NNDK16002U Science Communication in Theory and Practice

Volume 2016/2017
Content

This highly interactive summer school offers students from all disciplines the opportunity to gain skills in the understanding and production of research communication and in interdisciplinary, problem-oriented collaboration. Students will work together to produce high quality science communication products such as short films, podcasts, articles and complementary social media. Project groups will be interdisciplinary, giving students the chance to gain hands-on experience of research and development across disciplinary boundaries.

 

The two week intensive summer school will be supported by a four week, part-time (25 hours per week) programme of online teaching, readings, and short tasks which will enable students to become familiar with the theory and practice of public science communication. They will engage with topics such as the history of science communication, the narrative techniques and formats through which it can be carried out, and how key messages can be conveyed clearly, accurately and memorably.

Learning Outcome

Account for key methods and theories in the study of science communication, including models of communication, scientific knowledge, audience reception, and analytical frames.

Create science communication products which utilise specific formats to communicate scientific knowledge to defined audiences.

Critically examine instances of science communication by drawing on appropriate theories and methods in the field.

Communicate such assessment and analysis with precision and in terms relevant to the academic debate in the field.

Students will engage with texts introducing the theory and methods of public science communication, as well as with instances of written (and other) communication. The course content will use a set of real world case studies, including climate change and emerging biotechnology, and readings will also include examples and analyses of these.

Lectures, online exercises, group work, and practical workshops.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 80
  • Exam
  • 26
  • Preparation
  • 100
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Take-home assignment, optional subject. The assignment must be handed in no later than 18 August 2017.
Exam registration requirements

To be registred for the exam each participant must: 

- Pass four compulsory assignments posed during the on-line part of the course.

- Actively participate in and attend the on-campus part of the course (80% attendance).

- Participate actively in the production of a communication product.

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
passed/not passed
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period

14 August to 18 August 2017.

Re-exam

Take-home assignment, set subject. Assignment will be posed 28 of August 2017 and the assignment must be submitted no later that 1 September 2017. 

Criteria for exam assesment

The students will be assessed according to whether they describe:

- how they developed their science communication product; 
- why they made particular choices about its content and structure; 
- how those choices relate to science communication theory covered in the online course.