Handbook

Successful scientists - whether in the university environment or the outside workplace - must be effective communicators. They must craft their messages into different shapes for different audiences, whether they are writing a lecture, report, research paper, or presenting to peers or public audiences. This course is open to students wishing to gain a solid foundation in communication skills. These include effective notetaking, active listening and learning, reading critically, writing succinctly in the narrative, descriptive and academic styles, the steps in university essay writing for science topics, using grammar effectively to improve writing, and the anatomy of a compelling presentation tailored to audiences. Students also learn how to research topics, including searching for and evaluating primary literature and the weight of evidence from secondary sources on the Internet. For those students wishing to add a science communicator career option to their science degree, this course is also a foundation for the third-level course BEES6800 The Science of Science Communication, which requires confident communication skills. BEES2680 is designed for science students but is open to students from any discipline wishing to improve their communication skills.