Fitness, Nutrition and Health

Year 2 Core Modules

You must study and pass all five core modules

Brief description

Explore nutrient needs, nutritional status and associated nutritional issues using a lifespan model.

Indicative content:

• Nutrition during the lifecycle.
• Nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
• Nutrition during infancy.
• Nutrition in childhood.
• Nutrition in adolescence.
• Nutrition in adulthood.
• Nutrition in aging.
• Nutrition and sports.

Brief description

The core concepts of sport and exercise physiology and the application to sport and exercise.

Indicative content:

• Fundamentals of bioenergetics: The core concepts of energy production during exercise, examining the interaction of the different energy systems during exercise and how these change with inactivity.
• Neurological adaptations to exercise: How the body adapts to different types of exercise (endurance, resistance and high intensity).
• Cardiovascular adaptations to endurance training: How the cardiovascular system adapts to ensure training and how this can influence performance.
• Fatigue: Neuromuscular and skeletal muscle fatigue and the potential mechanisms resulting in the development of fatigue.
• Physiological testing: Physiological tests used routinely for health assessment and their limitations. How to carry out different physiological tests and analyse and interpret the results.

Brief description

An introduction to the basic concepts and importance of physical activity for health and wellbeing.

Module content:

• Health correlates and determinants: Introduction to factors that underpin health with a focus on the Dahlgen and Whitehead model.
• Role and importance of physical activity and health: An introduction to the role and importance of physical activity in contemporary society.
• Pricniples of strength and conditioning training for programme design: The key concepts and fundamental principlesof S&C for the general population. These include how to conduct an appropriate needs analysis and how this process informs the construction and implementation of basic programme designs in the context of health and wellbeing.

Brief description

The opportunity to lead, develop and/or support the delivery of physical activity sessions to school pupils in Dundee. Engage with a range of employers from the Sport and Fitness industry to gain insight into the requirements of particular roles. These experiences should enable you to develop a career plan for future employment.

Indicative content:

• Planning and delivering activity sessions: Session planning; managing time/resources/people; working within a team; Active Schools/Positive Coaching Scotland training; managing challenging behaviour; developing diversity competence; Growth Mindset; contemporary issues in the sport and fitness industry.
• Personal Development Planning (PDP): Completing SWOT analyses; personal objective/goal setting; action planning; electronic PDPs.
• Reflective practice: Application of models of reflective practice; guided reflection to highlight learning; making theory− practice links; career planning.
• Articulating skill development: Using electronic platforms and oral media to promote knowledge and skills to external audiences in the context of employability; careers/external speaker workshops.

Brief description

The concepts of public health, development of public health policy and key public health issues. The fundamentals of epidemiology.

Indicative content:

• Food and nutrition policy: Framework of national and local policy and guidelines; models of good practice.
• Health policy and public health: What is health policy? State intervention in health. Development of Green Papers/White Papers/Guidelines for health/Targets and implementation. Influences of global health policy. Structure of public health agencies.
• Policy implementation: Implementation of food and nutrition policy in educational establishments, community food initiatives, local authorities and health services.
• Fundamentals of epidemiology: e.g. concept, measuring disease frequency, study designs for public health.

Brief description

Introduction to the key social issues in physical activity and health contexts.

Indicative content:

• Interdisciplinary nature of social sciences: The ways in which various disciplines within social science help us to understand and explain issues relating to physical activity and health (e.g., sociology of sport, sociology of health and illness, epidemiology, sport development, sport history).
• Critically engage with the notion of ‘healthy’ lifestyles: Question the construction of ‘healthy’ living.
• Research topics within the social sciences: Make connections between the approaches/findings of physical activity and health research and how these inform debates around agency structure.
• Political ideology and social inequalities: Question the ways in which health and physical activity participation are framed by political ideologies and consider how and why this influences social inequalities.
• Qualitative methodologies: Qualitative research and how it has developed our understanding of physical activity and health.

Years 1 and 2 Elective Modules

You must study and pass one elective module of your choosing

Brief description

Introduction of the concept of smart cities - hard infrastructure, social capital including local skills and community institutions, and digital technologies to fuel sustainable economic development and provide an attractive environment for all.

Module content:

• Social impacts
  There is an overall need for theoretical and methodological plurality in how we assess the impact and value of future cities in terms for individual and societal well−being. Gaps in our understanding relate to the complex ways individuals and groups engage with built and natural settings, the cultural goods and consequent benefits that may arise and the inequalities associated with these cultural benefits.
   
• Security

Different types of cyber-attacks that could be launched against a Smart City. Impact of cyber-attacks. Approaches to securing the smart grid and critical infrastructure, i.e. improving cyber resilience.

• Sustainable urban food production

Includes the long established allotments movement to large scale projects based on sustainability throughout the food chain. Urban food production includes the long established allotments movement. The demand for urban growing also responds to the densification and intensification of living areas, due to population rise, migration and demographic aging with lower housing and ‘garden’ space standards placing greater importance on collective production.

• Energy, waste and water

At present, water and wastewater facilities are often the largest and most energy intensive responsibilities owned and operated by local governments, representing up to 35% of municipal energy use. Future cities will need to utilise more sustainable methods of water and waste water management and renewable energy production.

• Digital technologies

Digital technologies will play a major role in creating sustainable and resilient cities offering a vehicle for more inclusive decision−making process and promoting dialog amongst architects, urban planners, the public and technologists.

Brief description

Develop a range of skills, knowledge and techniques within the natural, technological and social sciences relevant to the study of environmental sustainability and life in the twenty-first century. Understand the critical issues that confront humanity and begin to discern appropriate responses.

Module content:

• The Challenge of Sustainable Development
  Problems associated with life in the 21st Century and the relationship to scientific provisionalism and uncertainty are discussed.
   
• The Genesis of Sustainable Development Concept
  Developments associated with the Club of Rome are outlined while Limits to Growth and the Tragedy of the Commons are discussed.
   
• Evolution of Sustainable Development
  The Reo Summit and Suitability, and Policy Developments thereof will be discussed.
   
• Scientific Inquiry and Sustainable Development
  We will look at controversial issues like climate change, oil peak, and food production and the role of science in helping delimit them as problematic will be outlined.
   
• Mainstreaming Sustainability
  Sustainability and Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience, as individual and social concerns, will be evaluated. And their role in transformation will be discussed.
   
• Communicating Sustainability
  Human well-being, Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy and the practicalities of Sustainability in Scotland are discussed.
   
• Sustainable Development in Practice
  Community Empowerment associated with Land Reform. Energy Production and Food Production in Tayside are looked at.
   
• Ethics and Sustainability Policy
  Active citizenship and Globalisation are discussed.
   
• Innovating Locally, Transforming Globally
  Transformations that are required to embrace Sustainability will be analysed and discussed.
   
• Active Relationship for Sustainable Futures
  Thinking Globally, acting locally.

Brief description

Develop critical thinking skills that form the basis for progression across the academic disciplines of the university. Learn how to recognise, construct, evaluate, criticise and defend different forms of argument.

Module content:

• Potential 'Timeless' Debates
  Debates delivered by internal and external experts on: e.g. existence of God; privacy and civil society; private property; money as source of 'evil'; nature/nurture; free speech; pornography; capital punishment; prostitution; animal experimentation; meaning of justice; abortion; affirmative action; just war; trade union power; good life/good political community; human nature; monarchy; value of democracy; meaning of equality; citizenship rights etc.
   
• Potential 'Timely' Debates
  Debates delivered by internal and external experts on: eg, Scottish independence, academic freedom; drug legalisation; drug use in sport; immigration; free health care; war on terror; EU membership; euthanasia; progressive taxation; race and gender discrimination; gay marriage; human rights; politics/sport; global warming; internet censorship; nuclear power; education league tables; nuclear weapons; GM agriculture; religion; cloning; fair trade; value of contemporary culture; etc.
   
• Critical Thinking Seminars
  Follow-up discursive discipline specific seminar sessions led by teaching staff on topics covered in formal debates. Students are tutored to identify types of argument presented, evaluate perspectives and to reflect upon their own reasoning processes and value assumptions. The debates and seminars facilitate a foundation for the acquisition of graduate attributes.
   
• WEB CT Wiki Discussion Forum
  Students will be required to work in small groups to write a short 800 word indicative "Thinking Summary" online Wiki of the arguments presented in each debate. These summaries will be constructed by each designated Thinking Group of three students using the Wiki facility on Blackboard which will facilitate further discussion on the moderated WEB CT discussion forum.

Brief description

The social, managerial, economic, political, and technical challenges and opportunities associated with emerging renewable energy innovation, production, supply and consumption.

Module content:

• Renewable Energy Nontechnical Challenges and Opportunities
  Social and political challenges and opportunities of renewable energy production supply and consumption. Economic and environmental challenges of renewable energy production supply and consumption. Strategic and managerial challenges of renewable energy production supply and consumption.
   
• Renewable Energy Technological challenges and opportunities
  Geotechnical, Geophysical and Hydrographic information; Knowledge of sources of hydrographic information and interpretation of published charts. Forces on structures; Appreciation of the various forces acting on marine structures. Technical limitations and challenges of energy distribution systems and energy storage. Current technological development trend, collaborative innovation in renewable energy.

Brief description

An understanding of the concepts of tolerance, and the importance of making sound ethical decisions. Develop the qualities, characteristics and skills to meet the aspiration for Abertay graduates to become global and active citizens. 

Module content:

• Introduction to equality and ethics legislation equality and ethics legislation.
   
• Diversity competence; moral/ethical reasoning Inclusiveness, equal opportunities, positive action, Reasonable Adjustment, moral/ethical reasoning.
   
• Attributes for the workplace and for global citizenship.
   
• Reflective Practice Application of models of reflective practice.
   
• Contemporary Issues.

Brief description

Learn how to adjust language to suit context. Analyse a range of linguistic issues, including “proper English”, how language can be used to create moral panics, and the ethics of communication.

Module content:

• Good English": the role of standardisation, dialect and idiolect − how we choose language to reflect our identities and our role in a speech or discourse community.

• Language and influence: how the media constructs narratives to persuade or inform the audience (and how to tell the difference).

• Creating a narrative across genres: the conventions, freedoms and limitations of different forms; using these forms in new ways.

• Narrative changes over time: how authors reinvent old stories to reflect current concerns.

• Technical writing: the use and manipulation of data; hearing the author's voice; critiquing "bad science".

• The ethics of communication: (electronic) media and ownership, attribution and theft.

Brief description

“Personal” digital safety to make computer security fun, practical and eye-opening.  Learn the base knowledge that will continue to be relevant to future generations of devices.

Module content:

• Current state of computer security. An overview including legal aspects.
   
• Cyber-attacks, vulnerabilities and threats Malware, Network attacks (denial of service, packet sniffing etc.), bots and rootkits. How the bad guys can obtain your password.
   
• Information Leakage, recovery and forensics recovering deleted or corrupted files. What your browser knows about you. Web browser forensics.
   
• Securing networks, accounts and devices Defence against malware, honeypots, Secure protocols, intrusion detection, Password security, Mobile device security
   
• Human aspects of cyber security The Psychology of Hackers, Social Engineering, identity theft, Usability vs security.
   
• Breaking the code. An introduction to cryptography, Encryption and Decryption, public and private keys, the key exchange problem.
   
• History of Cryptography The Caesar cipher, polyalphabetic ciphers, the Playfair cipher, the role of Enigma and the Bletchley Park cryptographers in WWII
   
• Computers and Crypto Diffie-Hellman and RSA encryption. Phil Zimmerman and “Pretty Good Protection". Quantum Cryptography – Provably unbreakable information hiding. Mathematical Underpinnings – Large prime numbers and why they matter.
   
• Steganography A picture's worth a thousand words when you're hiding the wood in the trees.
   
• The Law, Society and Cryptography Why you can be imprisoned for forgetting your password. The Civil Liberties Arguments for and against strong-crypto. International perspectives on information hiding, information freedom, the right to privacy and the conflicts between these. Are unbreakable cyphers an unqualified “good thing”?

Brief description

Develop perspectives on the key challenges faced by humankind such as environmental change, pollution, food security, energy provision, conflicts, terrorism, emerging diseases, and changing demographics. Understand the overwhelming complexity of the problems and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to create solutions.

Module content:

• Interdisciplinary research
  Introductory lectures will discuss the definitions, methods, benefits, challenges, and drawbacks of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches and the role of public policy influencing research
   
• Global Challenges
  Challenges will be introduced from different disciplines. Indicative examples include: − Climate Change: causes and impact – Serious Games: science and application of visualization and games − Global Security − Valuing ecosystems: balancing policy, economics and environment − Contemporary challenges to healthy living − Food security: global threats and local needs – Energy Poverty – Space Travel.

Brief description

Design an activity to communicate and present scientific principles to primary school children. Learn about working as a group and how to communicate complex ideas.

Module content:

• Developing a Science Communication activity
  Target audience, sources of information to identify suitable activities (CfE documentation etc.), health and safety, issues around working with specific groups, accessibility, ethics, costing and sustainability.
   
• The landscape of engagement and current practice
  Types of public engagement activities, target audiences, funding, role of learned societies universities and other bodies. Public engagement in Dundee and Tayside.

Brief description

Work in a team to develop game design concepts for serious applications. Gain the knowledge, processes and techniques of game design and study examples of serious games developed to benefit society.

Module content:

•    Overview of Games
A brief history of games, game art and gamification.

•    Games for change
Understanding how games can benefit society.

•    Game mechanics
Deconstructing core components of popular game genres.

•    Gameplay constructs
What is gameplay and how is this broken down and communicated within the game design.

•    The game design process
Conceptualisation, iteration, phases of workflow.

•    Game design theory and practice
Identifying the elements within effective design and how they are implemented.

•    Documenting the design interactive
Oriented design, technical design, capturing requirements.

•    Business models
Exploring methods that can be used to generate revenue within the game design.

Brief description

Develop the knowledge and awareness required to make good career decisions and the skills and confidence to successfully navigate each stage of the recruitment process for graduate jobs.

Module content:

• Developing self-awareness
  Profiling of personal strengths, values and priorities in relation to career choice.
   
• Developing opportunity awareness
  Generating career ideas based on your personal profile; Exploring the range of graduate opportunities within job sectors of interest; Reviewing occupations that are directly related to your own subject discipline.
   
• Developing a career action plan
  Matching your personal profile with best fit opportunities in the job market; Creating a timeline of actions to improve your prospects of meeting your aim.
   
• Developing job seeking skills
  Sourcing suitable job opportunities - both advertised and unadvertised; Creating a professional image online; Identifying the skills and qualities employers look for in graduates; Learning how to produce targeted applications for specific job roles; Practising the presentation of your strengths and motivations in face to face selection activities.

Brief description

Learn about natural disaster such as landslides and flooding, structural disasters such as the Tay Rail Bridge and the system of critical infrastructure (such as road, rail, air and shipping transport networks, power grid, gas and water networks, health system) that constitute the backbone of modern societies.

Module content:

• Overview of the scope and the content of concept of critical infrastructure failure during natural disasters and resilience against such failures
  the consequences of geophysical, hydrological and meteorological disasters on critical infrastructure and critical infrastructure protection capabilities against natural disasters. Interdependencies of critical infrastructures during large disasters, presents a brief review of current research being done in this field, and presents a methodology to address interdependencies.
   
• The identification of the vulnerabilities of the critical systems
  The critical systems upon which modern society, economy, and polity depend. The identification of the vulnerabilities of these systems threats that might exploit these vulnerabilities. The effort to develop techniques to mitigate these vulnerabilities through improved design.
   
• Flooding in Scotland
  general overview of fluvial, pluvial and coastal flooding, the structural, economic and societal impact and responses to flooding. Resources will include historical examples, current policies and information (including SEPA flood maps). Case study (with virtual/actual field visit?) the Perth Floods of 1990 and 1993 and the Perth flood defence scheme*
   
• Landslide origins, types and mitigations
  General overview what landslides are, why they happen and what can be done to prevent them.
   
• Structural Failure
  e.g. why did the Tay Bridge fails and what did the failure mean for the Forth Rail Bridge
   
• Reports and investigations
  the role of reports in accident and disaster investigations in creating informative reports; case studies of accidents, disasters, learning from history, learning from case studies, learning from common law
   
• Case studies
  Power System Blackouts, Smart Grids and self-healing systems. Nuclear Plant Emergency How Would the Public Respond?

Brief description

Introduction to the skills and knowledge needed to launch a small business successfully. This module will define and help you acquire the personal and professional skills needed to develop a professional career and/or to succeed as entrepreneurs in Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Module content:

• Understanding entrepreneurship.
   
• Generating successful business ideas.
   
• Environmental scanning.
   
• Developing a credible business plan that includes evaluating business ideas.
   
• Presenting the business idea.

Brief description

Learn how we approach and understand mental health, from historic, social, therapeutic, and individual perspectives. Explore questions such as ‘what is madness?’, ‘how does society position people with mental illness?’, and ‘how do we best respond to challenges to our mental health?’

Module content:

• Historical and cultural perspective on mental illness
  How do we ‘think’ about mental health, and mental ill health?
   
• Diagnosis and the anti-psychiatry movement
  Who holds the power to decide what is normal in terms of psychological well-being and behaviour?
   
• Gender, culture and mental health
  How gendered cultural expectations and representations influence how we respond to mental health issues.
   
• Media representations
  The impact of film and literature on attitudes and understandings of mental health.
   
• Resilience, treatment and recovery
  Common mental health problems in the UK, treatment and management, and frameworks for enhancing well-being and resilience.

Brief description

An introduction to the wide range of disciplines in forensic investigation. Learn how crimes are investigated from the moment of reporting through to the presentation of the evidence in court. A hypothetical case study provides an over-arching framework in which to explore the critical aspects of forensic investigations. It involves not only physical and electronic evidence, but also statements from witnesses, suspects and victims which requires cross discipline collaboration of professionals.

Module content:

• Crime Scene Investigation
  How a crime scene is examined in the context of incomplete contextual information and to avoid loss or contamination of evidence and the maximising of the value of evidential material.
   
• Media Involvement
  Positive and negative effects of the media/public interest in the crime.
   
• Forensic Biology
  Examination and evidential value of body fluids, DNA, hairs and fibres.
   
• Forensic Chemistry
  Analysis for drugs, toxicological analysis, firearms, explosives, and trace evidence.
   
• Digital Sources
  Evidence from CCT, mobile phones, computer hardware, on−line behaviour.
   
• Forensic Reasoning and Practice
  An introduction to forensic problem solving, thinking styles, case assessment and interpretation.
   
• Psychology of Witnesses and Suspects
  False confessions, offender profiling, effects and avoidance of cognitive bias in forensic science through process design.

Year 3 Core Modules

You must study and pass all five core modules

Brief description

Research tools and theoretical enquiry into consumer-oriented reasons for poor dietary choices and the potential technical and psychological solutions..

Indicative content:

• Satiety/pbesity and CVD explored in terms of drivers of consumption: Genetic and ageing differences in sensory perception explored. Supertasters (Bitter reception/fat taste - CD36). Chewing strategies and satiety. Biomarkers, hormones and receptors, e.g., satiety cognitive factors, sociological approach.
• Research methods: Methodological review of techniques - strengths and weaknesses. Working knowledge on a variety of basic report writing skills. Accuracy, data presentation and analysis. Experimental critique and report structure.
• Solutions/interventions: The investigation of psychological, medical and technical solutions.

Brief description

The different factors that can interfere with nutrients in the body. Study interactions of nutrients with other components (non-nutrient food components, gene and drug interactions). Learn about the methods used for assessment of the nutritional status and nutritional genomics.

Indicative content:

• Introduction to nutritional genomics: Genetic fundamentals. Genetics and nutrition (Nutrigenomics & Nutrigenetics).
• Food-Drug interactions: Drug use and nutritional status. Drug effects on Food and Nutrients. Food and nutrient effects on drugs. Alcohol (as a drug)- absorption, metabolism and effects on health.
• Non-nutrient components in foods: Bioactives and their metabolic activity. Main classes of anti-nutrients and their effect on nutrient’s bioavailability. Adverse reactions to Food/Food components.
• Functional Foods: Definition of Functional Foods and their health benefits. Functional Foods (Prebiotics and Probiotics). Functional Components.
• Laboratory data in nutrition assessment: Indicators of protein-energy malnutrition (undernutrition- starvation and chronic undernutrition). Inflammation and biochemical assessment. Markers of vitamins status (overview of function and deficiency) 5.4 – Markers of iron status (overview of function and deficiency).

Brief description

The aetiology, physiology and pathophysiology of obesity and the principal non-communicable diseases that affect the human body and impact upon lifestyle and lifespan.

Indicative content:

• Pathophysiology of obesity: Critical overview of the pathophysiology of obesity and its exacerbation by physical inactivity.
• Pathophysiology of Type II diabetes: Critical overview of the pathophysiology of Type II diabetes and its exacerbation by physical inactivity.
• Pathophysiology of cardiovascular: Critical overview of the pathophysiology of Cardiovascular disease and its exacerbation by physical inactivity.
• Pathophysiology of cancer: Critical overview of the pathophysiology of cancer and its exacerbation by physical inactivity.

Brief description

Develop ideas about research in sport, exercise, physical activity and health to enable you to better understand and appreciate published research, and design your own research project in year 4.

Indicative content:

• The research process: The steps associated with planning and conducting a research process.
• Formulating and refining research questions: How research ideas are questions are generated and refined.
• Research methodologies: Various research methodologies (e.g., quantitative, qualitative and mixed−methods) to develop an appreciation of diverse approaches to research in sport, exercise, physical activity and health.
• Ethical issues: The key ethical issues associated with research in sport, exercise, physical activity and health.
• Practical skill development: Opportunities to develop practical research skills in your chosen discipline area.

Year 3 Option Modules

You must study and pass one option module of your choosing 

Brief description

The health benefits of physical activity and its potential function in disease prevention, treatment and role in promoting and maintaining public health.

Module content:

• Relationship between physical activity and health: Physical activity and disease mortality morbidity. Historical perspective to present day.
• Epidemiology of physical activity: Concepts and methods in physical activity epidemiology. Epidemiological measures.
• Variations in health status: Influence of age, gender, social status, education.
• Determinants of participation in physical activity: Challenges of engaging people in physical activity.
• Physical activity recommendations
• Place and emphasis of physical activity in health policy: Identified role of physical activity in policies to promote health. Developing role, adoption and promotion of physical activity as a tool to promote health of the nation.
• Role of physical activity in promoting physical and menta health: Physical and mental health benefits of regular participation in physical activity.

Brief description

Acute and chronic outcomes of training to improve health and how to assess these outcomes using physiological tests. How to use the results of testing data to schedule exercise programmes.

Module content:

• Acute and chronic adaptation to training: How the different physiological systems in the body adapt, both in the short term and longer term, to training.
• Cellular physiology: Some of the cellular adaptations that occur in the body in response to training.
• Training for heath: How to explain such adaptations through exercise training.
• Testing for change: A range of suitable tests to measure change in the body from a health related viewpoint.

Brief description

Undertake a work placement and gain structured and practical experience in your own particular area of the sports industry in your chosen discipline that will enhance your employability. 

Module content:

• Career pathways: Reflect on your prospective career path, identifying strengths and limitations that can be addressed to enhance career progression.
• Understanding the prospective work environment and organisation: Identify appropriate organisations and opportunities for enhancing your own continued professional development. Engage in organising of an appropriate work placement (with staff guidance) to enhance your ability to find and apply for appropriate employment.
• Work placement: Undergo an appropriate work placement, which aligns with your study programme. It will be within a prospective work environment, which enhances your ability to progress within your selected career pathway.

Brief description

Introduction to health issues high on the policy agenda and the ways in which participation in physical activity can be and is promoted as a way of addressing them.

Module content:

• Defining health: The different ways in which health can and will be defined.
• Complexity of health promotion in contemporary society: The ways in which health promotion has the potential to both reduce and exacerbate existing social inequalities.
• Physical activity, its determinants and importance for health promotion: The factors that influence physical activity and its fundamental role in health promotion.
• Critical engagement with the obesity ‘epidemic’: Why obesity is prioritised on the health policy agenda.
• Health promotion, physical activity and the environment: The environmental factors that influence the promotion of health and physical activity participation.

Year 4 Core Modules

You must study and pass all five core modules

Brief description

Nutritional epidemiology and its importance in disease prevention. The methods used in nutritional epidemiology with its limitations and benefits. Information related to design, implementation and analysis of epidemiologic studies that address questions of dietary intake and nutritional status.

Indicative content:

• Nutritional and physical activity assessment methods - revision and limitations.
• Nutrition epidemiology – an overview.
• Study designs in nutritional epidemiology.
• Biomarkers in nutritional epidemiology.
• Methods to establish link between diet and chronic diseases.
• Measuring exposure and outcomes.
• Biostatistics (applied to nutritional epidemiology).
• Significance of evaluation of nutrition in maintaining and driving public health agendas.

Brief description

The role of physical activity for special populations. How participation in physical activity has the potential to enhance physical, social and mental health and well−being. The challenges of getting different population groups to engage in physical activity.

Indicative content:

• Guidelines: Population physical activity guidelines.
• Benefits: Physical, social and mental health benefits associated with physical activity.
• Needs and challenges: Identification of physical activity needs and challenges associated with engaging different groups in physical activity.
• Participation: Examine participation trends associated with different populations.
• Exploration of attitudes, beliefs and values: Exploration of attitudes, beliefs and values of different populations regarding physical activity.

Brief description

Design and carry out and an independent research project in an area of sport, health or physical activity.

Indicative content:

• Research project topics: Select your research project topics with staff. Be allocated a supervisory tutor within the Division.
• Supervisory sessions which cover: The identification of a research question; necessary elements of research design; the approach needed to prepare for and complete the research project; a range of appropriate research methods; appropriate statistical analyses; the structure of the research report; the interpretation of the research results; possible or probable conclusions; and the writing of the report.

Brief description

The role of nutrition in the prevention and management of a variety of diseases.

Module content:

• Risk factors for major causes of illness: Use of epidemiological and intervention studies to characterise risk factors for major causes of morbidity and mortality.
• Principles of the management of diseases: cancer, anaemia, diabetes type 2, gastrointestinal disorders; metabolic disorders.
• Role of nutrition in the prevention of diseases.
• Dietary intervention strategies.
• Nutrition support (e.g. enteral and parenteral nutrition).

Brief description

Gain the theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge and begin developing the expertise to evaluate lifestyles, identify and apply appropriate modification techniques in physical activity and health.

Module content:

• Theory: Effective communication. Self-awareness. Listening skills.
• Management skills: Practicalities of management, administration and organisation of client.
• Behaviour change: Identify Influences on behaviour. Understanding and assessing behaviour. Individual behaviour and motivation. Determinants and factors that impact on behaviour and motivation.
• Time management: Aspects of time management. Changing time management. Effective planning.
• Goal setting: Identifying Goals. Developing Practical Realistic goals. Short long term goals. Achieving goals.
• Behaviour change models: Models of behaviour change. Social cognitive theory, relapse prevention model, ecological theories of behaviour, stages of readiness. Moderators mediators of change. Behaviour change process.
• Promoting adherence: Self efficacy. Social Support. Behaviour change skills, Impact of habitual behaviour, Factors that affect adherence. Overcoming barriers.