Unit Synopsis
This unit examines responses and adaptations of various physiological body systems to exercise. Specifically, you will learn the physiological mechanisms underpinning acute and chronic changes in the metabolic, pulmonary, cardiovascular, endocrine, and neuromuscular systems as a response to exercise. Furthermore, you will learn how physiological function relating to exercise changes across the lifespan and in different environments. You will also develop practical skills in conducting and interpreting laboratory and field tests assessing physiological function, fitness, and performance.
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
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 View Unit 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 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 Test | 20% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 3. Examination | 40% |
| 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%).
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 92.31% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 22.41% 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: Informal student feedback and Unit Teaching Evaluation feedback
It would be useful to discuss the key themes from module content and apply it to discipline areas.
It is recommended that lectures are pre-recorded for each module where possible and sessions set to allow for discussion and activities that promote higher-order thinking and application to exercise science and education disciplines.
Lectures were pre-recorded and available at the start of term, with weekly lectorials used to engage students more directly via summaries, activities, questions, and translation to practice/careers.
Source: Informal student feedback and Unit Teaching Evaluation feedback
The content was overwhelming at times due to the amount delivered in some module topics.
It is recommended that lengthy module topics be split or re-structured to ensure content are delivered in more consistent, digestible formats.
Each of the five core content modules was structured to ensure a consistent and manageable number of topics of comparable durations were included.
Source: Student feedback
Pre-recording the lectures and delivering live lectorials helped reinforce and translate key content in an engaging manner
It is recommended that the unit structure involving pre-recorded lecture videos and live lectorials be continued
In Progress
Source: Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching SHMAS and Exercise and Sports Science Australia accreditation panel
Implementing minimum marks for the final exam and reducing the weighting or removing the use of online quizzes should be considered
It is recommended that the assessment strategy in this unit be reviewed concerning the final exam and online quizzes
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain the individual and integrated changes that occur in different physiological body systems in response to acute and chronic exercise
- Describe how physiological responses relating to exercise change across the lifespan and in different environments
- Collect and interpret physiological measurements obtained during laboratory and field exercise tests.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Test | • | • | |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | ||
| 3 - Examination | • | • | |
| 4 - On-campus Activity | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 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 | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |