XNH350 Community and Public Health Nutrition

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2025, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit is in the intermediate stage of your course and builds on the work you have undertaken in introductory food and nutrition, food citizenship, nutrition epidemiology, nutrition across the life cycle and nutrition science. This unit provides you with opportunities to develop your competencies in the area of community and public health nutrition, in particular around program planning and evaluation and the application of nutrition for communities and populations. Completion of this unit is essential in preparation for work integrated learning in the area of community and public health nutrition. The unit builds and provides practice in research, synthesis, and problem solving. In addition, you continue your development as a professional.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Identify and critically discuss population level food and nutrition issues, their determinants and the evidence-based strategies to address them within diverse cultural contexts at a local, state, national and international context; [XN43, XN45 CLO-1,2]
2. Apply the program planning cycle as it relates to population and community nutrition; [XN43, XN45 CLO-2]
3. Debate topical areas relating to population food and nutrition issues; [XN43, XN45 CLO-3]
4. Collaborate to develop an argument justified by evidence to demonstrate professional oral, written communication and feedback skills; [XN43, XN45 CLO-3,4] and
5. Demonstrate academic and professional core skills including communication, critique, reflection, ethical practice and critical cultural consciousness[XN43, XN45 CLO-4]

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit will provide you with an opportunity to undertake self-directed learning via podcasts and materials uploaded on Canvas. Students will have the opportunity to explore salient issues with a panel of experts in  timeslots. The online material and panel discussions will cover public health nutrition issues which inform areas of practice.

Tutorials will be in the form of professional development sessions, to develop practical knowledge and application of program planning principles as they apply to a real world problem. They will focus on specific stages of the program planning cycle. The tutorials will model the type of professional development that a community nutritionist would engage in. Finally you will be required to attend one tutorial session to undertake a debate with your peers on a controversial public health nutrition issue.

The unit engages you in your learning with the development of resources for the development, implementation and evaluation of program to solve a real world population health nutrition issue. The assessment requires you to use the skills you have developed in researching, analysing and synthesising the current evidence to develop creative solutions to complex contexts. The workshops will provide templates for the reporting requirements you will need to undertake in second semester or the fourth year of your program when you undertake Work Integrated Learning. Feedback from students after they return from placement in fourth year is that this unit is one of the most useful units to inform their performance in professional practice.

Online material, panels, discussion forums, independent learning groups and self-directed learning activities will be used. These will facilitate development of skills such as information literacy, communication, problem solving and team-work; provide a variety of learning experiences; encourage student responsibility for learning and foster a positive attitude to ongoing learning. An active, participative, questioning approach is encouraged.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback to Students
Feedback will be provided in the following ways:

• During workshops and submission of portfolio materials;
• Within the discussion board attached to the online material;
• The issues will be explored in the panel discussions with all relevant contemporary documents highlighted;
• Frequently asked questions and generic feedback will be provided through Canvas; and
• Comments will be provided on all assessment pieces as well as comprehensive criteria sheets

Assessment

Overview

Assessments are purposefully designed and scaffolded to enable your success.  Information included on Canvas provides detailed criteria and tasks for completion of the assessment. Students are encouraged to check their work against the criteria to ensure all aspects are completed.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Project Proposal

Each workshop will require completion of a range of activities on program planning as part of the workshop. The activities will enable you to explore the essential components of program planning as it relates to nutrition issues and provide a portfolio of templates for use later in your degree for work integrated learning.  This assessment is authentic as it replicates how dietitians and nutritionists undertake and document program planning in the field. 

Formative and summative.
Due date: Weeks 6 and 11

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Debate

You will work in groups to:
- Investigate the current evidence related to a contemporary public health nutrition issue;
- develop an argument for or against a particular viewpoint using evidence to support that argument; and
- deliver relevant arguments in a succinct and entertaining manner.
Formative and summative.

Assessment: Exam

During the exam period you will be given a take home exam and respond to stimulus material related to community and public health nutrition issues and program planning. These exam will test your knowledge and application of public health nutrition principles in different contexts. You will have 96 hours to undertake this exam at home.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

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

Resource Materials

Reference book(s)

Hughes, R. (2010). Practical public health nutrition. John Wiley & Sons 

Wahlqvist, M & Gallegos, D (2020). Food and Nutrition: Sustainable food and health systems. Routledge

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.