Module SPRT2301: Physical Activity and Public Health

Department: Applied Social Sciences (Sport)

SPRT2301: Physical Activity and Public Health

Prerequisites

• SPRT1311 Introduction to Physical Activity.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To engage students in a social-scientific exploration of physical activity and public health;
• To discuss the social determinants of physical activity across the world;
• To provide students with an understanding of the environmental and social determinants of physical activity, public health and physical inactivity;
• To critically identify the key concepts and strategies which underpin the promotion of physical activity for health and well-being;
• To analyse government-supported material on physical activity, including ‘grey literature’ on health promotion and the Active People’s Survey;
• To identify and assess social and economic factors influencing the promotion of physical activity;
• To identify and analyse appropriate settings and strategies for promoting physical activity to different populations (such as children, older adults, ethnic minority groups, etc.);
• To draw together interdisciplinary approaches, including those from sociology, psychology, demography, geography and history to explore issues connected to policy issues and social determinants of physical activity.

Content

• By theme:
• Social determinants of physical activity and its connection to public health, including issues related to gender, age, ethnicity, social class and disability;
• To discuss different ways of measuring the connection between demographics and public health/physical activity;
• The emergence of the Active Peoples Survey and a critical assessment of what it methodologically offers;
• The linkage between research outcomes and policy formation in the field of physical activity and public health;
• Methodological techniques such as quantitative data exploration and qualitative forms of textual analysis (including content and discourse analysis);
• Seminars will provide explorations in using the various forms of data.

Learning Outcomes

• Develop a critical understanding of theoretical debates relating to physical activity from empirical research;
• Develop a critical understanding of theoretical debates relating to public health from empirical research;
• Develop a critical understanding of behaviour change and the environmental and social determinants of health and physical activity and inactivity.

• Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative approaches from the social sciences to understand the practical, policy and social issues relating to physical activity participation and policy and public health agendas.

• Reading, critiquing and presenting an evidence base;
• Analyse and solve problems;
• Present data and design interventions;
• Time management and independent learning;
• Written communication;
• Use information technology.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures, seminars/workshops, independent study;
• Lectures will introduce students to the basic concepts & key theories underpinning exercise participation, physical activity and public health;
• Seminars / Workshops will include interactive group activities where students will discuss the relative merits of specific theories, assessment tools and empirical research;
• Independent study: in addition to timetabled contact, students will be required to invest time in directed reading, research activities, seminar preparation & study tasks;
• A formative report will allow students to review the current physical activity data for the UK, and to discuss trends of inactivity across different age groups. This will service as an important context to the wider focus of the module;
• A summative case study will allow students to investigate an aspect of physical inactivity; select appropriate measurement techniques; collect, analyse and interpret data; and produce appropriate recommendations for intervention, that are theoretically derived, and supported with a research evidence base;
• A summative exam tests the breadth and range of understanding and application of the learning outcomes for this module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 x 1500 words essay (Optional).

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University