Course Outline
NUT203 Active Lifestyle Nutrition
Course Coordinator:Rachael Thurecht (rthurech@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health and Behavioural Sciences
2026Semester 2
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
What is this course about?
Description
Nutrition plays an important role in healthy, active lifestyles. This course covers dietary patterns consistent with good health and the relationship of whole foods to nutrients. You will learn how to collect and evaluate habitual dietary intake, undertake physical activity assessment, measure body composition, and learn about the relationship of diet to health and chronic disease. General nutrient requirements for sport and exercise including hydration and supplementation will also be covered.
How will this course be delivered?
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Structured independent self-directed learning activities to be completed prior to tutorial. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On campus | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
Course Topics
Dietary patterns for good health; food groups and association to characterising macro and micronutrients; evidence based guidelines for healthy eating and physical activity; dietary assessment methods and the relationship to nutrient intake; assessment of physical activity and energy expenditure; measurement of body composition and relationship to chronic disease and health; energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and fluid requirements in relation to physical activity and sport; efficacy and role of supplements; fad diets, scope of practice and referral pathways.
What level is this course?
200 Level (Developing)
What is the unit value of this course?
12 units
How does this course contribute to my learning?
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Describe the basic functions of macronutrients and key micronutrients, their common food sources, food groups, including characterising nutrients, and their role in the diet of healthy, active individuals |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
| 2 | Evaluate and apply appropriate methods to identify dietary patterns, assess and evaluate habitual dietary intake, physical activity and body composition in active individuals |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
| 3 | Apply current evidence-based recommendations to healthy, active individuals in relation to diet and physical activity within scope of practice. |
Knowledgeable Empowered Ethical |
Am I eligible to enrol in this course?
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Pre-requisites
SPX103 or LFS103 or LFS112
Co-requisites
Not applicable
Anti-requisites
NUT202 and SPX352
Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)
It is strongly recommended that students enrolled in SC354 take NUT212 prior to taking this course.
Microcredential Information
Not applicable
How am I going to be assessed?
Grading Scale
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Details of early feedback on progress
This course provides early feedback to students via formative online quizzes. Students will receive ongoing formative feedback from the weekly workshop tasks.
Assessment tasks
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 25% | 60 minutes |
Week 5 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Written Piece | Individual | 40% | One workbook containing short answer questions. |
Week 9 | Online Submission |
| All | 3 | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 35% | 90 minutes |
Week 13 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Online quiz | |||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate your knowledge of key nutrition concepts taught in this course. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | Online test delivered through the course Blackboard site. |
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| Criteria: |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Workbook | |||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate your understanding and ability to analyse and evaluate diet, physical activity and body composition data and apply evidence-based recommendations within scope of practice. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | You will individually complete one workbook comprised of short answer questions that relate to the weekly learning activities. Where referencing is required, you are expected to reference information used to support your answers using Vancouver JAMA style. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | |||||||
| All - Assessment Task 3:Final Exam | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to evidence your knowledge and application of content taught in online activities, workshops and reading materials. |
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| Product: | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | A comprehensive, final examination, consisting of multiple choice and short answer questions. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | ||||||||||||||||
Directed study hours
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
What resources do I need to undertake this course?
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Prescribed text(s) or course reader
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Whitney, Rolfes, Crowe, Cameron-Smith and Walsh | 2019 | Understanding Nutrition | 4th | Cengage Learning |
| Required | NHMRC | 2013 | Australian Dietary Guidelines: Providing the scientific evidence for healthier Australian diets | n/a | n/a |
| Required | NHMRC | 2013 | Eat for Health Educator Guide – Information for nutrition educators | n/a | n/a |
| Required | NHMRC | 2006 | Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes | n/a | n/a |
Specific requirements
Students are expected to wear appropriate clothing as specified by the course coordinator for the workshops on anthropometric techniques.
How are risks managed in this course?
What administrative information is relevant to this course?
Assessment: Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Assessment: Additional Requirements
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconductAssessment: Submission penalties
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.Links to relevant University policy and procedures
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
- Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
- Review of Assessment and Final Grades
- Supplementary Assessment
- Central Examinations
- Deferred Examinations
- Student Conduct
- Students with a Disability
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
Student Charter
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
General Enquiries
- In person:
- UniSC Sunshine Coast - Student Central, Ground Floor, Building C, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
- UniSC Moreton Bay - Service Centre, Ground Floor, Foundation Building, Gympie Road, Petrie
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- Tel:+61 7 5430 2890
- Email:studentcentral@usc.edu.au