Unit rationale, description and aim

Eating is integral to life and a multitude of factors affect the eating experience. The relationships between food, perceptions of food, the eating environment and food and beverage intake are only beginning to be understood. Building on learnings from UNMC593 Advanced Culinary Nutrition in Practice – THEORY, this microcredential will support students to obtain a highly advanced food planning, preparation, cooking and presentation skills and enable students to become influencers of dietary intake in settings from food service in hospitals and nursing homes to meal delivery and cooking kits in the home or workplace.

The aim of the microcredential is to help students acquire the complex high-level practical and research skills to solve nutrition related problems through highly innovative preparation, cooking and presentation of food that includes industry appropriate creative design of eating environments and eating occasions that have high sensory appeal.

2025 5

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  • Term Mode
  • Semester 1Online Unscheduled

Prerequisites

UNMC593 Advanced Culinary Nutrition Science in Practice - Theory or submission of a statement to demonstrate evidence of prior learning equivalent to UNMC593 - Advanced Culinary Nutrition Science in Practice - Theory Microcredential.

Incompatible

NUTR500 Advanced Culinary Nutrition Science in Practice , UNMC594 Advanced Culinary Nutrition Science in Practice - Practical

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.

Formulate, execute, and present a culinary nutriti...

Learning Outcome 01

Formulate, execute, and present a culinary nutrition science research project to effectively, yet succinctly, answer a nutrition-related research question
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC4, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC12

Use safe, and highly developed creative, and innov...

Learning Outcome 02

Use safe, and highly developed creative, and innovative food planning, preparation, cooking and styling techniques for targeted eating environments
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4

Demonstrate how teamwork and advanced leadership s...

Learning Outcome 03

Demonstrate how teamwork and advanced leadership skills, including the ability to delegate where required, in a commercial kitchen environment contributes to a successful culinary operation
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC4, GC7, GC8

Content

Topics will include:

Application of:

  • advanced sensory analysis
  • food styling principles for the table, in plating and in amateur food photography
  • scientific principles of preparation and cooking methods
  • culinary science research

Advanced food preparation and cooking techniques

Working as a team in a commercial cooking environment

Assessment strategy and rationale

In this microcredential, a 2-part assessment task will extend students’ theoretical understanding by requiring students to successfully undertake a small and specific culinary nutrition science research project providing students with the opportunity to explore a topic of interest and demonstrate their ability to manage a research project from conception to communication of results. This assessment task will be submitted in two parts, the first a group presentation and the second an individual written report, requiring students to demonstrate two forms of research communication.

This assessment task will allow microcredential coordinators to assess students’ demonstration of the learning outcomes. Students demonstrate achievement of every learning outcome and a minimum mark of 50% for each assessment task to pass the microcredential.

Overview of assessments

Research Project: Enables students to demonstrate...

Research Project:

Enables students to demonstrate their ability to innovatively develop, execute and present the results of a relevant experiment to answer a research question. Students will work in groups to develop and present their project and submit an individual written report.

Weighting

Presentation of project

30%

Written report

70%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC12

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The microcredential content will be completed over the teaching period and at students' own pace in their own kitchens. Students will be assisted to share their work and create a collaborative learning environment through online forums and sharing platforms with high visual impact. The microcredential begins by building on the theoretical knowledge gained in UNMC593 Advanced Culinary Nutrition Science in Practice – Theory and assists students apply their learning through research and practical skills development in the kitchen.

The approaches used in this microcredential have a constructively aligned developmental sequence designed to progressively, and logically, support students learning in ways that maximise the perceived (and actual) relevance and value of each activity. It is expected to engender high levels of engagement, efficiency, and effectiveness in

students’ study behaviours, and to maximise their learning achievements. This strategy and these approaches will allow students to meet the aim and learning outcomes of the microcredential. Learning and teaching approaches will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in learning activities.

Representative texts and references

Blumenthal, H. (2008). The Big Fat Duck Cookbook. London: Bloomsbury.

Segnit, N. (2010). The Flavour Thesaurus. London: Bloomsbury Publishing

Spence, C. (2017). Gastrophysics. United Kingdom. Penguin Random House.

The Science of Taste Symposium. (2014). Originally published in the journal Flavour which is no longer published. Collection of articles published by BMC https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/the-science-of-taste

This, H. (2008). Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor. New York: Colombia University Press

This, H. (2010). Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking. New York: Colombia University Press

Vega, C., Ubbink, J. & van der Linden E. Ed. (2013). The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking. New York: Colombia University Press

Recipe based

The Editors of America’s Test Kitchen & Crosby, G. (2012). The Science of Good Cooking. Cook’s Illustrated

Other

International Food Information Council Foundation https://foodinsight.org/

Explore the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement and other work by Cornell Food Lab (note recent controversies) https://www.smarterlunchrooms.org/scorecard-tools/smarter-lunchrooms-strategies

Food Styling resources TBC

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