Course Description
Designed to teach students how to communicate their science to different audiences. Being able to effectively communicate one's own research and other important new research findings to a broad diversity of audiences is a key skill for scientists. Students will learn how to communicate the relevance of their research to different target audiences in a variety of formats, including elevator speeches, press releases, and social media. Students will also learn how to promote their research, including talking to journalists and making science videos.
Athena Title
Explaining Your Science
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the end of this course, students will be able to effectively communicate their science to the public. This includes: (a) connecting scientific data with the “big picture” for general audiences and making their science relevant, (b) explaining their work without jargon and without overwhelming their audience with too much information, (c) being comfortable and confident when talking about their science, and (d) being able to use different formats for different audiences and for different situations. Students in this course will write project drafts, routinely give and receive peer-feedback, revise their writing, present their media pieces, and incorporate feedback (including video- taped presentations) into the final version.
Topical Outline
1. Explaining your science to peers 2. Explaining your science to non-expert audiences 3. Know your audience and connect 4. Develop your message box 5. Formats, dos, and don'ts of social media 6. Lessons from TEDx talks 7. Making a research video 8. Talking to journalists 9. Promoting your research
Syllabus