SP6039 - Paediatric Sport and Exercise Science

You will learn through lectures, laboratory practicals, seminars/workshops and directed learning tasks, some of which will be conducted using learning technologies to help you develop your digital fluency skills. Lectures will provide a thorough grounding in theoretical principles relevant to the exercising child and adolescent. Seminars will be used to complement the lecture sessions and will aim to further your critical awareness of psychological and physiological issues surrounding paediatric sport and exercise science. Laboratory practicals will contextualise lecture-based theory in an applied setting, and with your peers you will perform a variety of physiological tests appropriate for use with children and adolescents, thus providing you with vocational skills relevant to the field of paediatric sport and exercise science. During laboratory practicals you will work in Northumbria’s BASES accredited laboratories, which are fully equipped with the latest industry equipment. 

Module information, assessment requirements and expectations and important module announcements will be made through the eLP. Material to support lectures (but not necessarily seminars or laboratory practicals) will be uploaded in advance of sessions. You will be provided with content verbally and guided through tasks during timetabled sessions. The Module Leader is there to support you with any queries that you may have about the module content, however if you have any questions or queries about the module content, all staff members are available for additional tutorial support. Tutors can be accessed via email or using the online booking system which can be accessed via your mobile phone or computer. Typically, Module Leaders and Tutors will also support you with regards to the assessment requirements via online staff-student discussion boards on the eLP. 

If this module is in option pot two for your programme, you will receive advice and guidance at a module options event to help you make an informed decision about how it fits with your own academic and professional development. Online pre-learning material will be made available to help you prepare for the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding (KU):  
 
1. Demonstrate your ability to assess young people’s maturation status and to select appropriate physical activities for them.
 
2. Critically develop a multi-disciplinary (physiological; psychological) intervention strategy that addresses a contemporary issue within a paediatric population. 

Intellectual / Professional Skills and Abilities (IPSA):

3. Convey evidence-based paediatric sport and exercise science knowledge to a range of audiences such as academics and young people. 

 Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural Awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA): 

4. Demonstrate and maintain high standards of professional conduct, performance, ethics and professional practice when working with clients. 

Assessment Strategy 
There are two assessment components for this module: 
 
Practical Exam (Individual submission, 50%; 
(MLOs 1, 3, 4) 
Practical Exam (15 mins): You will work with young people in a ‘real-world’ setting and collect maturation and aerobic/anaerobic fitness data using appropriate methods. 
Contingency assessment in the event of the practical exam not being possible: Video Assessment (Individual submission, 50%); (MLOs 1, 3, 4) 

Video Assessment (15 mins): You will be asked to calculate the maturation status of a child from data provided. You will then create a video in which you will convey physical activities appropriate for that child and discuss your choices in relation to appropriate literature. 
 
Enterprise pitch (Paired, 50%); (MLOs 2, 3, 4) 
In pairs, you will prepare a 15-minute ‘pitch’ that will include an interactive activity/project. You will pitch a novel and innovative multidisciplinary intervention strategy aimed at addressing a contemporary issue within any paediatric population of your choice. The strategy must be supported (using evidence-based literature) with appropriate reference to psychological determinants of sport or exercise participation, along with physiological and/or nutritional factors. The assessment should demonstrate how your intervention strategy would work in a ‘real-world’ context. 10% of the mark will be informed via peer assessment with your partner. 
 
 
Formative Feedback 
Practical Exam: You will receive interactive support prior to the exam, whereby tutors will provide guidance on assessing the maturation status of children and other relevant elements of the assessment. You will also be given the opportunity to practice collecting fitness data/conducting maturation calculations before working with the paediatric population. 
 
Following the practical exam you will be given the opportunity to reflect on your experiences during a seminar session using guided reflection. You will be given the opportunity to discuss and receive feedback on your experiences with the tutor and your peers. 
 
Contingency assessment in the event of the practical exam not being possible: Video Assessment: You will receive interactive support prior to submission, whereby tutors will provide guidance on assessing the maturation status of children and other relevant elements of the assessment. You will also be given the opportunity to practice conducting maturation calculations before submission. 
 
Following the video assessment you will be given the opportunity to reflect on your experiences during a seminar session using guided reflection. You will be given the opportunity to discuss and receive feedback on your experiences with the tutor and your peers. 
 
Enterprise pitch: You will receive formative feedback on your presentation style during seminar sessions and tutors will be available in class for support with the formal pitches. 
 
 
Summative Feedback 
You will receive written or audio feedback on your summative assessment to help you identify areas of strength and areas for development. There will be the opportunity to discuss your feedback with a member of staff during a tutorial.

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Paediatric Sport and Exercise Science will give you an insight into the psychological and physiological issues surrounding paediatric sport and exercise science. You will conduct practical laboratory sessions in Northumbria’s state of the art, BASES accredited laboratories, an exciting and stimulating place to develop your practical skills. 
 
One aspect of the assessment strategy for the Paediatric Sport and Exercise Science module requires you to visit a local primary school and collect maturation and aerobic/anaerobic fitness data from young children, thus acquiring unique hands-on experience. Given the development of such ‘real-world’ employability skills, this module will prepare you for graduate employment opportunities working with exercising children and adolescents, including developing appropriate spoken communication skills for working with young people. If due to unforeseen circumstances it is not possible to run the school-based assessment, the alternative assessment is to create a video in which you will convey how a young person should complete appropriate physical activities, again drawing upon spoken communication skills. The ability to create video content is of increasing importance in sport and exercise contexts, again contributing to employability skills and being relevant to sustainability issues due to reduced travel for sport and exercise activities. 
 
The enterprise pitch assessment requires you to use problem-solving skills to address a contemporary issue in a paediatric population. The choice of contemporary issue is up to you and could relate to young people from anywhere in the world. We encourage you to be creative and to consider issues from a multidisciplinary perspective, both of which are important in relation to employment. As you will work in pairs to complete this assessment you will also need to draw upon your collaboration skills to work together effectively. 

You will be challenged to demonstrate your passion and creativity and to further develop your understanding of testing and measuring through writing a grant application to support a research a topic of your choice in either a sporting or clinical population.