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
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Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 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 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 69.23% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 27.66% 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: Have Your Say
Feedback
The lectures are long and a lot of content was covered in the first six weeks which overwhelmed students
Recommendation
Staff will review the lecture schedule to spread content over the twelve weeks of term. This will give students additional time to work through the content and balance the lecture length. Staff will also explore the opportunity to deliver some content as short video recordings which will further reduce the actual lecture length.
Action Taken
Content was spread over 11 weeks of term, which provided students with sufficient time to work through content. Additionally some content was moved into online learning activities (i.e., H5P activities) for students to work through at their own pace.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
Students enjoyed the practical activities as they can apply the theoretical concepts. However, students noted that more equipment was required adequately resource the activities and suggested the sessions be held earlier in term.
Recommendation
The practical activities will continue to provide students with hands-on experience to apply theoretical concepts. Staff will explore opportunity to purchase additional equipment or share resources across campuses. While staff will also explore opportunity to schedule the practical sessions earlier in the term, this may not be possible.
Action Taken
Practical activities continued to provide students with hands-on experience to apply theoretical concepts. Unfortunately, additional equipment could not be purchased; however, for 2022 this was not a problem as there were fewer students. Practical sessions were held at a similar time of term and were aligned with unit content delivery.
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
Nil.
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
Nil.
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
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