Unit Synopsis
This unit will introduce students to the role of food, nutrients and dietary constituents in human health and disease. Your learning will encompass the range of ecological, physiological, and behavioural factors that influence food composition and human food intakes and behaviours. You will learn about the food and nutrition requirements of different individuals and population groups. You will develop an understanding of scientific evidence that underpins dietary requirements and recommendations and skills to identify dietary misinformation.
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 |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
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
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 | 30% |
| 2. Online Quiz(zes) | 40% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 30% |
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 student comments
Additional direction needed for written assessment tasks.
Consider adopting alternative assessment formats that scaffold students through the required processes, align with key learning outcomes, and demonstrate the relevance of the tasks.
Alternative assessment formats were explored, with consideration given to approaches that scaffold students through the assessment process, align with key learning outcomes and clearly demonstrate the relevance of each task. These changes will be implemented in accordance with University policies to ensure academic integrity, equity and consistency.
Source: Informal verbal student feedback
Students enjoyed the weekly learning booklets, short lectures and real-life examples.
Continue the use of weekly booklets accompanied by short lecture recordings, as these provide structure and support student learning. It is further recommended that additional real-life examples be incorporated to strengthen the application of theoretical concepts and enhance perceived relevance of the content.
Weekly learning booklets and short lecture recordings were continued in 2026 to provide structure and support students’ engagement with the unit content. Additional real-life examples were incorporated throughout the unit and tutorials to strengthen the application of theoretical concepts and demonstrate their relevance to students’ learning and future professional contexts.
Source: Discussion with the head of course and informal feedback from students via email and during tutorials.
Assessment tasks could be further reviewed to ensure appropriate AI security levels and meaningful assessment of course-relevant skills.
Consider providing an update to the unit profile to incorporate meaningful assessment tasks that have a greater AI security level.
In Progress
Source: SUTE qualitative feedback.
Some students indicated a need for additional opportunities to engage with and discuss weekly Human Nutrition concepts.
Consider introducing weekly themed discussion forums on the unit Moodle site, providing students with opportunities to engage with thought-provoking questions related to the weekly Human Nutrition themes and to apply and discuss key concepts beyond the scheduled learning activities.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Discuss food composition, nutrients, and dietary requirements and recommendations
- Describe the ecological factors influencing food composition and nutrient intakes and behaviours
- Describe the physiological factors influencing food and nutrient intakes and behaviours
- Relate food and nutrient intakes to common nutrition-related diseases in Australia.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |