91164 Communication for Science
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2018 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Description
Scientists need to communicate effectively with others in the same field or in different fields; with administrators or journalists; and with the general public who have no science background. This is particularly important, as scientists tend to work in teams comprising a range of professionals of different backgrounds. To do this effectively a scientist needs to know how speak and write clearly, grammatically and convincingly and to be very aware of the background of their target readers or audience. If they are unable to do so their message may be ineffective or misunderstood, often to the detriment of their career prospects.
This is an integrated subject aiming to develop and enhance oral and written communication skills of students entering science. The content of lectures and workshops deal with the development of a range of academic and professional communication skills such as effective reading of scientific texts, writing for a range of readers and purposes in various science disciplines, effective speaking and listening skills. The subject also addresses ethical considerations relevant to science communication, such as plagiarism, truth in reporting of scientific data and ethical dilemmas in science, for scientists and science students alike.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | distinguish among the variety of scientific communication modes, their purposes and their use by scientists pursuing a range of careers in science disciplines |
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| 2. | demonstrate your competency in reading and studying scientific literature |
| 3. | construct a clearly written, grammatically correct text that demonstrates your appreciation of the specific target readership |
| 4. | demonstrate your competency in oral communication of scientific information and develop a clear and effective style of speaking, tailoring it to background of your audience |
| 5. | develop a critical approach to evaluating texts, journals and media articles about science and appreciate the importance of such an approach |
| 6. | effectively use graphical representation of data in communicating science |
| 7. | draw upon others' words and ideas fairly and honestly, without committing plagiarism |
| 8. | respond positively to feedback on your writing and speaking skills and apply reflection on personal learning experience as a means of improving your communication skills |
| 9. | recognise the ethical concerns of scientists, of the role of science in society and in scientific communication. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- An understanding of the nature, practice and application of the chosen science discipline. (1.0)
- The ability to acquire, develop, employ and integrate a range of technical, practical and professional skills, in appropriate and ethical ways within a professional context, autonomously and collaboratively and across a range of disciplinary and professional areas, e.g. time management skills, personal organisation skills, teamwork skills, computing skills, laboratory skills, data handling, quantitative and graphical literacy skills. (3.0)
- The capacity to engage in reflection and learning beyond formal educational contexts that is based on the ability to make effective judgments about one's own work. The capacity to learn in and from new disciplines to enhance the application of scientific knowledge and skills in professional contexts. (4.0)
- An understanding of the different forms of communication, writing, reading, speaking, listening, including visual and graphical, within science and beyond and the ability to apply these appropriately and effectively for different audiences. (6.0)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject will contribute largely to five of the seven graduate attributes that guide the teaching and learning programs in the Faculty of Science
2. inquiry-oriented approach
This subject aims to encourage you to develop an enquiring and critical approach to selecting and evaluating scientific information in literature and to improve your skills in communicating science. You will be guided to select appropriate sources of information that are relevant to the set topic of your Science Review Paper (Assessment Task 2) and how to assess the reliability of these sources. You will be encouraged to develop structured and coherent arguments in writing the review. The assignment on science careers (Assessment Task 3) will provide you with opportunities to show initiative in seeking information from a variety of sources about the various career paths in particular discipline. To broaden your understanding of the variety of career paths of scientists, a number of guest lecturers from among science academic staff will their careers and how communication skills contributed to their development.
As part of Assessment Task 1 you will be required to demonstrate self-reflection in relation to your experiences of learning in this subject.
3. Professional skills and their appropriate application
In this subject you will learn through a range of activities that develop a number of professional skills including critical reading; ability to adapt communication style to target audience and readers; effective use of verbal and written skills in the workplace; and skills associated with working in a team. You will also be encouraged to adopt a critical approach to the reading of scientific literature and guided on how to use library resources effectively in searching for scientific literature for your Science Review Paper (Assessment Task 2).
Throughout the semester you will find that the importance of fashioning communication to target audience or readers will be emphasised to you through numerous examples and workshop exercises. You will practise these skills in class activities such as short talks, written summaries, discussion of published materials and during question times. Your effective and consistent contribution to such class activities will be evaluated throughout the semester as part of Assessment Task 1.
You will also have the opportunity to practise and improve on a number of generic skills such as correct and effective use of language, good time management skills and effective organisational skills. In particular, you will get to practise your written and spoken language skills during workshop exercises and in the various written tasks, some of which will be assessed. You will be encouraged to set interim timelines to ensure timely submission of assignments through discussion of effective time management and organisational skills in the lectures, and through guidance and supervision provided by tutors. To this end, timely submission of assessment tasks and keeping talks within set time limits will contribute to the marking criteria for all your assignments.
Since team work is an integral part of the Assessment Task 3, one of the criteria of assessing this task will include your peer assessment of contribution of each member of the team to the combined effort of research and presentation. You will be provided with guidance on how to gain the most from teamwork early in the semester; your team will be required to report on the progress of team work at regular intervals during the semester workshops.
As scientist in training you will learn about the importance of an ethical approach to professional activities during lectures and workshops. Particular emphasis will be placed on the understanding of plagiarism and the importance of avoiding it in all science communications. You will become familiar with this topic early in the lecture and workshop series and you will be provided with many examples and exercises on how to avoid inadvertent plagiarism. All major assignments will be scrutinised using Turnitin software to detect plagiarism, and severe penalties will be imposed where plagiarism is detected. In order to consolidate your understanding of plagiarism, you will be provided with an opportunity to screen your Science Review Papers via Turnitin before its final submission for marking.
4. The ability and motivation for continued intellectual development
You will develop motivation to continue to improve your communication skills through a ‘doing-and improving’ approach to scientific communication (specifically in Assessment Task 2); and in accepting feedback advice, self-evaluation and criticism. The submitted Science Review Paper will be marked with extensive feedback which is to be used by you to revise and resubmit the Review. The marking criteria for the resubmitted review address the adequacy of responding to feedback comments and general improvements. You will also receive routine feedback on language and expression on minor written work during workshops, although this aspect will not be part of the marking criteria. It is expected that such learning activities will increase your motivation to continue to improve your communication skills through self-evaluation and to apply them in the other subjects.
The act of self-reflection is considered to be an important part of the learning process and continuous self-improvement; you will have the opportunity to practice this through two reflective journals (Assessment Task 1). The focus of Reflective Journal 1 is your evaluation of learning experience during the preparation of Science Review Paper, while the Reflective Journal 2 addresses your reflection on group work.
5. Engagement with the needs of society
This subject addresses the role of communicating science and technical information to general public and other scientists as being the responsibility of all scientists and a means of dealing with ethical issues that can be influenced by scientific practice. In order to transmit information to society effectively and to influence the views of various sections of the community the content and style of communication needs to suit the specific target group. You will find that this approach is emphasised through numerous examples and is assessed as part of the requirements of written and oral presentations.
6. Communication skills
You will acquire a range of basic-level communication skills in this subject including identifying the audience and readers for your assignments, developing effective written and oral presentation skills, and learning how to present data in a clear and effective way.
In Assessment Task 2 you will be assessed on your ability to write clearly and effectively; to structure the argument in the text convincingly; to use the sources correctly and without plagiarism; and to format written material according to set guidelines.
Non-assessable formative exercises during the semester aim to build your competence and confidence in communication skills. Class exercises will build your confidence in English expression and your ability to summarise and paraphrase correctly. To develop experience in critical evaluation skills you will be asked to mark some class exercises of your classmates. You will give impromptu short talks in class about recent scientific news - this will give you practice in oral presentation skills as well as encouraging scientific literacy and practice of keeping up to date with scientific literature.
You will be assessed on your skills of presentation style, engagement of the audience, appropriate body language and ability to convey the message succinctly and effectively in Assessment Task 3.
Graphical presentation of data is an important form of communication science. Analysing the correct and effective use of this style of communication will allow you to evaluate its use in literature sources and to use it in your own written assignments and PowerPoint presentations.
Teaching and learning strategies
The subject is delivered as a one-hour lecture and a three-hour tutorial session per week. Lectures are presented by the subject coordinator with a number of short guest presentations by academics staff from various disciplines in the Faculty of Science; these aim to demonstrate the importance of effective communication in research and career development of professional scientists.
Generally lecture outlines will be uploaded on UTSOnline before the lectures are presented – this will enable you to read over the material and any pre-reading, and be prepared to ask questions.
Small group tutorial sessions involve a variety of learning experiences including class discussions, short speeches by students, group work, individual tasks and peer assessment. In particular, students are provided with many opportunities to practise writing and speaking during the workshops. UTSOnline is used to provide teaching material and to offer students opportunities for discussing science topics on Discussion Board
In addition to scheduled classes, three 3-hour sessions of enabling tutorials during one of the tutorial weeks are organised for students who have perceived difficulties with language and guidance in addition to what is normally given during tutorial workshops.
Content (topics)
The approach taken in this subject is not specific to a particular science discipline since the student enrolment is derived from all the degrees offered in the Faculty of Science.
The lecture series addresses the following topics:
- the importance of communication in science and for scientists;
- the variety and range of communication required of science undergraduates and graduates;
- elements of written communication that result in clear and effective communication of information;
- different styles of written communications and consideration of target readers;
- different styles of oral communication reflecting the purpose and the target audience;
- graphical and tabular presentation of data as a concise and effective means of communicating information;
- elements of science communication that are discipline-specific, or at least, more important for some disciplines than for others;
- the use of library and web resources for effective communication; ethical use of these resources and the need to avoid plagiarism and to be meticulous in acknowledging source of information used in communication;
- effective resource use for communication;
- the role of science in society, touching on some of the difficult ethical areas in society today;
- the role of communication in career paths of scientists.
The workshop program addresses the following areas and provides hands-on experience in a number of skills essential for scientists:
- searching for information using library and web resources;
- paraphrasing and summarising effectively, thus avoiding committing plagiarism;
- writing skills required for essay writing, laboratory reports, examination techniques;
- familiarity with the format of a science journal paper;
- effective presentation of data graphically and in tabular forms;
- writing for target readers;
- summarising material, arguing view points;
- different styles of oral presentation.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Professional engagement with learning
| Intent: | The aim of this assessment item is to evaluate the degree to which you have consistently contributed to this subject over the period of semester and the effectiveness with which you were able to reflect on the process of your learning. Graduate Attributes Addressed Graduate Attributes: 4, 5, 6 |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 3.0 |
| Weight: | 15% |
| Criteria: | Your successful contribution to this task will be assessed by evaluation of regular attendance at workshops; active participation in discussions; contribution to non-assessable class exercises; a degree of your preparedness for the workshops and your contribution to discussions; preparation of your reflective journals according to guidelines and demonstrating a degree of self-awareness and progress in learning the set skills. |
Assessment task 2: Science review paper
| Intent: | The aim of this assessment task is to provide you with the opportunity to write a scientific review on a set topic that demonstrates your ability to apply the skills of effective scientific writing and library research that you learned during the course of this semester. It will also give you the opportunity to improve your writing by applying feedback received on the original submission and then to resubmit the improved version for marking Graduate Attributes addressed Graduate attributes: 2, 3, 4 |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.0 and 6.0 |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 1500 ± 150 words |
| Criteria: | Your review will be assessed on the basis of content, presentation format and the effective use and citing of reference material; adherence to guidelines for writing provided at the beginning of the semester will be evaluated. You will receive feedback in the form of a table of criteria successfully attained as well as specific corrections on your manuscript. The revised paper will be marked according to how effectively you have addressed the feedback. |
Assessment task 3: Science careers assignment
| Intent: | The aim of this assessment task is for you to experience team work through effective collaboration, to demonstrate time-management and planning skills and to learn something about the types of opportunities available to graduates in the specified area of science. Specifically, you will need to identify how communication skills are used in that career path Graduate Attributes addressed Graduate attributes: 2, 3, 5, 6 |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 3.0, 4.0 and 6.0 |
| Weight: | 15% |
| Length: | 10 minutes + 3 minutes for questions |
| Criteria: | This task will be assessed on demonstrated investigative skills, presentation content, adherence to time limit and effective responses to questions from the audience. Your individual presentation style and audience skills will contribute as a separate mark that will be added to the group mark. Peer assessment of the contribution of each member of the group to this task will be sought confidentially and will be used to moderate your individual mark. |
Assessment task 4: Final Examination
| Intent: | The aim of final examination is to assess how much you have gained from theory, practice, research and application of communication skills during the entire semester. Most major areas of the syllabus will be covered in this formal 3-hour long examination conducted during the normal examination period. Graduate Attributes addressed Graduate attributes: 2, 3, 6 |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.0 |
| Weight: | 50% |
| Length: | 3 hours and 10 minutes |
| Criteria: | The exam will test your effective and appropriate writing skills; critical evaluation of written material and comprehension; and other skills learnt during lectures and workshops |
Minimum requirements
In order to pass this subject, students must:
• attempt, complete, and submit each of the assessment tasks; and
• earn an overall total of 50 marks or more for the subject
• receive at least 40% of the marks available for the final examination. If 40% is not reached, an X grade fail may be awarded for the subject, irrespective of an overall mark greater than 50.
Full attendance is particularly important in an interactive, language-based subject such as this one. In addition to successfully completing the assessment tasks above, students must attend at least 80% of all classes.
Required texts
Faigley L. 2012. The Little Penguin Handbook. Pearson Australia. Frenchs Forest.
The text above is available from the Uni Co-op shop.
The Information Booklet for this subject which is uploaded on UTSOnline and will be issued in Week 1 contains detailed information about assessments (in addition to the information in this Subject Outline), guidelines on writing and oral presentation and additional support advice. This booklet is essential reading and it will be assumed that all students are familiar with its contents by the end of Week 1. In addition to this, essential references on specific topics will be provided by individual lecturers..
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Recommended texts
References
Eunson B. 2005. Communicating in the 21st Century. Wiley, Milton.
Mathews JR and Mathews R W. 2008. Successful Scientific Writing. CUP, Cambridge.
Morley-Warner T. 2009. Academic Writing is …. Association for Academic Language and Learning, Sydney.
Day RA and Gastel B. 2006. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. CUP, Cambridge.
Mohan T, McGregor H, Saunders S and Archee R. 2004. Communicating as Professionals. Thomson, Melbourne.
Silyn-Roberts H. 1996. Writing for Science. Longman, Auckland.
Zeegers P, Deller-Evans K, Egege S and Klinger C. 2011. Essential Skills for Science and Technology. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
Other resources
It is essential that students become fully familiar with the Generic Information Booklet that is issued by the Faculty of Science at enrolment. This booklet can also be found at http://www.science.uts.edu.au/pdf/subject-booklet.pdf.
There are two UTS websites on communication that will also be helpful:
- HELPS site has links to special workshops on writing reading, speaking and listening as well as self-help modules on these topics - http://www.ssu.uts.edu.au/helps/ Students who have difficulties with English language are strongly advised to attend the workshops early in the semester
- UTS Library (http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/ ) has a number of different pages that offer help in communication skills; in particular there are units on Study Guides, English Language, Study Skills and International Students under the tag of HELP
