Program Overview

BMSC110 - Communicating Ideas in Science

Year

2023

Credit Points

10

Campus Offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible Units

• BMSC201 Communicating Ideas in Science
• BMSD110 Communicating Ideas in Science

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

Effective communication is essential to ensure advancements in science are recognized and impactful. As future science professionals, it is important for students to learn to communicate science 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 audio-visual 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 enable development of knowledge and skills in communicating scientific concepts using a variety of media and to a range of audiences.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to demonstrate they have achieved the learning outcomes detailed below. Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities to ensure 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.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

• Locate, organize, and translate scientific information for a variety of communication purposes
• Identify and apply best-practice principles to designing high-quality communication
• Effectively communicate science-related information to a variety of audiences, for a variety of purposes, and with sensitivity
• Justify the content of communication media by describing the evidence base that supports key messages

Graduate Attributes

• GA5: Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills, and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession
• GA7: Work both autonomously and collaboratively
• GA8: Locate, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information
• GA9: Demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media

Content

Topics will include:

• Purposes of science communications
• Using the literature
  • Choosing 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 learned via practice and feedback.

This unit uses interactive activities to engage students in learning to communicate scientific ideas effectively. 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.

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 collaborate to design and deliver a presentation on a scientific topic. Feedback on this assessment helps them to identify areas for improvement and refine skills for subsequent assessments. The subsequent assessments are individual and allow students to demonstrate their ability to communicate effectively using a variety of techniques and media. In the second assessment task, students refine and apply skills from the first assessment to show they can communicate a scientific message succinctly and demonstrate their understanding of the communication strategies used. 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.

Overview of Assessments

• Group presentation: Students demonstrate their ability to work as a team to communicate scientific ideas effectively. (20%)
• Communication with images and writing: Students demonstrate skills in written and visual communication, and critical thinking. (40%)
• Individual presentations: Students develop and demonstrate their skills in targeting science communication to different audiences. (40%)

Representative Texts and References

• Cormick, C. (2019) The Science of Communicating Science: The ultimate guide. CSIRO publishing
• Dean, C. (2009) Am I Making Myself Clear? A Scientist's Guide to Talking to the Public, Harvard University Press
• Knight, D. (2011) Public Understanding of Science: A History of Communicating Scientific Ideas, Routledge Studies in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
• Lindsay DR. (2020) Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words. 2nd Edition. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood
• Olson, R. (2009) Don't Be Such a Scientist Talking Substance in an Age of Style. USA: Island Press