Unit Synopsis
This is a postgraduate unit which aims to provide you with training in research. You will be taught the foundation skills and knowledge to independently undertake an investigation of a research question in an area of nutrition, medical or allied health sciences. This involves the application of scientific research methodologies to a research problem, the development of a research proposal, the completion of an ethics application, a research project, and the presentation of research. You will have the opportunity to further expand on your research knowledge if undertaking the Medical Science Research Project 2.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 8 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-Requisites: Enrolment in CL88 Master of Nutrition and Dietetics Or The completion of 96 credit points in one of the following courses:
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 | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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 Postgraduate 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. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 2. Presentation | 20% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 4. Written Assessment | 20% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 70% 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: SUTE comments, 2024
Students preferred an analytic rubric compared to the holistic rubric style.
The rubric was based on a TEQSA example and peer reviewed by markers. Mark allocation was discussed with the markers. Consider using a hybrid holistic rubric if this unit is rerun.
The unit's learning outcomes, assessments, marking rubrics, structure, and learning materials of this unit are revised.
Source: SUTE comments, 2024
Students found the task guidelines and assessment overview lectures helpful but would have like an exemplar for each assessment.
Continue to provide a task guideline and associated lectures to students. Exemplars can be provided for both assessments if this unit is rerun.
Assessment guide, tutorials and additional resources and templates were provided.
Source: SUTE Comments
The structure of the unit and the support offered by the unit coordinator were appreciated.
Continue with the scaffolded structure of the unit and support for students.
In Progress
Source: SUTE Satisfaction Score and Unit Coordinator self-reflection
Providing additional resources and clearer links between research skill development and future professional practice would enhance student understanding of its relevance to learning outcomes, employability, and academic confidence.
Provide real-world examples showing how research informs clinical and public health practice and policy.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Develop and deliver a concise research proposal.
- Apply scientific research methodologies to complete a research project.
- Critically appraise the human research ethics framework to develop an ethics application for the research project.
- Disseminate a research project and its findings via written and oral presentations.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | • |
| 7 - Leadership | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |