Unit Synopsis
This unit builds upon prerequisite units in human anatomy and physiology to develop a conceptual understanding of disease and dysfunction, with emphasis on the effects of disease upon normal physiological systems. The unit content is presented in a way that fosters (a) an understanding of the widespread effects that dysfunction of a particular organ or system of the human body has upon other systems and (b) the ability to critically evaluate symptoms of dysfunction and predict the outcome. Topics include altered cells and tissues, altered cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation and tissue repair, and alterations of human body systems.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisites: ALLH11005 Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals 1 OR BMSC11001 Human Body Systems 1 OR BMSC11007 Medical Anatomy and Physiology 1 OR BMSC11010 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1 AND ALLH11004 Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals 2 OR BMSC11002 Human Body Systems 2 OR BMSC11008 Medical Anatomy and Physiology 2 OR BMSC11011 Human Anatomy and Physiology 2 This unit is NOT available to students who have only completed BIOH11005 Introductory Anatomy and Physiology AND BIOH11006 Advanced Anatomy and Physiology 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
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Term 3 - 2026 Profile
Term 1 - 2027 Profile
Term 2 - 2027 Profile
Term 3 - 2027 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 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. Written Assessment | 50% |
| 2. Examination | 50% |
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.
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
Some students have noted that certain unit concepts appear misaligned with their degree focus.
Clarify the connections between concepts and demonstrate their relevance to broader professional competencies.
Greater emphasis was placed on explaining the relevance of unit concepts to different health professions through the use of discipline-specific examples, case studies, and discussions linking content to professional practice.
Source: Face-to-face feedback
Although some students found the unit content-heavy, material is structured into manageable sections to support student understanding and engagement.
Continue to provide clear links between unit content and professional applications, while maintaining the structured delivery of material in manageable segments to support student engagement and comprehension.
Content continued to be delivered in structured, manageable sections, with key concepts reinforced through revision activities, worksheets and consolidation resources.
Source: SUTE and face-to-face feedback
Some students have found the pacing of the unit challenging, particularly during weeks with multiple complex topics introduced simultaneously.
Review the weekly content distribution to ensure complex topics are introduced with adequate scaffolding and spacing, allowing students time to consolidate learning before progressing.
Weekly content and learning activities were reviewed to ensure appropriate scaffolding of complex concepts. Additional revision resources, recap activities, and opportunities for consolidation were incorporated to support student understanding and progression through the unit.
Source: SUTE and face-to-face feedback
Some students reported feeling uncertain about expectations for the invigilated examination and the level of detail required in preparation.
Provide examination preparation support, including practice questions, exemplar responses, and guidance on effective revision strategies.
In Progress
Source: Face-to-face feedback
Students indicated that regular revision opportunities assisted learning.
Continue to provide opportunities during tutorials for retrieval practice and to reinforce key concepts and support knowledge retention.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Argue the physiological consequences, symptoms and effects on health of specific dysfunction of organs and systems
- Explain how the interdependence of human physiological systems can result in disease of one organ having widespread effects
- Explain the mechanisms that cause altered cells and tissues, altered cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation and the consequences of these changes upon health
- Describe the major causes, symptoms and consequences of dysfunction of the human body systems.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Examination | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |