HSN719 - Assessment Methods for Nutrition and Physical

Activity Research

Assessment task 2: Individual written report

Requirements: Written report (1500 words excluding the reference section, tables, and figure/photo
legends and footnotes) Any words over 1500 will not be marked)

Due: Tuesday 19th December 2017, 11:59PM (Melbourne Time)

Assessment weighting: Worth 30% of your final unit grade

Assignment details
Prepare a written report discussing how you would assess the physical activity profile of a group of
150 children aged 10-12 years. These children are from an urban mixed school in metropolitan
Melbourne, with many of the children from ethnic minority groups.

In doing so, consider at least 2 methods of physical activity assessment in your assignment.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the methods of physical activity assessment that you
are using.

Assignment format
 You must submit the assignment in Word.
 Cover page with name, student ID, unit code and word count
 Word count should be 1500 (excluding the reference section, tables, and figure/photo legends
and footnotes)
 Your assignment should be well structured and preferably use headings
 Your assignment should follow Deakin University’s guidelines for report writing.
(http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/academic-resources/report-writing)

The following points need to be covered in your assignment:

Introduction
 Give a title to the report
 Briefly describe ‘physical activity assessment’ in general
 Briefly describe target group (children). Consider what children’s physical activity patterns like
and what the typical patterns of physical activity of ethnic minority groups are.
 Briefly introduce appropriate methods for assessing physical activity in the specific target
group
 Briefly state the aim of the report

Discussion
 Discussion of two methods chosen to measure physical activity in children

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  Give details of the method (eg who, what, when, where). And why is it suitable to the target
audience? How will the method be executed i.e. who is involved, where will this take place,
how long will this be done for and importantly-the reasons for this (based on research)
 Advantages and disadvantages of method (eg reliability, validity, measurement errors and
practicality/applicability)-use your references to support these arguments
 Appropriate reference to published literature is incorporated into discussion. This is where you
apply critical thinking- on limitations, what worked, what did not and give reasons for your
rationale.
 Discussion of the interpretation of the results (what results will you get from each method) to
relevant reference values/population norms
 Discuss what the actual relevant reference values are and what the current population norms
are.
 You need to show clear evidence of critical thinking: discuss strengths and weaknesses of
studies and incorporated their critique with the strengths and limitations of the assessment
methods.
 Note: *Please note this part of the assignment is worth 60% of the assignment so read the
criteria carefully to ensure you answer it adequately.

Conclusion
 A summary of the main concepts relating to your chosen methods, summarising why these
methods are the most suitable and appropriate for this target group.
 A conclusion is not where you bring in new ideas or address anything in more depth. You
reaffirm in a few sentences your main arguments from your assignment in 2-3 sentences or
so.

References
 Support the statements and claims with references. It is critical to state where you obtained
the information from and to provide your work with some credibility.
 References are from appropriate sources, current and accurately cited
 Appropriate citation style (Vancouver) in text and reference list.

How to upload your assignment on CloudDeakin

You are able to submit the assignment up until 11:59PM (Melbourne time) on the due date –
assignments submitted after this time without an approved extension will incur late penalties. To
submit your assignment, follow the steps below.

1. Click on Assignments (Dropbox) of this unit’s CloudDeakin site which can be found in the menu
under the Assessment tab

2. Click on the hyperlink for the assignment that you wish to submit

3. On the next screen, you only need to click on the Add a File button and then browse to where your
assignment is from the Upload button and then click the Add button on the bottom of the screen.

4. Once you can see your file has been added directly under the Add a File button, you can click the
Submit button on the bottom right-hand of the screen (there is no need to add any text to the
Comments box)

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After getting to the confirmation screen, please resist the temptation to send me an email ‘just to
check I got your assignment’ as you can always go back into the assignment dropbox screen and
your submission will be able to be viewed by clicking on the number in the ‘Submissions’ column.

I’ve submitted my assignment early and now would like to make changes to it and upload a
new version before the due date: can I do this?
Yes, the upload system is set to allow you to upload a new submission which will overwrite (erase)
what was there previously. It doesn’t matter what file name you give the revised assignment, it will still
overwrite the previous submission. I only process the assignments after the due date has passed so
you can upload as many versions as you like prior to the due date

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 Preparing the written report

Your written report can be presented in any format you choose that would be appropriate for a
professional report so you have some scope for creativity and layout, although it is mainly the
scientific content you will be assessed on as per the marking criteria following.

Required information on the first page of the written report: Your name, student ID and word
count.

Use the Marking Criteria following to guide how much detail is expected for each part of the
assignment based on the word limit. There are a total of 30 marks available for the written report and
it counts towards 30% of your overall final unit grade.

Word Limit: 1500 words (excluding the reference section, tables, and figure/photo legends and
footnotes). Any words over 1500 will not be read and consequently not marked. The strict word limit is
in place to ensure equity in assessment between students as marking of the assignment allows for the
realistic depth a person can go into within the word limit.

Performance levels
Assessment
Criteria Not yet
Accomplished Achieving Developing
demonstrated
Provides clear 4 marks 3 marks 2 marks 1-0 marks
and concise
Provides a concise and Provides a relevant Provides an introduction Introduction may be
background
relevant introduction to introduction to physical to physical activity incomplete,
information physical activity activity assessment in assessment but may have inaccurate or
assessment in general general vague statements irrelevant.

Describes the target group
Clearly introduces and
outlines the physical
activity methods
appropriate for that target
group supported by logical
reasoning and peer
reviewed literature
Describes the target group
Introduces and outlines
the physical activity
methods appropriate for
that target group
supporting some of
statements with peer
reviewed literature
Describes the target group The physical activity
methods are
Outlines the physical inappropriate for
activity methods that target group or
appropriate for that have been vaguely
target group but lacks introduced and no
details and reasoning. references have been
Or not sufficient used to back up the
references have been claims/ statements
used to support
statements

Gives a clear and 1 marks 1 marks 1 marks 0 marks

relevant title to Gives a clear and relevant Gives a clear and relevant Gives a clear and relevant A clear and relevant
the report title to the report title to the report title to the report title is not given

Outlines the aim 2 marks 2 marks 1 marks 0 marks

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of the report The aim/s of the report is
clearly outlined
Select the two 6 marks
suitable methods Selects and describes two
of physical methods for physical
activity activity assessment in
assessment in the sufficient detail
target group
Gives clear, logical and
justifying your
persuasive rationale for
choice of why the method is suitable
methods to the target audience
Assessment method is
described in detail (i.e. who
is involved, where will this
take place, how long will
this be done for) and
supported by peer reviewed
references
Critique of 6 marks
methods of PA Discusses the advantages
assessment and disadvantages of the 2
chosen assessment
methods including
reliability, validity,
measurement errors and
practicality/applicability in
an expert manner showing
understanding of methods,
their limitations and ability
to critically evaluate the
methods
Use highly relevant and
sufficient peer reviewed
references to support these
arguments
Analyse results 2 marks
with reference to
Provides expert
NRVs, guidelines
interpretation of the results
and norms obtained from each method
in relation to reference
values/population norms
Conclusions 3 marks
The aim/s of the report is
clearly outlined
5-4 marks
Selects and describes two
methods for physical
activity assessment in
enough detail
Gives clear and logical
reasoning for why the
method is suitable to the
target audience
Gives details on how will
the assessment method be
executed i.e. who is
involved, where will this
take place, how long will
this be done for and
importantly-the reasons for
this supported by peer
reviewed references
5-4 marks
Discusses the advantages
and disadvantages of the 2
chosen assessment
methods including
reliability, validity,
measurement errors and
practicality/applicability
covering sufficient details
showing ability to critically
evaluate the methods
Use sufficient peer
reviewed references to
support these arguments
2 marks
Provides expert
interpretation of the
results obtained from
each method in relation
to reference
values/population norms
3 marks
5
The aim/s of the report is The aim is not
vaguely outlined identified
3-2 marks 1-0 marks
May describe only one Method/s for physical
method for physical activity activity assessment are
assessment in sufficient poorly described and
detail (e.g.: who, what, lack accuracy
when, where)
Little to no reasoning is
Gives vague reasoning for provided for why is the
why the method is suitable method suitable to the
to the target audience target audience
Gives information on how The information on
will the assessment how will the
method be executed but assessment method
may lack clarity or not be executed is not
supported by peer provided
reviewed references
3-2 marks 1-0 marks
Discusses the advantages Discusses the
and disadvantages of the advantages and
chosen assessment disadvantages of the
methods but may lack chosen assessment
detail or clarity or may only methods with
critique one method inaccuracy and does not
support these
Uses peer reviewed arguments with
references to support appropriate references
some but not all these
arguments
1 marks 0 marks
Provides somewhat Does not relate the
vague interpretation of results to reference
the results obtained from values/population
each method in relation norms
to reference
values/population norms
2 marks 1-0 marks
 Concluding comments
accurately and concisely
synthesize and summarize
the key aspects of the
report
References 3 marks
Concluding comments Concluding comments Concluding comments
accurately and concisely accurately summarize the may be lacking or
synthesize and summarize key aspects of the report may be inaccurate or
the key aspects of the poorly articulated
report
2 marks 1 marks 0-0.5 marks

Strong justification of all Most statements Many statements are Irrelevant or no

statements using several
relevant up-to-date peer
reviewed papers
Vancouver referencing
style is used correctly and
consistently
supported by peer not supported by references cited
reviewed papers. references, or
references used may be
Minor errors in irrelevant, or out of date
referencing style Substantial errors in
using the journal
referencing style

Clear written 3 marks 2 marks 1 marks 0-0.5 marks

communication Clear and logical
and presentation structure, precise and
fluent expression that
enhances
comprehension, with
very few spelling or
grammatical errors.
Adheres to word limit
Inclusion of word count
and cover sheet
Clear structure, fluent Structure is illogical or Presentation is
expression that confusing. Writing is not disorganised, and
enhances fluent and arguments unclear expression
comprehension, with not clearly articulated. make it difficult to
very few spelling or May not adhere to word understand
grammatical errors. limit. arguments.
Adheres to word limit Word count and cover May not adhere to
Inclusion of word count sheet may not be word limit.
and cover sheet provided Word count and
cover sheet may not
be provided

Turnitin originality check

Your assignment will be checked by electronic means through the Turnitin Originality Check for the
purposes of detecting plagiarism against current and archived Internet material, and journal
publications. You can find the check tool in the More link in the unit toolbar next to the Assessment
option or through the Get Help > Learning box on the right-hand side of the screen in a green box on
the unit home page. For the Originality Report, you can elect to exclude the bibliography section
which can give an artificially high originality report.

The Turnitin Originality Check is not for submission of the final version of your assignment; that should
be submitted through the assignment dropbox.

Having a few words or phrases come up in the plagiarism report is a non-issue – having entire
paragraphs word-for-word marked as being identical to a journal or Internet source is an issue.
Paraphrasing and referencing should always be your writing aim.

As for ‘what percentage figure is too high in the originality report?” - I don't give a figure for this as it
can be so variable. A report can have a very high percentage if you do not exclude the reference
section from the check, but has no bearing on an assessment of plagiarism.

What you need to look at in the originality report is what is being picked up: is it just repeated words or
lots of very short phrases, or is it entire sentences and paragraphs being flagged? Both can give rise
to identical percentage figures in the final originality report, but only the second issue of sentences
and paragraphs being identical to online/journal sources raises plagiarism issues. All your work

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should be paraphrased, not repeated or quoted verbatim from the source even when citing a
reference - "quoting" shows a very low level of insight in scientific writing.

Researching the assignment

Useful resources for this assignment include your Study Guide and textbook for initial background
information. A good free website to access Medline to search peer-reviewed medical journals is
PubMed www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez You can search for full text articles on Medline through the
Deakin University library website http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/a-z/databases.php?l=M
 
You may find the use of a medical dictionary helpful. A good online medical dictionary is MedTerms
www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp

Information you find on the Internet for this assignment should be treated with caution and should
always be able to be verified through the mainstream scientific literature. If you can't source claims or
information on the Internet back through the scientific literature then you may be just getting one
person's or company's opinion. Internet sites or companies with a vested commercial interest in
selling a product or service are NOT to be considered reputable sites for unbiased and balanced
scientific evidence.
 
What’s the difference between searching PubMed and using Medline on the Deakin library
website?
Even though PubMed www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez is a free-access Medline search engine, it is
perfectly fine to be using for medical, biological sciences and nutrition research article searching for all
your university studies. In fact it is what most of the academics in the School of Exercise and Nutrition
Sciences use on a daily basis so don't feel you need to use EBSCOhost through the Deakin library to
access Medline.

PubMed covers far more journals than the library's full-text Medline database as the Deakin Medline
database only searches journals that it has full-text access for (about 2,100) while PubMed doesn't
make this discrimination as it covers all 5,000 journals in the full Medline database.

If you find an article of interest on PubMed, you can then search the Deakin library to see if they
subscribe to the journal in electronic or hardcopy form. You can also search from here
http://library.deakin.edu.au/screens/srchhelp_journals.html to see a list of eJournals Deakin
subscribes to.
 
Referencing requirements
The referencing system preferred for this assignment though is the Vancouver system which uses in-
text numbering for each reference and a numerical order bibliography though you will NOT be
penalised if you choose to use Harvard or APA.

The Vancouver system is by far the most common style used in scientific journals, and is also one of
the simplest to use. The Vancouver system also assists with readability of text by not having
paragraphs full of author names disrupting the flow of the text.

The two main types of referencing systems use either in-text author-date citations and then an
alphabetical list of authors in the bibliography section or in-text numbering and a numerical list of

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references in the bibliography section. You should not mix the styles i.e. if you use in-text author-date
names then you DO NOT number the references in the bibliography – you list the references in
alphabetical order. Likewise, if you use in-text numbering, you DO NOT attempt to sort your reference
list in alphabetical order.
 
Some help on referencing styles is here: http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/referencing
 
In your article you should always avoid quoting directly from papers as it shows very little insight e.g.
Newman et al. have stated, “Blah, blah, blah….”. You should always paraphrase the text in your own
words and then cite the reference. It is NOT plagiarising to paraphrase someone else’s conclusion or
views if you then reference this.
 
How to correctly reference articles you find on literature search databases
Papers that you find in databases are referenced according to their journal reference – you DO NOT
reference the website link to PubMed or weblink to the abstract that you find in your PubMed search.
 
Referencing articles cited within a paper
If when reading a paper you come across a research study that you feel on its own is important for
your assignment, then you need to obtain this original research paper and then reference it directly.
You do not under any circumstances reference the paper that first made reference to the article as
that is a secondary source – it is akin to referencing ‘Deakin Library’ as your reference rather than the
book that you borrowed from it! If on the other hand you are writing about the conclusions of a review
paper, you only need to reference the review paper, not all the articles that went into writing it and
forming the conclusions from it.

How recent do my references need to be?

While there is no hard-and-fast rule about the cut-off for the year of publication that articles should be
used from, once research papers are around 10 years old they may not be as suitable. This is not to
say that there is anything wrong with the research at all, it is still just as valid – it is just that research
and knowledge in an area should be advancing so recent studies build on the work of previous ones
and likely are more important to be reading and citing in your assignment. You can use references
older than 10 years, but most of your references should have been published in around the last 10
years.

Endnote software
The University makes available to all students, free of charge, Endnote database software which
provides an electronic referencing system, covering all recommended referencing styles. Endnote will
save you considerable amounts of time in completing the referencing for your assignments, and
ensure that you are citing and listing references in the correct manner.

If you haven’t used it before, it is well worth exploring using Endnote to help with your referencing as it
has the potential to save you a lot of time if applied across all of your university assignments. Once a
reference is entered into Endnote, you can format it in a Word document in any style you like at the
click of a button, plus references included in the text are automatically updated as you edit the
document.

Endnote is available for downloaded from the university's software library

www.deakin.edu.au/software it is located in the Teaching and Learning section of this webpage. The

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Library has on-line tutorials on how to install and use Endnote here
http://deakin.libguides.com/endnote