Science Communication: Practice

This subject is not offered in 2013.

125 hours. Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Objectives, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Science communicators in their various roles as teachers, journalists, museum curators and so on, play a major role in promoting public understanding of science. This unit will start with the skills and experiences that participants bring and work with them to further develop their abilities as communicators of science. Common practices, goals and outcomes in science communication will be explored, and the mediating influence of beliefs, values and understandings of and about science discussed. A central focus will be to envision how participants can shape their science communication practices to reflect a humanistic perspective of science, as recently described in the national curriculum, in order to better engage their audiences (i.e. students, general public etc.) while fulfilling their traditional functions of educating about the ideas and processes of science.

At the completion of this subject, students will be able to:

• Articulate their personal philosophy for communicating science, and link this to the theoretical and research literature;
• Demonstrate awareness of a range of social and philosophical issues affecting the success of science communication practices;
• Design science communication practices that are engaging and educative, and that reflect a humanistic perspective of science.

There are (4) assessment tasks:

• 3 minor essays (each 500 words and worth 10%) due in weeks 2, 5 and 8
• 1 major essay (3,500 words, 70%) due at end of semester

Stocklmayer, S.M., Gore, M.M., & Bryant, C. (Eds.). (2001) Science communication in theory and practice. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Science Communication
Educational Researcher
Research in Science Education

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students will have the knowledge, skills and understandings to enable them to:

• Use reflection to inform and refine their everyday practices;
• Be skilled communicators who can effectively articulate and justify their practices as knowledgeable agents of change;
• Value the use of research evidence as a basis for enhancing their practices;
• Cooperatively work in teams to achieve realistic, negotiated outcomes and goals;
• Communicate their personal and social values appropriately and effectively in a range of contexts.