Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessment tasks in this unit have been purposefully designed to prepare for and replicate authentic clinical practice, with an “assessment for learning” approach to provide evidence for judgement of learning and to reinforce, facilitate and support learning and its application. The assessment tasks have been designed to provide a broad range of tasks aligned to andragogic principles of adult learning, facilitating choice and self-direction for the post graduate student. The design enables timely judgement to ensure students have appropriate knowledge and skills prior to workplace application.

The first assessment task (Written examination) enables students to acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of content delivered throughout the unit. The second assessment task (Audiovisual presentation) enables students to assimilate this knowledge and develop clinical reasoning to interpret the findings of a clinical assessment and prescribe an exercise rehabilitation intervention, which is informed by holistic clinical management, evidence-based practice and based on individual needs and goals of a case study. The final assessment task (Assessment 3 Practical Examination) enables students to develop the ability to apply critical thinking and clinical reasoning to selectively perform and justify the use of appropriate clinical assessments, which will then inform prescription, instruction and delivery of an exercise rehabilitation intervention for a case study with a musculoskeletal condition of the trunk or upper limb. This assessment tasks also enables students to apply knowledge and skills specific to evaluation and monitoring of the case study’s response to exercise and apply clinical decision making to modify the intervention where necessary. The final assessment task (Practical Examination) is also a graded hurdle requiring students to demonstrate, at a minimum, the essential clinical competencies needed to safely and effectively service a client with a musculoskeletal condition of the upper limb. Demonstration of these essential clinical competencies is necessary for safe and effective professional practice as an exercise physiologist.

This graded hurdle (Practical Examination) must be passed with a score of ≥50% to pass unit. If on a first attempt, a student scores less than 45% in the graded hurdle, they will not receive a second attempt, and will not pass the unit. If on the first attempt, a student receives a score of 45-49%, they will be eligible for a second attempt. If a student scores less than 50% on the second attempt, they will fail the hurdle and therefore fail the unit. If a student achieves a score of ≥50% on their second attempt, they will pass the hurdle, however they will receive a score of 50% for this assessment task regardless of the grade achieved in the second attempt.  

To pass this unit and meet the learning outcomes students must achieve both ≥50% in the graded hurdle, and an aggregate score of ≥50%.