This task provides you with the opportunity to objectively review and discuss research related to Public Health Nutrition and enhance your ability to use and communicate evidence in practice. This task aims to develop your skills and competency in using, interpreting, and communicating scientific information, understanding and appreciation of public health nutrition concepts, and skills in online communication.

TASK DETAILS

This Group Work assessment task includes three parts, and all parts must be completed:

Part 1: CRITIQUE OF JOURNAL ARTICLE (5 marks)

For this part, each student will:

• Choose one (1) article from a list of journal articles (see the list in Assessment tile on Moodle), and
• Conduct a critique of the chosen journal article by:
• Reading the journal article (probably several times) and conducting a critique against criteria included in the Article Critique & Definitions Template (see the template in the Assessment tile on Moodle), and
• Documenting responses to each element of the critique on the template provided.

NOTE: To promote a breadth of reading, no two students may choose the same journal article to critique. The final choice for any journal article will be based on a ‘first in – first served’ basis hence, once you have chosen your article you should communicate your choice to all other students via the ‘Choice’ activity in the Assessment Tile on Moodle.

Part 2: IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP DEFINITIONS OF UNFAMILIAR RESEARCH TERMS, METHODS, AND METHODOLOGIES (15 marks)

For this part, each student will:

• Reflect on their reading and understanding of their chosen journal article (from Part 1 above) and identify three (3) primary terms that are unfamiliar or not fully understood,
• Develop a written definition and working example for each of these three (3) primary terms,
• Develop a written definition of two (2) secondary terms identified when developing definitions of each primary term (See resource 'How to create definitions' in the Assessment tile on Moodle).

Part 3: GROUP DISCUSSION OF JOURNAL ARTICLES AND RESEARCH TERMS AND METHODS/METHODOLOGIES (10 marks).

For this part, you will need to:

1. Upload your completed Article Critique and Definitions to the Group Discussion forum on Moodle (see link in the Assessment tab or Assessment tile) to enable group discussions of the journal articles (see below).
2. Choose two (2) critiques and associated journal articles uploaded by other students (in step 1 above) to read and review comprehensively.
3. For each of these two critiques/journal articles, create and post a ‘Reply’ that provides an in-depth discussion of an element of the article and/or completed critique that you found interesting and/or that contrasts with your thoughts/understanding of the article. NOTE: This discussion should include links to additional resources and/or sources of information that support your thoughts/ideas etc. and references must be included.
4. Post at least four (4) additional replies that expand on the initial discussions of journal articles created by other students (in step 3 above) which moves the discussion in a new and/or provocative direction.

NOTEs: When uploading your Article Critique and Definitions to the Group Discussion forum, you should ‘Add a new discussion topic’ to allow other students to post a ‘Reply’ for subsequent discussion of each article. For all group discussions, references must be included when additional research or sources are referred to in contributions. There are no word limits to any of the contributions.

Part 1: Critique of Journal Article (Completeness of all sections of critique) (5 marks)

Part 2: Definitions (15 marks):

Each primary term (5 marks per term) is broken down as follows:

• Primary term clearly defined, and source(s) of the definition referenced (2 marks per primary term).
• Working definition of primary term provided in layperson's language and relates to public health/health discipline (1 mark).
• At least two (2) secondary terms (identified within the developed definition of each primary term) defined, and sources of these definitions referenced (1 mark each).

Part 3: Group discussion (10 marks)

Contributions to the discussion of each of the two (2) articles and critiques will be marked according to how well your contributions demonstrate:

• Evidence of exploration of research and topics addressed in journal articles (2 marks),
• Active participation with demonstrated connections to public health nutrition topics (1 mark),
  
• Writing skills and independent thought (1 mark), and
• Use of appropriate and relevant references/sources (1 mark).

NOTE: A complete marking rubric available in the Assessment tile on Moodle

The affordability of our diets is determined by the cost of foods that make up our diets and by the cost of our diets relative to our incomes. Food costs and affordability have been challenged in recent years by COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the many severe weather events that we have occurred across Australia. Monitoring the cost and affordability of a healthy diet can provide information to help improve people’s economic access to a healthy diet.

This Practical and Written assessment task requires your engagement in formative and summative activities to develop your understanding and appreciation of public health nutrition issues in context with a specific focus on conducting research on your community and food costs and affordability in different regions of Australia.

This term-long assessment task includes eight (8) parts. This includes six (6) instructive tasks designed to step you through a research process and which build toward the completion of two (2) summative tasks that you will submit for assessment. You should complete each of the parts (instructive and summative) in your own time BUT your collection of data and entry of this data into a shared group datasheet (Parts 3 & 4) need to be completed according to the dates outlined below, to ensure that all students in our group can complete all tasks in a timely manner.

TASK DETAILS:

Instructive tasks:

Part 1: Read and annotate five (5) journal articles as background information to the topic. Links to these journal articles are included in the Assessment Guide which is available in the Assessment tile on Moodle.

Part 2: Conduct a literature review of food security and food costs and affordability in Australia.

This part aims to develop your understanding of the topic by conducting research and a thorough but focussed review of current literature related to food costs and affordability and healthy and unhealthy diets in Australia. This research and review of literature will contribute to the background information/introduction section of your final written report and oral presentation (Parts 7 and 8). You should aim to review as many resources as possible (journal manuscripts and other Government or industry reports) to develop your understanding of the topic. You will be required to include at least 10 references from peer-reviewed journal articles to support the introduction/background information included in your written final report and oral presentations (Parts 7 and 8).

Part 3: Collect data of the cost of healthy and unhealthy diets in your community and contribute this data to a group data set.

For this part, each student will collect data on food costs in their own community (i.e., where you live) using the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing (ASAP) methods protocol and survey tool (see the link to the survey tool in the Assessment tile on Moodle) and complete one (1) survey of each of three (3) ‘stores’ in your community (a total of 3 surveys per student). This will include:

• One (1) major supermarket (e.g., Coles or Woolworths)
• One (1) independent supermarket (e.g., Foodstore, IGA, or others), AND
• One (1) online store (including details of whether online delivery is available in your community/living location or not. If you do not have online services available, you should still collect this data from an online supermarket (of any type i.e., major, or independent) and note in the datasheet that delivery is not available in your community, and
• Take-away food outlets (as available in your community) including Pizza Hut™, McDonald’s™, a fish and chips outlet and an independent bakery.

Part 4: Collect data on the community's characteristics of the people who live in YOUR local government area using the ABS website and choose a community group that is likely to be at-risk of food insecurity, for focusing your study.

This task aims to support the exploration of current Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data on the characteristics of the community in which each student lives and how these characteristics may influence the risk of food insecurity. This activity will help to develop an understanding of the characteristics (socioeconomic, demographic, etc.) differences between our various living locations.

A complete list of characteristics and links to the ABS 2021 Census data are provided in the Assessment Guide which is available in the Assessment tile on Moodle.

Part 5: Develop a research question to guide your data analysis and reporting of study outcomes.

Before you begin writing your introduction/background section and conducting analysis of the group data, you will need to formulate a study/research question that you will aim to ‘answer’ through analysis of the data. Following completion of tasks 2 (Literature review), 3 (data on cost of healthy and unhealthy diets) and 4 (data on community characteristics) you should have developed a good understanding and overall appreciation for the topic and your community. This understanding will help you to formulate a research question that will guide the flow of ideas in your introduction and subsequent data analysis and discussion of results in your final written report. The week 3 tutorial will provide additional instructions for developing research questions.

Part 6: Conduct descriptive analysis of collated group data on community characteristics and the cost of healthy and unhealthy diets.

You will be required to conduct univariate analysis of our group data using Microsoft Excel. Your analysis will include calculation of total costs and average costs (across different sites e.g., metropolitan, regional, rural) of all food items included in the Healthy Foods ASAP survey (healthy and unhealthy diets) and each food group and discretionary foods.

Once you have completed your analysis of data across all sites, you will be required to document your results and consider these results in relation to your chosen at-risk community group. Your analysis in relation to your at-risk group may include (as an example) the average price of healthy and unhealthy diets across all supermarkets and sites and/or differences between major, minor, and online stores and/or, differences between geographical locations and/or, affordability as a percentage of income (for your at-risk community group).

Summative tasks:

Part 7: Develop a final evidence-based report about food access and affordability of healthy and unhealthy diets in your community (approximately 2000 words (+/-10%).

This report will be informed by your learning and outcomes from the formative tasks above (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6  above). This task involves development of a final report that provides a written account of your study of food security for an at-risk group in Australia. Your report should look and read like a journal article but be slightly briefer at only 2000 words (approximately). Your final report should:

• Identify, evaluate, and synthesise relevant literature related to food access and affordability in Australia and your at-risk group,
• Describe the methodology used to collect your data and analyse the group data collected on food costs and availability,
• Outline key results from your data analysis, and
• Discuss your results in relation to current literature and evidence (i.e., evidence from your literature review) and likely implications of the results for your at-risk group/community.

Your report should include sections for each of the following (including approximate word length):

1. An introduction (background information from initial research and review of related literature) and your study question (Your research question should be clearly stated in the last paragraph of your introduction) (600-700 words),
2. A description of the methods used to collect and analyse your food costs and availability data (Healthy Diets ASAP survey) (300-400 words)
3. Results from analysis of group data on food costs and availability (including at least one table of data that is supported in your outline of results) (200-300 words), and
4. Discussion of your results in relation to evidence included in your introduction and implications for your at-risk group (500-600 words)
5. A conclusion that aligns with your discussion, draws main conclusions from the results and discussion and provides a future viewpoint for your at-risk group (200 words).

Your written report should include (at a minimum):

• one (1) table (presented in APA table style - see Week 9 tutorial) and reflects the results of your data analysis,
• 10 references from peer-reviewed journal articles. NOTE: Tabled information and references are not included in total word count.

Part 8: Develop and deliver an oral presentation (10 minutes) presented to your peers to demonstrate your insight into food access and affordability of healthy and unhealthy diets in your community (20 marks).

For this task you are required to develop and deliver a ten (10) minute online oral presentation to your peers to provide insight into food security, and access and affordability issues affecting Australian communities. You will draw content for your presentation from your written report and deliver your presentation to your group during an online Zoom session.

Your presentation should include PowerPoint slides (maximum of 12) and follow the general format of your written report. All other students attending the session are encouraged to ask questions and provide general feedback on the presentation. Five (5) minutes will be allocated at the end of each presentation to allow for these comments and questions and answers.

A tutorial will be held in week 10 to provide instructions and tips for developing your Oral Presentation and conducting your peer reviews.

COMPLETE DETAILS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TASKS ARE INCLUDED IN THE ASSESSMENT GUIDE (See link in Assessment tile on Moodle)

For the WRITTEN REPORT (50 marks) marking criteria are based on:

• 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.

NOTE: A detailed marking rubric for the Written Report will be provided in the Assessment tile on Moodle.

For the ORAL PRESENTATION (20 marks) criteria will be based on:

• 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.

NOTE: 50% of marks (i.e., 10 marks) for the Oral Presentation will be contributed by peer review. A template for the peer reviews, will be available in the Assessment tile on Moodle.