Outline

Overview

This unit focuses on developing an understanding of how circadian rhythm impacts athletic performance. The relationship between personal best performance and circadian phenotypes is examined through the predictors of peak performance time and optimal performance. There is an emphasis on the importance of aligning the body clock with the external environment for both health and sports performance. The unit also covers concepts of sleep as a performance enhancer, temporal variation in physiological variables, over-training, muscle damage and fatigue and recovery strategies.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Movement Sciences
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Chin Moi Chow, chin-moi.chow@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Yu Sun Bin, yusun.bin@sydney.edu.au
	Daniel Hackett, daniel.hackett@sydney.edu.au
	Chin Moi Chow, chin-moi.chow@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Anju Verma, anju.verma@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Supervised exam ?	EXSS2036 Final exam MCQ and short-answer questions	40%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Online task	Online Quizzes Four Canvas quizzes: Wk4 (2.5%), Wk9 (5%), Wk13 (2.5%).	10%	Multiple weeks	20-40 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	EXSS2036 Oral Presentation Oral presentation in scheduled tutorial time on the 29th or 30th March	30%	Week 06 Due date: 29 Mar 2023 at 12:00	10 minutes per Team
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	EXSS2036 Infographics Infographics as a supportive resource to present a topic of own selection	20%	Week 08 Due date: 23 Apr 2023 at 23:59	A4 page in PDF format
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Final exam: Written exam, written exam with non-written elements, however assessed. Worth 40%.
Presentation (group): Oral presentation worth 30% (plus presentation slides submission)
Online task: Three online quizzes worth a total of 10%.
Infographic submission (individual) worth 20%

The listed assessments are compulsory except for online quizzes. The details for assessment requirements will be available on CANVAS.

Assessment criteria

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Standard late penalties will apply for assessments that are not submitted on time unless a simple extension or special consideration is granted. An Absent Fail for the unit will be awarded for non-submission of any assessment.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction to Unit of study Lecture: Sleep	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Lecture: Overview of circadian rhythms; Sleep	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Practical: Chronotype and peak performance time	Practical (2 hr)
Week 03	Lecture: Sleep and exercise performance; sleep deprivation/restriction and sleep promotion	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	Tutorial 1	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 04	Lecture: Exercise on sleep; Keeping an internal sense of time	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Lecture: Keeping an internal sense of time; The circadian molecular clock and circ rhythmicity	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Lecture: Circadian misalignment; Oral Presentation: Chronotype and performance	Presentation (2 hr)
Week 07	Lecture: Realigning circadian rhythms	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	Tutorial 2	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 08	Lecture: Variability in performance; Infographic assignment due	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Lecture: Variability in sports performance	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Tutorial 3	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	Lecture: Circadian medicine	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	Lecture: Muscle damage and fatigue	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Lecture: Muscle damage and fatigue; Strategies for recovery	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Tutorial 4	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 13	Review lectures	Lecture (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance and participation are required for:

Week 2 Practical Session (also choose your own team in class)

Week 3 Tutorial 1 (also discuss Infographics and choose own topic)

Week 6 Oral Presentation

Week 8 Submission of Infographic

Week 15/16 Final Exam

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Roenneberg, T., & Merrow, M. (2016). The circadian clock and human health. Current biology, 26(10), R432-R443.
Roenneberg T, Wirz-Justice A, Merrow M. Life between clocks: daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes. J Biol Rhythms. 2003 Feb;18(1):80-90. doi: 10.1177/0748730402239679. PMID: 12568247
Kantermann, T., & Burgess, H. J. (2017). Average mid‐sleep time as a proxy for circadian phase. PsyCh journal, 6(4), 290-291.
Chow CM. Sleep and wellbeing, now and in the future 2020. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2883
Sandro Lecci, Jacinthe Cataldi, Monica Betta, Giulio Bernardi, Raphaël Heinzer, Francesca Siclari, Electroencephalographic changes associated with subjective under- and overestimation of sleep duration, Sleep, Volume 43, Issue 11, November 2020, zsaa094. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa094doi:10.1093/sleep/zsaa094
Jelena Skorucak, Emma L Arbon, Derk-Jan Dijk, Peter Achermann, Response to chronic sleep restriction, extension, and subsequent total sleep deprivation in humans: adaptation or preserved sleep homeostasis?, Sleep, Volume 41, Issue 7, July 2018, zsy078, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy078
Rae, D. E., Chin, T., Dikgomo, K., Hill, L., McKune, A. J., Kohn, T. A., & Roden, L. C. (2017). One night of partial sleep deprivation impairs recovery from a single exercise training session. European journal of applied physiology, 117(4), 699-712.
Shank SS, Margoliash D. Sleep and sensorimotor integration during early vocal learning in a songbird. Nature. 2009 Mar 5;458(7234):73-7. doi: 10.1038/nature07615. Epub 2008 Dec 14. PMID: 19079238; PMCID: PMC2651989.
Kanaley JA, Weltman JY, Veldhuis JD, Rogol AD, Hartman ML, Weltman A. Human growth hormone response to repeated bouts of aerobic exercise. J Appl Physiol (1985). 1997 Nov;83(5):1756-61. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1997.83.5.1756. PMID: 9375348.
Mah, C. D., Mah, K. E., Kezirian, E. J., & Dement, W. C. (2011). The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep, 34(7), 943-950.
Chow, C.M. Sleep Hygiene Practices: Where to Now? Hygiene 2022, 2(3), 146-151; https://doi.org/10.3390/hygiene2030013
Vitale, J.A., Weydahl, A. Chronotype, Physical Activity, and Sport Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Med 47, 1859–1868 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0741-z
Wright Jr, K. P., McHill, A. W., Birks, B. R., Griffin, B. R., Rusterholz, T., & Chinoy, E. D. (2013). Entrainment of the human circadian clock to the natural light-dark cycle. Current Biology, 23(16), 1554-1558.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.039
Thorne, H. C., Jones, K. H., Peters, S. P., Archer, S. N., & Dijk, D. J. (2009). Daily and seasonal variation in the spectral composition of light exposure in humans. Chronobiology International, 26(5), 854-866.
Kidd, P. B., Young, M. W., & Siggia, E. D. (2015). Temperature compensation and temperature sensation in the circadian clock. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(46), E6284-E6292.
Wever, R. A. (1984). Properties of human sleep-wake cycles: parameters of internally synchronized free-running rhythms. Sleep, 7(1), 27-51.
Jonathan S. Emens, Krista Yuhas, Jennifer Rough, Nidhi Kochar, Dawn Peters & Alfred J. Lewy (2009) Phase Angle of Entrainment in Morning‐ and Evening‐Types under Naturalistic Conditions, Chronobiology International, 26:3, 474-493, DOI: 10.1080/07420520902821077
St Hilaire MA, Gooley JJ, Khalsa SBS, Kronauer RE, Czeisler CA, Lockley SW. Human phase response curve to a 1 h pulse of bright white light. The Journal of Physiology. 2012;590(13):3035-45.
Youngstedt SD, Elliott JA, Kripke DF. Human circadian phase-response curves for exercise. J Physiol. 2019;597(8):2253-68.
Eichner, E. R. (1988). Circadian timekeepers in sports. The Physician and sportsmedicine, 16(2), 78-85.
Facer-Childs, E., & Brandstaetter, R. (2015). The impact of circadian phenotype and time since awakening on diurnal performance in athletes. Current biology, 25(4), 518-522.
Facer-Childs, E. R., Middleton, B., Skene, D. J., & Bagshaw, A. P. (2019). Resetting the late timing of ‘night owls’ has a positive impact on mental health and performance. Sleep medicine, 60, 236-247.
Vitale, J. A., & Weydahl, A. (2017). Chronotype, physical activity, and sport performance: a systematic review. Sports Medicine, 47(9), 1859-1868.
Grgic, J., Lazinica, B., Garofolini, A., Schoenfeld, B. J., Saner, N. J., & Mikulic, P. (2019). The effects of time of day-specific resistance training on adaptations in skeletal muscle hypertrophy and muscle strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Chronobiology international, 36(4), 449-460. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2019.1567524
Allada, R., & Bass, J. (2021). Circadian mechanisms in medicine. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(6), 550-561. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1802337
Ruan, W., Yuan, X. & Eltzschig, H.K. Circadian rhythm as a therapeutic target. Nat Rev Drug Discov 20, 287–307 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-020-00109-w

All readings for this unit can be accessed through the Reading List, available on Canvas.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Demonstrate knowledge in the physiology of sleep and sleep as a performance enhancer
LO2. Comprehend the entrainment concept of the body clock and the external environment cue of light-dark cycle
LO3. Apply the knowledge of light and exercise as zeitgebers to phase-shifting and its application to circadian misalignments
LO4. Demonstrate competency in the skills of: a) reporting (data gathering, analysis and interpretation) b) oral presentation (organisation and visualisation)
LO5. Recognise the impact of circadian timing on physiological, physical and cognitive performance
LO6. Understand the underlying chronotype on optimal athletic performance
LO7. Understand the circadian rhythms of muscle strength and fatigue and strategies for recovery

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

- Changes made to tutorial format to include participatory activities - Reordering of lecture contents

Additional information

Work, health and safety

The Work Health and Safety practical induction checklist must be completed by each student in consultation with the tutor.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

EXSS2036: The Body Clock and Athletic Performance

Semester 1, 2023 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect