Science Communication

This subject is not offered in 2014.

120 hours

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, 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 Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Why is it essential that scientists learn to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences? What makes for engaging communication when it comes to science? How does the style of communication need to change for different audiences? What are the nuts and bolts of good science writing? What are the characteristics of effective public speaking?

Weekly seminars and tutorials will consider the important role science and technology plays in twenty-first century society and explore why it is vital that scientists learn to articulate their ideas to a variety of audiences in an effective and engaging manner. These audiences may include school students, agencies that fund research, the media, government, industry, and the broader public. Other topics include the philosophy of science communication, talking about science on the radio, effective public speaking, writing press releases and science feature articles, science performance, communicating science on the web and how science is reported in the media.

Students will develop skills in evaluating examples of science and technology communication to identify those that are most effective and engaging. Students will also be given multiple opportunities to receive feedback and improve their own written and oral communication skills.

Students will work in small teams on team projects to further the communication skills developed during the seminar programme. These projects will focus on communicating a given scientific topic to a particular audience using spoken, visual, written or web-based communication.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Articulate the range of purposes of communicating about science
• Identify the common features of effective communication in written, oral and other forms of communication
• Understand the nature of different audiences for scientific information
• Communicate science effectively to different audiences, using a variety of different techniques and media
• Provide constructive feedback to other students on their communication skills (both written and oral)

• One written assignment “Writing for different audiences” (1500 words, plus 500 words of peer review). Satisfactory participation in peer review of other students’ written assignments is a hurdle requirement. Initial submission for peer review will occur in week 4, final submission in week 8; 20%
• Individual 5-minute oral presentation Week 7; 10%
• Online science blog (minimum of 2000 words during semester) Students must post to the blog at least once a fortnight during semester and also respond to the posts of other students; 20%
• Written project proposal for group project Due week 5; 10%
• Group project (approximately 60 hours of contribution to group work). The product of the projects will be project-specific. However each group will give a 10-minute oral presentation in the last week of semester. 40%

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On the completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Communicate effectively in both written and oral forms
• Demonstrate awareness of and ability to use appropriate communication technology
• Provide constructive feedback on other students’ work
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team on a major project
• Plan work, use time effectively and manage a project
• Reflect on their own communication skills