Communicating Earth Sciences

EART40031 Communicating Earth Sciences 15 Semester 2 Undergraduate Level 7 Mike Burton Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 <div>Good communication skills are essential for professional careers. Good written and presentation skills are required in order to get a job in the first place and then deliver results and achieve promotion. Excellent writing skills are a superpower in all walks of life, and will greatly help students in delivery of the other units in the 4th year and for their research dissertation.   We focus in this Unit on the communication principles explained by Ros Atkins in his book “Art of Explanation”. These approaches are then practiced in a series of workshops where each week students prepare written work which is then reviewed by small groups. This provides excellent opportunities for learning by doing and development of professional skills in chairing meetings and working in teams to a deadline.  </div> <div>Good communication skills are essential for professional careers. Good written and presentation skills are required in order to get a job in the first place and then deliver results and achieve promotion. Excellent writing skills are a superpower in all walks of life, and will greatly help students in delivery of the other units in the 4th year and for their research dissertation.   We focus in this Unit on the communication principles explained by Ros Atkins in his book “Art of Explanation”. These approaches are then practiced in a series of workshops where each week students prepare written work which is then reviewed by small groups. This provides excellent opportunities for learning by doing and development of professional skills in chairing meetings and working in teams to a deadline.  </div> This course aims to develop students’ communication and professional skills through a series of workshops and writing proposals / presentations.    <figure class="table" style="width:500px;"><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" rowspan="1">On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:</td><td>Developed</td><td>Assessed</td></tr><tr><td>ILO 1</td><td>Communicate effectively in presentations and proposals using the principles from “Art of Explanation” </td><td>x</td><td>x</td></tr><tr><td>ILO 2</td><td>Chair and contribute as a panel member reviewing 20+ proposals and producing a ranked list, eliciting each team members views</td><td>x</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>ILO 3</td><td>Produce an effective promotion case and review 20+ promotion cases to deadline </td><td>x</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>ILO 4</td><td>Deliver an effective research presentation and assess the effectiveness of others delivery </td><td>x</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>ILO 5</td><td>Produce an effective proposal for funding for an outreach activity </td><td>x</td><td>x</td></tr><tr><td>ILO 6</td><td>Produce a podcast with exciting original content and effective interview skills </td><td>x</td><td>x</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> These are 2h mixed seminar lecture/discussion/workshop sessions in Semester 1, combined with detailed fast feedback homeworking. Attendance at all workshops is essential to provide feedback to fellow students, gain professional skills and produce high quality work for the assessments in the fourth year. Panels are presecribed so if anyone is missing it will make life difficult for the remaining panel members.   Week 1 The Art of Explanation – what makes an effective research proposalWeek 2: Research proposal reviews and effective research presentations  Week 3: Research presentation reviews and effective promotion casesWeek 4: Promotion assessment and effective outreach proposalsWeek 5: Outreach events and Press releasesWeek 6: Press releases and PodcastsWeek 7: Policymaker communication and podcast assessmentWeek 8: Science communication through film Each week students will produce some written work which will then be reviewed and discussed en masse in small groups during 90 minute workshops. We will end each workshop with an introduction to the topic that will be addressed next week, providing clear instructions for the homework.   Feedback will be provided for each piece of written work both by peer review and by the Unit Lead.   The aim is to provide students with a deep understanding of what make effective communication, but first writing their own proposal and then reviewing everyone else's, thus immediately seeing what works well and receiving constructive feedback on their own work. By repeating this process through the course using different material and subject matter students will be provided with an accelerated learning of what makes effective proposals and promotion cases, which will be of immediate benefit for their fourth year and future use through their careers.   Students will also develop effective professional skills in working in small teams to tight deadlines and reaching consensus on what gets funded / who gets promoted.   0 Other 50% 7 Oral assessment/presentation 50% <figure class="table" style="width:500px;"><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td>Assessment type</td><td>% Weighting within unit</td><td>Hand out and hand in dates</td><td>Length</td><td>How, when and what feedback is provided</td><td>ILO tested</td></tr><tr><td>Outreach proposal assessment</td><td>50%</td><td>Set: S1 week 5 deadline week 7.</td><td>10-12 hours</td><td>Written feedback via email 2 working weeks after last submission</td><td>1,5</td></tr><tr><td>Podcast recording</td><td>50%</td><td>Set S1 week 7, hand-in S1 week 9</td><td>500 words</td><td>Written feedback via email  feedback 2 working weeks after last submission </td><td>1,6</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> MEarthSc(Hons) MEarthSc(Hons) Fourth Year Mandatory MEarthSci (H) Geo w Plan Sc MEarthSci (H) Geo w Plan Sc Fourth Year Mandatory M.Eng in Petroleum Engineering M.Eng in Petroleum Engineering Fourth Year Mandatory N Ros Atkins. (2023) The Art of Explanation.  .   Lectures 5 Practical classes & workshops 11 0 134