Science Communication Teaduskommunikatsioon)

Science Communication Teaduskommunikatsioon) LOLO.00.037. Website www.ut.ee/BG/scom Visiting professor Jack Holbrook Professor Miia Rannikmäe Length of course 2 credits (80 hours) Medium of Instruction: English

Dr Jack Holbrook PhD in Chemistry, University of London Teaching Certificate, University of London Experience School Teacher of Chemistry/Maths/General Science in the UK. Chemistry (Science) Teacher Educator - UK, Tanzania (with British Aid), Hong Kong. Visiting Professor in Science Education – Estonia. Freelance Education Consultant - Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar Research interests - Curriculum philosophy, classroom implementational strategies, action research, assessment and evaluation in science education

Prof. Miia Rannikmae • PhD Science Education, Univ. of Tartu • Chemistry teacher certificate, Univ. of Tartu • Gymnasium chemistry teacher • Senior Researcher, Dept of Sc. Education • Research interests – Scientific and Technological Literacy (STL), Learning of Science, Relevance of Science Education

Your introductions Please give your name and research topic, but more importantly please comment on: • Why join this course ? And in writing, please answer the following:

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What do you perceive the course to be about ?

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What are your expectations from this course ?

(I do have a plan for the course which I will convey to you, but if it is possible to entertain your expectations I am willing to try).

Breakdown of lectures, seminars, self study • Lecture approx 20 hours • Seminars approx 20 hours • Self study approx 40 hours Main purpose To assist you, on the one hand, to have a better understanding of the nature of science and, on the other, to develop communication skills that will assist you with the developing of a PhD degree and becoming a member of the (science) academic community (University staff member, etc) • A special aspect is that participants should acquire skills to review papers, present and discuss research ideas and disseminate outcomes through seminars presentations, posters, etc.

Key competencies At the end of this course, you are expected to possess the ability to: • Hold a justifiable view on the Nature of Science and able to express this in appropriate terminology. • Meaningfully read and create materials articles useful for conferences and seminars within a specific field of study. • Make clear, confident and audible oral presentations on a topic (nature of science, research). • Present a topic using suitable, well organised, support materials such as multimedia and a conference poster. • Exhibit skills as seminar chairmen, session leaders and discussants in conferences, seminars, etc. • Demonstrate cooperative skills in working with others with respect to research, group discussions and developing written outputs.

Course Assessment This will be by: • Marking of 4 written outputs (60%) covering: (i) Essay on the ‘nature of science’. (ii) Creation and presentation of powerpoint slides and a conference poster paper in areas of relevance. (iii) Introductory comments as seminar chairman/ leader and separately, notes on comments when a session/ presentation discussant. (iv) Set of summaries of comments on papers/posters created by participants. •

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Class involvement in discussions, activities and oral presentations (40%) No formal examination is intended.

Breakdown of major components of the course

1. Nature of Science [what is ‘scientific’] • Discussion of the philosophical aspects (science v cognitive psychologist views), undertake activities geared to exploring the nature of science in depth and build up data which can form part of the basis for communication activities. • Reflect on the meaning of science - natural science v social science as separate areas, • The approach is lecture, activity and discussion based, building philosophical views of science and perhaps exploring the relationships between the nature of science and the nature of science as taught (secondary/tertiary) and the place of ethical issues. • Output is an essay on the ‘nature of science’.

2. Oral Presentation skills Promote ability to present information (science), orally exhibiting skills of clarity, confidence, audibility and positioning. Participants develop a presentation (of their discussions/research etc) and deliver this to an audience. The approach is group practice and individual presentation.

3. Reading of articles Participants undertake activities, discuss meanings based on written materials made available (articles) on the nature of science (perhaps with science teaching overtones) The approach is reading and discussion based, building up an understanding of higher order skills in the context of science learning and reporting. Output are notes guiding a presentation to be made on reading undertaken on the nature of science and involving the handling of questions/comments from the audience.

4. Creating Poster Papers Participants consider style, sequencing, references for developing conference poster materials in English relevant to a research theme of choice, but specifically developed for a ‘layman’ audience.

The approach is through seminar presentation of the poster and answering questions in English. Output is a conference poster paper in an area of personal relevance.

5. Effective use of powerpoint) Participants present using powerpoint, or other multimedia, concentrating on effective use of the technology and clarity of the presentation (including interaction between media and presenter).

The approach is group practice and individual presentation. Output is a set of support materials for a presentation on the nature of science.

6. Acting as session chairman and discussant. Participants develop skills to become session chairman by offering introductions and become discussants to comment on presentations. The approach is through discussion and role playing. Outputs are a set of guidelines created by participants and summaries of discussions held (across all course components).

SESSION 1 Looking at the Nature of Science (what do we mean by scientific ?)

The issue Not only is there a problem in the translation of nature of science into Estonian, but there seems to be little general agreement as to an actual definition of this, even by scientists. But luckily, there does seem to be areas of common agreement which we can explore. We begin to explore this in session 2.

Session 1 But to end this session, may I seek your initial ideas by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire is quite long (on purpose, as I am wanting to get some idea of your strength in reading English – however this is not a test; it is intended to guide my future presentations).

There are no absolute answers, but the sincerity of your response is important. You are permitted (even encouraged) to ask the meaning of any English you do not comprehend (the questionnaire was created by non-native English speakers).

Thank you

The End of Session 1

Tentative Programme Session 1 9th March Session 2 11th March

Introduction/ideas on science questionnaire (L) Nature of Science (assumptions, observation to inference; prediction; reasoning) (L) Session 3 16th March Reflections on science ideas and group presentations (S) Session 4 18th March Nature of Science (Science v, Pseudoscience; historical explanations; false assumptions) (L) Session 5 23rd March Review of NOS and Presentations/Oral skills (L) Session 6 25th March What is Social science ? (L) Session 7 30th March Suggestions for Preparing posters (L) Session 8 1st April NOS (Hypotheses, Theories and Laws); Reading articles on NOS (L) Session 9 6th April About Chairing sessions/being a discussant (L) Session 10 8th April Poster presentations on own work (S) Session 11 13th April “ (S) Eksam 4th/5th May Presentations on essay (reading) /chairing a session /being a discussant (S)