Sport and Exercise Science (with foundation year) BSc (Hons)

Program Overview

This four-year undergraduate course equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to optimize athletic performance, improve well-being, and prepare for careers in the sports and exercise science field.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This program, BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science (with foundation year), is a four-year full-time undergraduate course offered at Nottingham Trent University. The program aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to optimize athletic performance, improve health and well-being, and prepare them for a variety of careers in the sports and exercise science field.

Outline:

The program is structured over four years, with a foundation year followed by three years of BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science.

Year One (Foundation Year):

• Fitness, Training and Testing: This module teaches students how to assess fitness levels, gauge training effectiveness, and pinpoint areas for improvement.
Students will learn to perform these tests, prioritize client needs, and communicate key findings while recommending training techniques for better performance. Students will learn anatomical terminology and the locations of organs, muscles, and bones.
• Academic Skills for Sport and Exercise Science: This module develops key academic skills such as writing, research, and collaboration.
Students will gain valuable research skills and learn how to critically use and evaluate information sources.
• Professional Skills for Sport and Exercise Science: This module runs for the entire foundation year and focuses on enhancing professional skills through learning tasks.
It emphasizes the importance of engaging in extra and co-curricular activities for professional growth.
• Current Topics in Sport: This module introduces students to current topics in sport science, coaching, management, nutrition, and health.
Students will explore current research and write a persuasive article addressing one of the current topics introduced in this module. Students will study evidence showcasing the psychological benefits of physical activity and gain practical insights into applying theories to promote physical activity, focusing on strategies and interventions for improved health and well-being.

Year Two:

• Introduction to Sport and Exercise Physiology: This module provides the foundations of the key human systems (both anatomical and physiological) and their responses and adaptations to sport and exercise.
• Foundations in Sport and Exercise Psychology: This module examines the psychological consequences of engaging in sport and exercise, as well as the mental factors that impact on quality sport and exercise experiences.
• Introduction to Human Movement Science: This module covers the theoretical and practical aspects of biomechanics relevant to understanding motion of the human body and the forces generated or experienced by the human body.
• Sport, Culture and Society: a Critical Introduction: This module explores the importance of the social sciences in understanding sport and in the education of every sports professional.
• Developing Academic and Research Skills: This module provides an overall perspective of the research process in the context of sport, exercise, health, and leisure management, and teaches the research skills necessary to successfully complete studies.

Year Three:

• Core Modules:
• Applied Sport and Exercise Physiology:
Through theoretical and practical study, students will learn how bouts of physical exercise alter the body's structures and functions and how these concepts can be applied to training.
• Practical Applications in Sport and Exercise Psychology: This module introduces the concept of evidence-based practice and frameworks of assessment, intervention, and evaluation to address issues in sport, coaching, and social and exercise psychology.
• Analysis of Human Movement: Building on the biomechanical principles studied in Year One, students will develop the skills required to explain measurable human movements and forces using biomechanical theories.
• Integrated Applied and Professional Skills: Using enquiry-based learning, students will continue to learn about the research process and gain an understanding and experience of how research is conducted within sports and exercise science.
• Optional Modules (Choose One):

Final Year:

• Core Modules:
• Sport Project and Dissertation:
Students will produce an original and independent piece of work in a specialist area of sport and exercise science depending on their focus of study.
• Applied Sport Science: This module adopts a multidisciplinary approach to sport and exercise science and develops case studies that apply at disciplines of sport and exercise science science.
• Optional Modules (Choose One):
• Contemporary Issues in the Sociology of Sport: Cross-Cultural Perspectives:
This module seeks to situate sport within a broad consideration of global processes, practices, and consequences.
• Sport, Exercise and the Brain: This module explores how psychological factors, such as self-control, affect exercise adherence and sporting performance.
Additionally, students will examine how physical activity and exercise affect psychophysiological outcomes, such as cognitive function and mental health.
• Strength, Power and Endurance for Sport and Exercise: This module typically focuses on six topics related to applied exercise physiology and strength and conditioning research.
• Talent Development in Sport: This module will explore a critical view of the role of talent development in sports, focusing on the psychosocial, environmental, and personal factors that can influence the talent development process.
• Optional Modules (Choose One):
• Child and Adolescent Growth, Health and Performance:
This module will describe and critically evaluate the processes of growth and development in humans and the potential impact of these on the current (and future) health and performance of the growing child and adolescent.
• Advanced Topics in Sport and Exercise Psychology: Students will become familiar with selected areas such as motivational climate, athletic identity, mental toughness, psychology of injury, and morality in sports.
The emphasis of this module will be placed on current primary research.
• Applied Human Movement Science for Sport: This module addresses, in the context of biomechanics, how to improve and/or optimize human performance and to understand how human performance can be affected by or result in dysfunction.
• Current Topics in Sport and Exercise Nutrition: This module provides the fundamental knowledge and understanding that underpins the relationship between nutrition and exercise performance.
• Hormone and Immune Function in Sport and Exercise: This module will introduce students to the endocrine and immune systems, exploring how they operate as separate entities and looking at areas where they overlap.
Using this knowledge, students will then be introduced to exercise immunology and endocrinology, considering the physiological and molecular mechanisms that determine the function of both systems.
• Optional Modules (Choose One):
• Performance Skill and Expertise in Sport:
This module outlines how human movement and motor programs are initiated, controlled, learned, taught, and performed.
• Challenging Critical Issues in Sport: Students will analyze complex problems such as sports injury, drug use in sports, and inequality and develop potential solutions using positive social changes.
• Environmental Sports Physiology: This module outlines some physiological adaptations that occur when the human body is exposed to an extreme environment.
• Illness and Injury in Sport and Exercise: This module investigates injury management and illnesses that occur in sports and exercise.
Students will examine the epidemiology, mechanisms, and risk factors and the use of strategies to avoid and lessen the occurrence of sports injuries and illnesses.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed using a variety of methods relevant to the specific modules, including:

• Coursework: Assignments, group projects, dissertation, case studies
• Practical: Oral presentation (individual and group), laboratory assessments/reports
• Written: Exams, written tests

Teaching:

The program utilizes a variety of teaching methods, including:

• Traditional lectures and seminars: These provide students with a foundation in the theoretical aspects of sport and exercise science.
• Practical workshops: These allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in a hands-on setting.
• External visits: These provide students with the opportunity to learn from industry professionals and see how sport and exercise science is applied in real-world settings.
• Self-guided, independent study: This encourages students to take ownership of their learning and develop their critical thinking skills.
The teaching staff consists of experienced academics and researchers who are experts in their respective fields. They are committed to providing students with a high-quality learning experience and supporting them in their academic and professional development.

Careers:

Graduates of this program are well-prepared for a variety of careers in the sports and exercise science field, including:

• Respiratory Physiologist
• Assistant Performance Analyst
• Sales and Marketing Consultant
• Performance Analyst
• Community Football Programme Worker
• Junior Sports Science Intern
• The university has a wide range of sporting and health-related facilities, including sport coaching, sports injury clinics, fitness suites, specialist facilities, and more than 40 sports clubs.
• Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including the British Olympic Association (BOA) Approved Environmental Chamber and the Biomechanics and Performance Analysis Suite.
• The university offers a variety of work experience opportunities, including a year-long sandwich placement.
• Students have the opportunity to work in the Sport and Wellbeing Academy, where they can apply their knowledge and skills to improve the health and well-being of the local community, schools, and sports teams.
• The university is in the top 10 of all UK universities competing in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league.
• The university is one of the most employment-focused universities in the UK.
• Students have access to NTU Enterprise, a support center to help students create, develop, and grow their businesses.