Scientists and Public Engagement – STAGE (RUG)
Section outline
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The course consists of 2 parts:
Part A) Scientists’ writing and oral skills for science communication: This module consists of two activities in a workshop style (2 hours) followed by individual work (2 hours).
The main objectives:
- How to write about science for a non-scientific audience
- How to speak about science for a non-scientific audience
The course consists of 2 basic activities:
- Writing about science for a non-scientific audience.
- Speaking about science for a non-scientific audience.
Part B) Sustainability issues - This module consists of two activities in a workshop style (2 hours) followed by individual work (2 hours).
The main objectives:
- Knowing what sustainability issues exist in the world today
- How to write an effective communication strategy regarding a sustainability issue
The course consists of 2 basic activities:
- What sustainability issues do we have in the world today?
- How to tackle sustainability issues; a communication perspective.
This courses demonstrate and approach scientific work through various activities and experiments.
The course is developed in a mixed format. In particular, the target group must explore in advance several selected resources related to the topics under investigation (based on the resources that can be found in the Toolkit and the developed infographic, participate in online teaching based on independent work and experiments. Participants must also work with materials available on http://project-stage.eu/.
At the same time, the whole unit is supplemented with asynchronous teaching and individual work. The whole module aims at a deeper final online discussion and reflection, while working with the active participation in the topic.
Duration of course: 4 hours + 4 hours
Target group:Scientists, Researchers, Early Career Researchers, Faculty members involved in science communication activities, science communicators, and science communication students.
Expertise needed per target group: The target groups need no prior expertise.
Assessment:Peer assessment: the participants will provide feedback on each other’s work. Guideline questions:
- Which parts of the written article are clear, and which parts are less clear? Why?
- How could the article be improved (e.g. the use of jargon, the structure, etc.)?
- Is the article simple enough for a non-scientific audience to understand?
- Which parts of the presentation are clear, and which parts are less clear? Why?
- How could the presentation be improved (e.g. slides, speed, amount of information, etc.)
- Is the presentation simple enough for a non-scientific audience to understand?
For more information, please, click here.
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Core ideas – Content:
- Science communication is often written for a broad audience, where some people in the audience have little or no scientific background. The information should thus contain no jargon and be presented clearly and concisely. An article on science communication usually starts with a hook to pique the interest of potential readers. The structure of the article should be logical and evident to readers.
Duration: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Understanding the audience for which science communication is written
- How to present scientific information clearly and concisely
- How character plays a role in science communication
- How to write a hook
- How the structure of science communication can make the whole more than the sum of its parts
Tools:- All articles the participants have to read should be printed.
- To
play the video about structuring an article.
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Core ideas - Content: Presenting scientific work to a non-scientific audience can be challenging. It is important to keep the message simple while avoiding being simplistic. Preparation is very important, as is knowing the audience’s level of understanding of the topic. Avoid boring the audience by telling them a story, one involving a mystery and a journey towards the truth. Use metaphors that your audience can understand.
Duration: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- How to present scientific work to a non-scientific audience
- How to keep the message simple without being simplistic
- How to prepare for a presentation
- How to tell a story about the research
- How to use metaphors that the audience can understand
Tools: All articles the participants have to read should be printed.To play the video about structuring an article.
For more information use the infographics on this link Public speaking fundamentals
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PART A - Activity 3: Writing and preparing a presentation about a scientific subject for a non-scientific audience
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Core ideas – Content: Scientific communicators should be able to write an article and prepare a presentation about scientific research for a non-scientific audience based on the information learned during the first two activities.
Duration: 120 minutes
Objectives:
- How to write an article about scientific research for non-scientific audience?
- How to prepare a presentation about scientific research for a non-scientific audience?
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Core ideas – Content: There are a lot of sustainability issues in the world today. Not everyone might be familiar with every issue (climate change, natural resource use, waste production, water pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, overfishing, ocean acidification and air pollution).
Duration: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- Which sustainability issues do we have in the world today?
- How are these issues related?
- Can science communication help mitigate these issues?
Tools: Printed articles
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Core ideas – Content: Sustainability issues can be tackled by informing the public about them. Why do these problems exist, why are they problematic, and how can we solve them? Often this communication begins with a communication strategy. The participants will study a communication strategy and learn what makes a good and effective communication strategy.
Duration: 60 minutes
Objectives:
- How can we communicate sustainability issues to the general public?
- Do the approaches differ by subject?
- What makes a communication strategy effective?
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Core ideas – Content: Scientific communicators should be able to write a communication strategy, aimed at communicating a sustainability issue to a non-scientific audience based on the information learned during the first two activities.
Duration: 120 minutes
Objectives: How to write a communication strategy?
Tools: Printed articles, Each participant needs a private device.
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