Unit rationale, description and aim

Research in high performance sport settings is critical for providing athletes and practitioners with evidence-based strategies for improving performance and maintaining athlete well-being. The aim of this unit is to provide a 'capstone' experience for students by affording them a learning experience that involves the completion of a research project of interest to the student and of relevance to the industry. Projects may take the form of an investigative study, systematic review or meta-analysis, and will include the preparation of a manuscript for publication. The project will be conducted under the supervision of a member of staff appointed by the Head of School. Students will apply knowledge and skills developed in previous units to identify a research problem of interest and formulate an ethical and defensible research proposal. The Major Research Project units (EXSC654 Part A and EXSC655 Part B) is a 12-month commitment, with students enrolling in this unit (EXSC654) as a prerequisite to EXSC655.

2026 20

Campus offering

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  • Term Mode
  • ACU Term 1Online Unscheduled
  • ACU Term 3Online Unscheduled

Prerequisites

EXSC513 Data Analysis and Interpretation for High Performance Sport AND EXSC653 Project Design for High Performance Sport , Students must have a GPA of 5.5 or above in the first 8 units of the Master of High Performance Sport degree

Incompatible

EXSC656 Minor Project , EXSC657 Industry Internship

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Communicate the design of an evidence-based projec...

Learning Outcome 01

Communicate the design of an evidence-based project in written and/or oral forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences (e.g. coaching staff; support staff; stakeholders; academic peers)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3, GC9, GC10, GC11, GC12

Critically appraise literature and contemporary co...

Learning Outcome 02

Critically appraise literature and contemporary concepts relevant to research in high performance sport
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC7, GC9, GC11

Use specialised knowledge and technical skills to ...

Learning Outcome 03

Use specialised knowledge and technical skills to plan and implement a substantial research-based project or piece of scholarship
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3, GC8, GC9, GC11

Display appropriate standards of technical and eth...

Learning Outcome 04

Display appropriate standards of technical and ethical conduct in professional practice and research
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC6, GC7, GC9

Content

Topics of the unit include: 

  • identifying industry-relevant issues/problems
  • planning and conducting an evidence-based project
  • application of bibliographic and data management software packages
  • ethical practice in research project design, implementation and reporting
  • communication of project findings

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies have been purposefully designed for the assessment of learning outcomes reflecting the principles of authentic assessment design and include:

  • Assessment Task 1: a feasibility of project to assess the application of research skills and advanced theoretical understanding; 
  • Assessment Task 2 (Ungraded Hurdle): an ethics submission or systematic review with meta-analysis protocol registration to assess research competency through the application of ethical understanding and research knowledge and communication; and
  • Assessment Task 3: a written task to assess the acquisition and communication of knowledge in the fundamentals of good research design and understanding related to a content area of future research.


To pass the unit, students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass the hurdle task, and obtain a minimum mark of 50% in graded units.

Overview of assessments

To pass the unit, students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass the hurdle task, and obtain a minimum mark of 50% in graded units.

Assessment 1 Feasibility of Project:  Enables s...

Assessment 1

Feasibility of Project: 

Enables students to critically evaluate the feasibility of their proposed research project, identify any potential limitations and address these using their research-related skills.

Weighting

20%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment 2 (*Ungraded Hurdle) Human Research E...

Assessment 2 (*Ungraded Hurdle)

Human Research Ethics Committee project approval or Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis protocol registration:

For students undertaking experimental research studies, students must submit the approval letter from the ACU HREC and the project’s assigned ethics approval number.

For students undertaking systematic reviews with meta-analysis, students must submit their registration confirmation information (email and/or link to the registration webpage) from either Open Science Framework or PROSPERO.

Weighting

*Ungraded

Hurdle

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO4

Assessment 3 Literature Review or Systematic Rev...

Assessment 3

Literature Review or Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis protocol:

Enables students to apply research-related skills in order to demonstrate literature searching, critique, interpretation and scholarship to systematically synthesise current understanding.

For students undertaking experimental research studies, students must submit a narrative literature review aligned to their chosen research question.

For students undertaking systematic reviews with meta-analysis, students must submit a completed protocol for their systematic review, including their planned meta-analytic approach.

Weighting

80%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3

*Students are required to submit Ethics Applications or Registration on Open Science Framework or PROSPERO as required for the Research Project. Students are also required to upload approval documentation received from the appropriate authorities. Application time frames and deadlines will be determined by the approval authorities. Submissions and resubmissions are permitted in accordance with the approval authorities Guidelines. Students should not commence research until approval has been obtained from the appropriate authority and approval documentation has been uploaded to the LMS.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

The pedagogical structuring of learning experiences that comprise this unit of research training and work-integrated learning recognises and utilises contributions from both academic and practice settings. It intentionally integrates the learning arising in both settings to realise the knowledge and skills students need to move smoothly into and be effective in their selected graduate destination. This unit will be delivered under the supervision of a member of staff at the Australian Catholic University.

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Baumgartner, T. A., Hensley, L. D. (Larry D., Zhu, W., & Kulinna, P. H. (2021). Conducting and reading research in kinesiology (6th edition.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

Egger, M., Higgins, J. P. T., & Davey Smith, G. (2022). Systematic Reviews in Health Research: Meta-Analysis in Context (3rd Ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Iphofen, R. (2020). Handbook of Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity. Springer Nature.

Jones, I., & Gratton, C. (2015). Research methods for sports studies (3rd Ed.). Routledge.

Leedy, P., & Ormrod, J. (2020) Practical Research: Planning and Design (12th Ed.). Pearson Education.

Matthews, J.R. & Matthews, R.W. (2014). Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences (4th Ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Maniar, N., Duncan, & Opar, D. (2019) Systematically searching and reviewing the literature. In S. Bird (Eds.), Research Methods in Physical Activity and Health. Routledge.

Thomas, J.R. Martin, P. E., Etnier, J. L., & Silverman, S.J. (2023). Research Methods in Physical Activity (8th Ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.

Williams, C., & Wragg, C. (2004). Data Analysis and Research for Sport and Exercise Science. Routledge.

Yang, J.T. (1995). An Outline of Scientific Writing. World Scientific.

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