Educational Leadership & Service

Curriculum Committee Member, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (2014-2016)

This committee was convened to oversee the re-accreditation of QUT’s Bachelor of Human Movements and Clinical Exercise Physiology degree programs with the professional body Exercise and Sport Science Australia (ESSA). The work took eight months to complete and the result was a successful re-accreditation in 2015 of both degrees.

Work that I contributed to included the following:

  1. Mapping each unit against the essential knowledge and skills criteria as set out by ESSA.

  2. Identifying gaps in the curriculum and inconsistencies with the scaffolding of knowledge.

  3. Suggesting lecture, tutorial, and assessment to fill gaps and to update curriculum.

  4. Reporting to the Discipline lead and contributing summary documentation to help inform the re-accreditation report.

  5. Reviewing, updating, and aligning the clinical exercise physiology units (seven units) to enable consistency with ESSA professional standards.

  6. Ensuring the scaffolding of learning and assessment to best prepare our graduates for their careers as Accredited Exercise Physiologists.

The committee was also tasked with the development of a Clinical Exercise Physiology Honours Degree program which start date was set to be February 2019. My role as part of this initiative was to co-develop two fourth-year capstone clinical units (a professional practice and a business practice unit) for the degree and also a research project unit.

 
 

Practicum Development, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (2015-2016)

QUT highly values and places much emphasis on Work Integrated Learning within the curriculum. The focus is on creating work-ready, experienced, and agile graduates. Graduates of the Clinical Exercise Physiology Degree are required to successfully complete 740 practicum hours through a combination of internal and external placement opportunities as a requirement for their degree. There are between 70-80 students within the fourth-year cohort annually. Each of these students completes three required practicum units prior to graduation.

My role in practicum development involved working alongside the QUT Work Integrated Learning team and spanned a broad area of responsibility including:

  1. Developing industry links and establishing new placements

  2. Approval of placement sites and Supervisors

  3. Development and maintenance of Supervisor handbooks and resources

  4. Education and training of external Supervisors regarding QUT assessment, practicum processes

  5. Development of assessment and grading criteria

  6. Assisting with student allocation of placements annually

  7. Supporting External Supervisors and Students while on placement

  8. Development and administration of surveys soliciting Supervisor and student feedback on the practicum experience.

Karen Kendall return to Buffalo Lodge in 2013

At this time while I held this leadership role, I identified a potential opportunity for practicum placements within the mental health service. There was a significant awareness being raised about the importance of physical activity for individuals with mental health conditions. Yet, there were few Accredited Exercise Physiologists employed within the Mental Health Service across Queensland Health and sparse community-based physical activity programs in which placements could be based.

In 2015 I was able to establish a relationship within Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Service and developed placements across two sites (Logan Hospital and the Coorparoo Community Care Unit). In 2016, I developed further placements with the Child and Youth Mental Health Service at the Queensland Children's Hospital and Health Service. To successfully establish these placements, I developed resources to support both the students and site supervisors. I acquainted site supervisors of the ESSA scope of practice and worked with these practitioners to standardize placement responsibilities/tasks for the students within the mental health service. 

As a result of this work, practicum placements in Queensland Health are now available annually to QUT Students. In addition, there have been Accredited Exercise Physiologist positions created within Queensland Health as the awareness of the positive effects of exercise and physical activity has increased and the Mental Health Service has embraced the practicum model.