ESSC12004 - Exercise and Sport Biomechanics

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit introduces you to basic concepts of mechanics (kinematics, kinetics, and fluid mechanics) as they relate to human movement, sports performance, and injury. In this unit, you will learn qualitative and quantitative approaches to solving biomechanical problems and analysing human movement to optimise movement patterns and performance. The theoretical content is supported with practical activities, which introduce you to basic biomechanical equipment and measurement techniques.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites:

ESSC11001 Physical Activity, Fitness and Health;

ESSC11003 Skill Acquisition and Movement

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2023

Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Cairns
Mackay City
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Presentation 50%
3. Examination 30%
4. On-campus Activity 0%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 72.22% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 28.57% response rate.

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.

Source: Student feedback (SUTE and informal feedback)
Feedback
The relevance of the unit content is not clear to students from all courses that undertake this unit.
Recommendation
It is recommended that unit content be reviewed to contextualise content for various courses (e.g., education, and exercise and sport sciences) and include more discipline-specific examples.
Action Taken
The unit content was reviewed, which led to an increase in discipline-specific examples of how biomechanical principles apply to a range of activities.
Source: Student feedback (SUTE and informal feedback)
Feedback
Students struggle with the mathematics component of this unit and suggest that it be removed from the unit to focus more on application of concepts.
Recommendation
It is recommended that further resources be developed to assist students with the mathematics required in this unit. As biomechanics relies heavily on physics and maths, this introductory unit will continue to include mathematics through calculation-based examples.
Action Taken
Students were provided with a range of resources to assist with mathematics, which included H5P activities and tutorials.
Source: Student feedback (SUTE and informal feedback)
Feedback
Students indicated that they struggled with the amount of content and the pace at which content is covered.
Recommendation
It is recommended that content of this unit be organised into smaller segments that allows students to work through content at their own pace.
Action Taken
The unit was restructured to provide shorter pre-recorded lectures, live tutorials, and H5P learning activities that allowed the students to work through content at their own pace.
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Student comment that the Formula Sheet provided for the unit is overwhelming.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the unit includes clear guidance about which formulas apply to each week's content to enable students to develop the confidence to use this critical tool and feel less overwhelmed by it.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: SUTE feedback and informal student feedback
Feedback
Students enjoyed the practical movement analysis, which is part of the residential school activities and forms the basis of the presentation assessment. However, they also found it confusing as there were a number of different skills available for analysis.
Recommendation
It is recommended to limit the number of activities available for the movement analysis and to consider modifications to residential school to allocate specific times to each activity rather than combining them into a single session.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe biomechanical concepts related to kinematics, kinetics, and fluid mechanics
  2. Apply biomechanical principles to various forms of human movement with a focus on exercise, sports performance, and injury
  3. Apply quantitative approaches to analyse biomechanical problems
  4. Conduct a biomechanical movement analysis and communicate findings
  5. Demonstrate professional practice and ethical behaviour expected in exercise and sport science settings.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Presentation • •
3 - Examination • • •
4 - On-campus Activity • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
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 • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10