ESSC12001 - Exercise and Sport Physiology

General Information

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
ESSC11001 Physical Activity, Fitness and Health AND ESSC11003 Skill Acquisition and Movement

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 2 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Cairns
Mackay City
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton

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).

Assessment Overview

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%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

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
Feedback
It would be useful to discuss the key themes from module content and apply it to discipline areas.
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
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
Feedback
The content was overwhelming at times due to the amount delivered in some module topics.
Recommendation
It is recommended that lengthy module topics be split or re-structured to ensure content are delivered in more consistent, digestible formats.
Action Taken
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
Feedback
Pre-recording the lectures and delivering live lectorials helped reinforce and translate key content in an engaging manner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the unit structure involving pre-recorded lecture videos and live lectorials be continued
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching SHMAS and Exercise and Sports Science Australia accreditation panel
Feedback
Implementing minimum marks for the final exam and reducing the weighting or removing the use of online quizzes should be considered
Recommendation
It is recommended that the assessment strategy in this unit be reviewed concerning the final exam and online quizzes
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Explain the individual and integrated changes that occur in different physiological body systems in response to acute and chronic exercise
  2. Describe how physiological responses relating to exercise change across the lifespan and in different environments
  3. Collect and interpret physiological measurements obtained during laboratory and field exercise tests.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Online Test • •
2 - Written Assessment •
3 - Examination • •
4 - On-campus Activity •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
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 •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10