XNB148 Foundations in Nutrition Practice
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | XNB148 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
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| CSP student contribution | $1,192 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,704 |
| International unit fee | $5,784 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | XNB148 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Coordinator: | Smita Nambiar-Mann | smita.nambiar@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This is an introductory unit that will support the development of your professional identity as a nutrition professional and assist you in exploring your understanding of 'self', and your relationship with food, health and wellness. You will be introduced to the nutrition profession, and discipline specific skills, competencies, attributes and digital tools required for evidenced based practice in nutrition and dietetics. The unit explores potential career paths in nutrition and dietetics. and employability skills and attributes, with themes and tools expanded later in your course. The unit will lay foundational skills in professionalism, ethical practice, academic literacy, statistics, reflective practice, communication and cultural competence to support your success in the demonstration of learning outcomes in advanced units in your course including your competence as a reflexive scientist and health professional.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Reflect on your personal attributes, cultural identity, values and experiences and explore how these impact the provision of ethical, culturally safe and inclusive nutrition and dietetic practice with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Evaluate industry, academic and trending theories and recommendations in nutrition and dietetics autonomously and/or collaboratively
- Collate, organise and interpret descriptive statistics and data using industry-standard techniques and understanding of digital technologies used in nutrition and dietetics
- Use the nutrition care process to respond to complex, real world challenges in nutrition and dietetics.
- Communicate using a range of written, verbal and digital technologies including the ethical use of Generative AI, to adaptively respond to the diverse cultural and cognitive needs of the audience.
Content
This unit covers the following topics:
- Introduction to the profession and potential career paths in nutrition and dietetics
- Self reflexivity
- Competency standards in nutrition and dietetics
- Evidence-based practice (including codes of conduct, ethical practice)
- Statistics and data interpretation and presentation
- Research methods
- Cultural competence
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
- Exploration beliefs, values, power and privilege
- Growth mindset
- Career planning
- Leadership
- Professional identity, team work, and inter-disciplinary practice
- Nutrition Care Process
- Nutrition Assessment- anthropometry
- Digital tools (Microsoft Office, journal databases and Gen AI tools)
- Ethical use of Gen AI in the nutrition and dietetic profession
- Queensland Health Introductory Module on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practice
This unit is at the beginning of your course for you to commence your development of your professional identity and key constructs that underpin the competency standards in nutrition and dietetics, including leadership, collaborative and both intra- and inter-professional practice. Tools for working successfully in teams will be introduced, which you will use throughout your course, and support your approaches to assessment through group work.
Learning Approaches
This unit engages you in your learning through an inquiry-based learning approach. The unit will use a blend of face-to-face (including interactive workshops), online activities and Work Integrated Learning activities. You will be expected to engage with this online content prior to weekly on campus sessions, the detail of which will be communicated to you on the Canvas site. The on-campus sessions will include simulation activities, clinic visits and case studies. There will be interactive online modules for self-paced learning in a variety of areas. The quality of your learning within this unit will be dependent upon your engagement with the online content and its application in the experiential sessions. Your learning from this unit will contribute to the development of your professional practice.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- Formative online quizzes will be available on Canvas and are designed to assess your understanding and ability to utilise the theory covered in learning materials.
- Peer feedback on learning activities will be available throughout the tutorials
- Criteria grading sheets are used to evaluate your performance in summative assessments. You will receive individual, written feedback on each written summative assignment.
- QUT Library can provide individual assistance to you with feedback on researching and library skills
- Cohort-level feedback provided during tutorials and via QUT Canvas.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, formative and assessment items to foster and assess your achievement of the learning outcomes. Your first formative reflection item is due early in the semester and designed to provide you feedback to guide your development towards completion of the ePortfolio (summative assessment 1). Your presentation on a ‘Wicked’ Nutrition Problem (summative assessment 2) provides an opportunity for you to collaborate in groups to address a complex, interdependent nutrition issue. The exam (summative assessment 3), will require you to demonstrate your ability to use evidenced based methods to critique literature and interpret quantitative research methods that are used in the discipline.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio
Reflective practice is a key skill in nutrition and dietetics and is used to enhance and inform best practice. You will complete the first component of your ePortfolio in this unit with a focus on career planning. Your portfolio will comprise evidence of successful completion of a series of tasks to demonstrate engagement and reflection on your world view and its impact on ethical, culturally safe and inclusive practice, as well as foundation nutrition and dietetics skills including nutrition assessment (anthropometry). Throughout the course, you will continue to collate and evidence key learning and artefacts in your ePortfolio. At the end of your course, you can use your ePortfolio to showcase your key achievements and competencies.
This is an authentic assignment because it allows you to engage in professional development activities that are similar to what you will engage in as a professional. All activities foster a growth mindset that is beneficial to your career.
A formative reflection item will be due in week 3 and the completed ePortfolio due in week 13.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details page for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World
You will work in teams to explore a 'wicked' problem in nutrition and dietetics. You will investigate why the issue is deemed a wicked problem and then analyse and evaluate one intervention that has been used to address the wicked problem and explain why it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Your team will compile a literature matrix to summarise the evidence for your chosen intervention and then present to your peers in a live creative multi-modal format. In your matrix, you will highlight your ability to ethically utilise digital technologies.
The group work process will also be assessed, and you will be required to complete a group work contract. This contract will assess your ability to identify the strengths of your team members, risks to the project and how it will be managed, equitable distribution of tasks and record of meeting minutes.
This is an authentic assessment because as nutrition professionals, you will be required to present complex scientific information and critically evaluate contemporary nutrition issues for a variety of audiences. Gaining practice in building an argument and presenting this to the public is a vital skill.
The group contract component of this assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details page for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Exam
Under exam conditions, you will demonstrate your understanding of basic statistics in the context of nutrition and dietetics and ability to review literature using evidence-based practice. The exam will consist of multiple- choice questions and short answer questions.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited in this assessment.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit. Further information regarding policies and procedures, such as health and safety, risk management, confidentiality, intellectual property, disclosure and insurance, is available via the QUT Faculty of Health.
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
National Competency Standards for Dietitians in Australia
1.1: Demonstrates safe practice
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1.2: Demonstrates ethical and legal practice
1.3: Demonstrates leadership
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1.4: Demonstrates management
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.XN43 Bachelor of Nutrition Science
- Apply broad theoretical, technical and cultural knowledge and skills in food and nutrition, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, to respond to a diverse range of contexts and audiences.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Analyse and apply evidence-based research and practice to provide informed, client-centred, and sustainable solutions to sometimes complex current and emerging food and nutrition problems.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Communicate and translate technical food and nutrition information clearly, safely and inclusively using a range of oral, written and digital technologies and formats responsive to the diverse cultural, social and cognitive needs of the intended audience, communities and other professionals
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Perform as an inclusive, competent, culturally responsive and ethical professional, working autonomously and collaboratively on innovative and entrepreneurial approaches in food and nutrition.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World
XN45 Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours)
- Apply advanced theoretical, technical and cultural knowledge and skills in food, nutrition and dietetics, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, tailored to respond to a diverse range of contexts and audiences.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Critically analyse and apply evidence-based research and practice to generate informed, client-centred and sustainable solutions to complex current and emerging food, nutrition and dietetic problems.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Communicate and translate complex food and nutrition information effectively, safely and inclusively using a range of oral, written and digital technologies and formats, responsive to the diverse cultural, social and cognitive needs of clients, interdisciplinary teams, stakeholders and the broader community.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam - Enact inclusive, clinically adept and culturally responsive client-centred practice as a reflective, accountable and ethical professional, working autonomously and collaboratively to manage and lead innovative and entrepreneurial advances in food, nutrition and dietetics.
Relates to: Leadership in Nutrition Practice - Foundational ePortfolio, Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World - Conduct research with some independence that challenges, advances, builds capacity and assures quality in food, nutrition and dietetic practice, disseminating findings with individuals, interdisciplinary teams, stakeholders and communities.
Relates to: Wicked Problems in Nutrition: Systemic Challenges in a Modern World, Exam