professional manner) and work together to develop understanding of topics/issues, problem solve, share stories/experiences etc. Staff members are also expected to attend regular meetings and contribute to achieving the group goals. To this end, you are encouraged to use our Moodle site (and its resources) regularly and frequently and if you are ‘off sick’ or ‘out of the office’ for more than a couple of days, please let us all know.
Please appreciate that this unit involves some group work and completion of some activities are somewhat dependent on others in the group (in particular completion of data collection and submission of data to group Excel dataset). It is therefore important that we communicate with each other frequently and if you feel you are unable to make a deadline – please let the Unit Coordinator know as soon as possible.
To help in developing our group, I would like you to say hello and get to know each other early in the term. Please post a brief introduction to our General Discussion Forum on our Moodle site) to tell us who you are, where you live, what you are interested in (professionally and personally), where you are at with your program of study and some of the family/work or other commitments you have outside of study for this unit. I would like you to complete this introduction before the end of week 1.
1 Practical and Written Assessment
The food intakes of Australians are influenced by a range of individual, community and societal factors. Public health nutrition (PHN) focuses on issues affecting whole populations rather than individuals and to develop effective PHN strategies, it is important to understand the impact of population/community level factors on the behaviours and intakes of individuals. This assessment task will allow you to research Australian communities and develop an understanding of factors that impact food access and affordability and health of community members.
This task requires you to demonstrate capacity to engage in a research activity to develop understanding and appreciation of community nutrition issues in context. You will be required to work within the Public Health Nutrition 'group' that will include all students enrolled in the unit.
To complete this task you will be required to:
- Research of previous food access and affordability studies conducted across Australia and development of a table of your findings that will be included in your final written report (10 marks).
- Research of communities in Australia and documentation of relevant census data that describes the characteristics of a specific community (10 marks).
- Collecting food cost and availability data for your community using the 2014 Healthy Food Access Basket (HFAB) Survey (Formative).
- Entering data from your community HFAB surveys into a shared group datasheet (Formative).
- Conducting basic analysis of this group data (Formative).
- Developing a written evidence based report, (approximately 2000 words (+/-10%) that discusses previous evidence, describes your community of interest and discusses implications of your data analysis for your community of interest. This report should include at least two (2) tables that support discussion of your results. The tables should be presented in APA table format) (30 marks). Your final report should include at least 10 references (not included in word count).
Week 11 Friday (31 May 2019) 5:00 pm AEST
Your written report is due for submission on Friday 31st May. Oral presentations will be scheduled to occur in week 12 (specific days and times will be established in consultation with enrolled students at the start of term)
Exam Week Friday (21 June 2019)
Detailed marking criteria will be available in the unit Assessment Guide that will be available in the Assessment Resources tab on the unit Moodle site. These criteria will be based on:
Written report:
- Quality of writing
- Competence in addressing all aspects of the task
- Formulation of arguments, critical analysis, interpretation and explanation
- Relevance of discussion
- Accuracy in use of supporting evidence
- Organisation of report
- Background information
- Confidence and competence in delivery of presentation
- Clarity and flow of presentation
- Body language, diction and pace of presentation
- Content and organisation of slides
- Engagement with content of presentation
- Examine ecological issues of food supply and food policy.
- Interpret government policy on nutrition guidelines, food standards and food regulation legislation.
- Describe food consumption trends and nutrition related problems of at-risk Australian groups and communities.
- Demonstrate understanding of public health nutrition concepts and how they relate to the health of our populations and communities.
- Undertake research which illustrates systematic analysis of a current issue in public health nutrition.
- Demonstrate skills in data collection, analysis and reporting of public health nutrition data.
- Demonstrate skills in group education for public health nutrition promotion.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Group Work
As students (and in your future role as health practitioners) you are required to read many journal articles across a range of disciplines. It would be unreasonable to think that we will always understand everything that is contained in these articles (especially data analysis techniques). It is however, important to develop confidence in understanding much of what we are reading and conducting further investigation of issues/topics when we do not understand what is written/read.
This task requires you to demonstrate capacity to engage with others in an online learning environment to develop understanding and appreciation for research skills used in research and professional practice. Through supported group discussion, you will be given opportunity to develop understanding of key learning topics in public health nutrition and skills in evaluating published journal articles using an evidence based and objective approach.
To complete this assessment task you will be required to:- Participate in AND contribute to three (3) online journal club meetings presented as synchronous discussions (using online Zoom sessions).
Task details:
A list of journal articles will be provided to students at the start of term and from this list, each student will choose one journal article that they will critique and discuss with the group during scheduled journal club meetings.
The specific days and times for each meeting will be determined upon consultation with all students at the commencement of term.
Prior to each meeting, you will be required to:
- Read, review and critique your chosen journal article,
- Consider the evaluation criteria (see below) to be able to present and lead discussion of the article during the meeting.
- Use the Journal Club Evaluation Tool (available in the ASSESSMENT RESOURCES TAB on unit Moodle site) to document your responses to the following criteria:
- What was the purpose of the study?
- Why is the research being conducted?
- Why the research is considered significant/important?
- Are the research questions/hypotheses clearly stated?
- What do you judge to be the standard of writing?
- Who were the subjects?
- What was the study design?
- What methods were used for measurement?
- What was the primary outcome measure (s)?
- What was the secondary outcome measure (s)?
- What methods were used for data analysis?
- What are the main outcomes/results?
- What is the significance of the results?
- What is the ‘take-home’ message (s) of this article?
Completed evaluations of journal articles will need to be uploaded to the Assessment BLOCK on the unit Moodle site within 24 hours of completing each meeting.
Marks for this task will be calculated within one week of completion of each meeting
Each student must attend at least 2 of the 3 meetings. Completion of journal article reviews and attendance to each meeting is worth 10 marks which will be allocated for:
- Completion and submission of evaluation of article discussed (2 marks)
- Attendance to the online meeting (4 marks)
- Engagement/interaction with others in discussion of the article (4 marks).
- Examine ecological issues of food supply and food policy.
- Interpret government policy on nutrition guidelines, food standards and food regulation legislation.
- Describe food consumption trends and nutrition related problems of at-risk Australian groups and communities.
- Demonstrate understanding of public health nutrition concepts and how they relate to the health of our populations and communities.
- Demonstrate skills in data collection, analysis and reporting of public health nutrition data.
- Demonstrate skills in group education for public health nutrition promotion.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Team Work
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
