Unit rationale, description and aim
Physical inactivity remains a leading contributor to chronic disease and diminished quality of life in Australia. The exercise science workforce plays a vital role in reversing this trend by designing safe, evidence-informed programs that enhance health and function.
This unit builds on students' exercise science knowledge by extending practical skills in assessment, prescription, and delivery to different healthy population groups. It introduces long-term program development and core principles of cardiovascular and resistance training instruction. Students will develop practical experience and professional confidence in scope-of-practice aligned delivery, supporting eligibility for AusActive Exercise Professional registration.
This unit also introduces the concepts of professional and ethical responsibilities, referral networks, and long-term program planning. By providing the underpinning knowledge, comprehension, and practical capabilities required to assess and support clients across a range of needs, this unit is essential for developing confident, competent and career-ready exercise professionals. The aim of this unit is to equip students with the core knowledge and practical competencies required for safe, effective, and inclusive resistance and aerobic training instruction aligned to industry standards.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.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.
Describe foundational principles of exercise asses...
Learning Outcome 01
Explain how key physiological mechanisms influence...
Learning Outcome 02
Apply pre-exercise health screening tools and func...
Learning Outcome 03
Apply evidence-informed approaches to design aerob...
Learning Outcome 04
Demonstrate safe, effective, and inclusive exercis...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Using research and evidence to inform client-centred program design
- Conducting assessments and setting personalised, goal-oriented programs
- Designing progressive exercise programs using movement and overload principles
- Prescribing endurance and resistance training for novice clients
- Coaching foundational movements with effective technique and cueing
- Adapting programs for diverse populations across the lifespan
- Monitoring client progress and providing constructive feedback
- Maintaining professional standards in documentation, ethics, and communication
- Applying research and ethical decision-making to refine exercise programs
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessments in this unit are designed to progressively build student knowledge and align with the unit’s learning outcomes. They form a developmental sequence to guide learning and contribute to the achievement of ACU’s graduate capabilities.
The early low-stakes quiz, Assessment task 1 encourages early engagement and checks foundational understanding. Assessment task 2 builds higher-order reasoning by requiring integration of physiological and screening data. Assessment task 3 is a written planning portfolio assessment that challenges students to apply content knowledge in a structured, client-centred context. A practical assessment task serves as a hurdle requirement, which must be passed to pass the unit. In this, students must demonstrate safe, inclusive, and competent exercise instruction. This approach enables readiness for real-world practice and supports eligibility for AusActive Exercise Professional recognition. This assessment is linked to meeting the requirements for registration as an Exercise Professional with AusActive and ensures a basic level of competency for subsequent units.
Transition pedagogies support assessment success through staged tasks, in-class practice activities, early and ongoing feedback, discipline-specific skill development, and enhanced peer collaboration to promote progressive learning and student engagement throughout.
Overview of assessments
To successfully pass the unit, students must demonstrate achievement of all learning outcomes, pass the hurdle task, and achieve a minimum overall mark of 50% in the graded assessments.
Assessment 1: Quiz Assesses knowle...
Assessment 1:
Quiz
Assesses knowledge of early unit content
15%
Assessment 2: Written assessment A...
Assessment 2:
Written assessment
Assesses ability to incorporate screening interpretation, fitness assessment, physiological rationale, and program planning
35%
Assessment 3: Portfolio Assesses ability t...
Assessment 3: Portfolio
Assesses ability to develop a client summary, weekly plan, and evidence-based rationale for exercise delivery
50%
Assessment 4: Practical assessment (Ungraded hurd...
Assessment 4: Practical assessment (Ungraded hurdle task*)
Assesses competency with key skills aligned to exercise science practice
Hurdle task*
* Students who fail the hurdle task on their first attempt will be provided one additional attempt to pass at a time referred to on the Learning Management System.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit adopts a blended learning approach grounded in ACU’s principles of active, authentic, and inclusive learning. Lectures introduce key concepts in exercise assessment, program design, and delivery, which are reinforced through laboratory and workshop experiences. These sessions provide structured opportunities for students to practice and refine communication, cueing, and instruction in simulated client scenarios.
Learning is scaffolded from foundational exercise science units, progressing from foundational knowledge acquisition to more complex application tasks, supporting students’ development as safe, ethical, and effective exercise professionals. Activities are designed to promote critical thinking, professional identity formation, and evidence-informed practice, consistent with adult learning principles and ACU’s mission to develop graduates who serve the common good.
By applying learning in authentic, performance-based environments, students are supported to build the confidence, competence, and reflective capacity needed for exercise instruction roles, including AusActive Exercise Professional registration. This blended strategy is best suited to the unit’s focus on knowledge integration, interpersonal skill development, and safe client delivery.
To support students transitioning from the Diploma to second‑year undergraduate study, the unit uses targeted transition pedagogies that strengthen discipline foundations and essential study competencies through an active, engaging and supportive learning approach.