Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
Nil
Incompatible
BMSC110 Communicating Ideas in Science , BMSC201 Communicating Ideas in Science
Unit rationale, description and aim
Effective communication is essential to ensure advancements in science are recognised and impactful. As future science professionals, it is important for students to learn to communicate science clearly and effectively to audiences of diverse backgrounds and with varying levels of scientific knowledge. Students will demonstrate their knowledge and ability to convey clear scientific messages via oral, written, and audiovisual means in this unit. Students will be able to apply communication skills acquired in this unit to other contexts, including professional settings, other scholarly disciplines, and in day-to-day life. This unit aims to (i) facilitate development of knowledge and skills in communicating scientific concepts using a variety of media and to a range of audiences, (ii) help students develop knowledge and skills that enable them to provide constructive feedback in a respectful and dignified manner, and (iii) assist students to develop strategies to act on and respond to critiques on their work in a professional fashion.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Locate, organise and translate scientific information for a variety of communication purposes | GC9 |
| LO2 | Identify and apply best-practice principles to designing high quality communication | GC4, GC9, GC10 |
| LO3 | Effectively communicate science-related information to a variety of audiences, for a variety of purposes, and with sensitivity | GC11, GC12 |
| LO4 | Justify the content of communication media by describing the evidence base that supports key messages | GC7, GC9 |
Content
Topics will include:
- Purposes of science communications
- Using the literature
- selecting appropriate literature
- reading critically
- extracting key messages
- supporting key messages with evidence
- Designing and developing media to communicate science
- designing media for impact
- using images to convey key messages
- ensuring design and delivery are appropriate
- Delivering scientific messages
- conveying a message
- targeting the audience
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Effective communication is essential to science; underpinning decision making at all levels of society and promoting understanding of the relevance of science. Scientific communication must consider the purpose of communication and the target audience. Communication skills can be learnt via practice and feedback.
The design of this unit aims to foster student-centred active learning and accommodate diverse student needs. It includes a combination of self-paced, online learning and real-time classes. Early and additional feedback on learning, and tailored support, are provided to facilitate students’ transition to university. Students learn about techniques of communicating via different media and to a variety of audiences. Students apply knowledge acquired to implement and practice effective communication skills, guided by peer observation and feedback. This approach strengthens the learning process and provides opportunities for students to draw on their own life experiences.
Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.
Assessment strategy and rationale
Assessments will guide students to progressively develop knowledge and skills in communication of science. Ongoing feedback from fellow students and academics is integral to this process. Assessments are closely aligned with engagement in content, employ a variety of media, and target a range of audiences.
In the first assessment students, are required to research and articulate the significance of clear, concise, and professional communication in life sciences using a variety of examples and scenarios and — as the first step to develop their abilities to provide meaningful feedback — critique another student’s submission.
In the second assessment task, students collaborate to design and deliver a group presentation on a specific topic. Feedback (received from their teaching staff and peers) on this assessment helps them identify areas for improvement and refine their presenting, communication, and listening skills.
In the final assessment, students integrate and build on their skills to demonstrate an ability to adjust their communication of scientific ideas to different audiences. During their preparations, students take advantage of constructive feedback they receive from the teaching staff and their peers.
In order to pass this unit students must demonstrate achievement of every learning outcome and obtain a minimum mark of 50% for the unit.
Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment 1: Written assignment Students articulate the significance of clear, concise, and professional communication in life sciences, showcase development of their critical thinking skills, and demonstrate their ability to provide constructive feedback. | 20% | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
Assessment 2: Group assignment Students work in groups, with each group member contributing to both the creation and delivery of the presentation. Further, each student produces a critical review of another group’s presentation, where each group is given the opportunity to produce a written rebuttal of the feedback their group received. | 35% | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4 |
Assessment 3: Individual poster and oral presentations Students produce and demonstrate a poster on a specific topic (targeting a scientific audience) and — after receiving and considering feedback from their peers — record a vodcast on the same topic for lay audience. | 35% | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4 |
Representative texts and references
Cormick, C. (2019). The Science of Communicating Science: The ultimate guide. Clayton: CSIRO publishing.
Dean, C. (2009). Am I Making Myself Clear? A Scientist's Guide to Talking to the Public. Cambridge USA: Harvard University Press.
Knight, D. (2011). Public Understanding of Science: A History of Communicating Scientific Ideas. Abingdon and New York: Routledge Studies.
Lindsay DR. (2020). Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words (2nd ed.). Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing.
Olson, R. (2018). Don't Be Such a Scientist. Talking Substance in an Age of Style. 2nd Edition. USA: Island Press.