CONTEMPORARY STUDIES IN NUTRITION, FOOD AND EXERCISE - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module supports all students in starting their journey toward becoming an informed and effective professional, in the ever-evolving landscape of modern food, health and exercise science.

Students will explore subject-specific content in their respective course cohorts. This includes contemporary topics, focusing on persistent misconceptions, current issues, and essential skills for success in their field. This will inform an exciting assessment format, whereby students will work in groups to develop a promotional video for a food, health, or exercise product, using contemporary scientific research and information technology.

Students will also explore core content as one larger cohort. This includes essential knowledge required to succeed in both their studies and their professional field of practice. This will require all students to draw upon their own core knowledge, their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, and their strengths and weaknesses, in order to take full advantage of the personal and professional development opportunities available. This will be realised in the written coursework assessment, where students must analyse and reflect on a peer’s work, their own development, and their future developmental needs.

Completion of this module will support the student transition to subsequent modules and levels of study, particularly where they are required to interpret scientific research, problem solve, work with others and use information technology.

Module provider

School of Biosciences

Module Leader

CIZMIC Harri (Biosciences)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Core indicative content:

• Finding, reading and interpreting research


• Statistics and data analysis


• Information dissemination


• Critical thinking & developing arguments


• Communication skills (physical, verbal, written)


• Professional development and being ‘effective’

Subject-specific indicative content:

• The role of a nutritionist / dietitian / food scientist / sport & exercise scientist


• Contemporary topics


• Common misconceptions


• Careers and career development


• Simulation suite sessions


• Professional portfolio and clinical governance

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Data will be provided for coursework if the practical is missed.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate the essential knowledge and skills required to be successful in their studies and professional lives.

In the first assessment, students will work in groups to develop a contemporary product that pertains to food, health or exercise, which they will market via a social media video containing supporting scientific evidence that they have independently sourced.

In the second assessment, students will produce a 2-part written piece based on 1) a review of a peer group’s product (from the first assessment), and 2) a reflective piece based on their own professional development during the module.

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

 

Group oral presentation (40%), addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 4, 5, 6, & 8:

Create a 60-second TikTok video designed to promote a food, health, or exercise product. These products will be pre-determined and will include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Barefoot running shoes


• Compression garments


• Altitude training


• Organic food diet


• Ketogenic diet

 

AND

 

Coursework (60%), addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7:

A 1500-word assignment, consisting of two parts:

Part 1:

A 750-word review of a peer group’s TikTok promo video, using the following guidance:

1. A brief description of the product (100 words)


2. Scientific evidence supporting the product (250 words)


3. Scientific evidence refuting the product / it’s supporting evidence (250 words)


4. Conclusion and recommendations (150 words)


5. Reference list

Part 2:

A 750-word reflective piece based on professional development workshops held during the module.

 

Formative assessment

The formative assessments on this module are designed to allow students to:

• Demonstrate the ability to work as a group


• Prepare and deliver a project to a timeline


• Evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses


• Set goals and establish priorities


• Undertake simple research tasks with external guidance

These formative assessments will be available to students throughout the module via tutorials and workshops, where aspects of the assessments will be simulated.

 

Feedback

There will be an assessment tutorial where student groups will be given the opportunity to submit a draft version of their group oral presentation (Tiktok video). Teaching staff will review all submissions and provide general feedback to the group, and peer-feedback will be encouraged during the session.

In addition, general feedback will be delivered throughout the module via:

• Verbal feedback following lectures or during tutorials.


• Verbal feedback from academics or demonstrators during practicals.


• Written feedback to specific queries via email, with responses being made available to all via SurreyLearn or during tutorials as appropriate generic class feedback.

 

Module aims

• Introduce students to contemporary topics in their respective field(s)
• Develop key academic and professional skills in preparation for effective study and workplace practices
• Develop a critical awareness of contemporary food, health, and exercise products and practices, including their promotion on social media
• Dispel pseudoscientific claims and myths
• Inspire an appreciation of the true knowledge and wonder that science can afford in food, health and exercise sciences

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Students are expected to engage with weekly lectures where the topics and themes for the week will be introduced. These will be delivered in person, online, and via ‘on demand’ recorded content. Each weekly topic will be supported by tutorials and/or practicals to further explore new concepts, practice new skills, and allow for discussion, and put theory into practice, all of which are important dimensions of learning on this module.

Students are also expected to attend professional development workshops, which will run concurrently with the scheduled teaching sessions mentioned above. Peer-based learning will be utilised in these sessions, due to its value in fostering professional knowledge and behaviours. These workshops will include important preparatory work for the written coursework assessment and contribute to a mutually supportive learning environment. They will also highlight areas of knowledge where additional reading is required, in order to encourage students to take responsibility for their own development. Taking ownership of learning is also fundamental for successful progression on placement and throughout working life

Outside of taught sessions, students are also actively encouraged to support each other's learning via the SurreyLearn module discussion forum. Here they can contribute to discussion boards, with guided moderation from staff on the module. SurreyLearn will be used to extensively to support communication between staff and students, and disseminate specific contents such as lecture hand-outs and recordings, useful links, and additional literature.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: BMS1059

Other information

Employability: A key theme in this module is professional development. Students are introduced to various content and tools which will allow them to explore key markers of professional ‘effectiveness’, which is crucial to a student’s employability and, ultimately, their workplace practices. In addition, the field trip for this module is intended to provide students with ample opportunity to meet and network with professionals in the food, health and exercise sphere, which will lay the contextual foundation for the rest of the module.

Digital Capabilities: Students are encouraged to communicate with one another and work together in groups, utilising collaborative tools (e.g. WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace) - this is especially important in preparation for the Group Oral Presentation (TikTok video). As with all modules, students are expected to engage with online material and resources via SurreyLearn, and other digital platforms. Following a flipped classroom approach, students are advised to view digital learning material in advance of tutorials.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The learning, teaching and assessment strategy for this module has been designed to encourage active participation, peer support and reflective engagement. Students are encouraged to self-evaluate and reflect on their own performance and that of their peers. Formative assessments and feedback practices provide an opportunity for students to make mistakes and learn from the experience, building confidence and self-efficacy. Formative and summative assessments are designed to ‘feed forward’ to assessments within this module and to future modules in the programme.

 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.