Science Communication (20436)

Qualification: Bachelor's Degree in Human Biology 
Year: 3
Term:3rd
Number of ECTS credits: 4
Hours of studi dedication: 100
Teaching language or languages: Spanish
Teaching Staff: Gemma Revuelta

 

•1.        Identification of the teaching activity

Science Communication is an optional subject within the Bachelor's degree in Human Biology, whose teaching load is 4 ECTS credits. It is taught in the third term of the third year of the degree.

 

•2.        Coordination and teaching staff

The teaching activities are taught by lecturer Gema Revuelta, who is likewise the subject coordinator.

 

•3.        Principal goals

The subject of Science Communication will allow the student to develop and improve their communication skills in the specific field of human biology. For this, the course focuses on oral and written communication techniques in a largely practical way. Similarly, the course is divided between communication techniques for specialised audiences and techniques aimed at the general public.

The student will improve his or her communication skills through practical activities, namely oral presentations, mock interviews with journalists, composition of press releases and practical tasks related to the publication of research work in scientific journals.

Besides acquiring these skills, throughout the course the student will review the bases that outline the relationship between society and new scientific knowledge, particularly in the context of human biology.

 

•4.        Specific goals

•a)    To provide the student with an overview regarding the relationships between scientific activity and society, with a special emphasis on the attitudes of the public towards biomedicine, as well as the need to take on an active role in the social communication of the science.

•b)    To furnish the student with basic techniques for improving communication capabilities (oral and written), both for specialised audiences and the general public.

•c)    To familiarise the student with how the communication media work, discussing their functions and needs, as well as the main types of relationship between scientists and journalists.

 

 •5.        Competences

In order to achieve these goals, the specific competences on which the subject is based are:

  

Instrumental competences

•·        Capacity to condense and simplify complex information.

•·        Capacity to write, adapting the information according to different contexts: scientific articles, press releases, informative articles, promotional material aimed at patients, etc.

•·        Basic knowledge and understanding of the communication media: procedures, goals and needs.

•·        Oral communication to specialised audiences.

•·        Oral communication to the general public.

•·        Communication in front of a camera.

•·        Body language.

•·        Making communication-related decisions.

•·        Skills in managing information.

 

Interpersonal competences

•·        Capacity to establish strategic relationships with the press.

•·        Capacity to ensure active participation by the public.

•·        Strategic communication planning: message, persuasion and negotiation.

 

Systemic competences

•·        Capacity to apply knowledge to a practical situation.

•·        Capacity to generate new ideas (creativity).

•·        Concern for quality and professional ethics.

 

•6.        Learning assessment

 

Assessment methods

There will be two assessment methods: continuous and final.

 

•·        Continuous assessment, which will be based on the performance of practical tests throughout the course. These include: an oral presentation, a press release composition test, solving a practical case involving communication in a crisis situation, and a practical assessment focusing on strategies for publication in scientific journals.

•·        Final assessment, which will consist of a written exam which will include short answer questions and a composition test similar to those done in class.

 

 

Assessment timetable

•·        The practical tests will be carried out throughout the course, with a gap of at least a week between them (the exact timetable will be given on the first day of class).

•·        The final assessment will be done in June, according to the academic timetable organised by the course secretary.

 

 

Type of activity

•·        In the case of the practical tests, the type of activity that the student should perform consists of practical application of the theory and knowledge acquired in class.

•·        In the case of the final assessment, as well as the practical application of theory and knowledge, there is also a part where the student must demonstrate understanding of the theories underlying the subject, providing brief answers to a set of questions.

 

Apart from solving a practical case involving communication in a crisis situation, which will be performed in a group, all the other tests will be done individually (the oral presentations are given individually in front of the group).

 

 

Weighting/valuation

The relative weight of each of the tests with respect to the final mark is as follows:

•·        Practical 1. Oral presentation: 10%.

•·        Practical 2. Self-access learning test focusing on strategies for publication in scientific journals: 20%.

•·        Practical 3. Composition of a press release based on a research article: 10%.

•·        Practical 4. Solving a practical case involving communication in a crisis: 10%.

•·        Final assessment: 50% (multiple choice 25%, composition 25%).

 

 

Pass criteria

To pass the subject it is necessary to obtain a minimum mark of 5 out of 10 and to have obtained a minimum mark of 4 out of 10 in the final assessment.

•7.        Content: course programme

 

Module 1. Science and society

•·        Reasons for communication of science to society.

•·        Public perception of science: knowledge, interest, trust and attitudes.

•·        Public perception of biomedicine.

•·        Ethical principles and fundamentals of biomedical information.

•·        Contexts of public participation in the field of biomedicine.

 

Module 2. Relationships between the scientific community and the communication media

•·        Representations of science and scientists in the media.

•·        Science not seen in the media.

•·        Institutional communication.

•·        The communication plan.

•·        Crisis communication: the case of health alerts.

 

Module 3. Communication techniques in specialised contexts

•·        Publication of articles in specialised journals: planning and strategy.

•·        Peculiarities of the scientific press: peer review, uniformity requirements, impact factor, open access, online review and ethical principles.

•·        Scientific composition vs. journalistic composition.

•·        Oral communication and body language.

 

Module 4. Communication techniques aimed at the communication media and the general public

•·        Press releases.

•·        Scientific dissemination articles.

•·        Participation on television and the radio.

•·        Designing health promotion campaigns.

•·        Internet as a direct communication channel with the public.

 

 

 

•8.        Methodology

The teaching-learning model that will be followed in this subject will fundamentally be based on face-to-face activities, during which practical activities will be carried out. However, some of the practicals might begin in the classroom and be continued outside. Likewise, the subject also requires time for study and reflection by the student on the theory and concepts covered in class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•9.        Programme of activities

The subject includes 35 face-to-face class hours, grouped in 18 sessions over 10 weeks. Each session lasts for 2 hours (except the final class, which lasts for one hour).

 

Some sessions are given to the whole class of students registered for the subject, while for others the students are divided into groups. The exact timetable and the division of groups will be provided on the first day of class.

 

Some sessions will be given in computer classrooms (especially those related to the practical composition tasks).

 

Besides the 35 hours of class activity, the rest of the hours required to complete 4 ECTS credits include time dedicated by the student to preparation of the oral presentation and the group project, also to assimilating the concepts and theory covered in class, to responding to the practical questionnaires for some activities, and to searching the literature and preparing themselves for the final assessment.

 

 

•10.    Bibliography

 

Basic bibliography

•-       CASSANY, D. La cocina de la escritura. Barcelona: Anagrama, 2000.

•-       GREGORY, J.; MILLER, S. Science in Public. New York: Plenum Press, 1998.

•-       QUESADA, M. Periodismo especializado. Madrid: Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias cop., 1998.

•-       REVUELTA, G. y DE SEMIR, V. Medicina y salud en la prensa diaria. Informe Quiral 10 años. Barcelona: Science Communication Observatory, UPF, 2008 [ISBN: 978-84-88042-69-9]. 

 

 

Additional bibliography

•-       DE SEMIR, V. y REVUELTA, G. Informe Quiral. Medicina en la prensa española. Barcelona: Rubes Editorial, annual editions since 1997.

•-       FOX KELLER, E. Le rôle des métaphores dans les progrès de la biologie. Institut Synthélabo pour le Progrès de la Connaissance. Le Plessis-Robinson, 1999.

•-       LÓPEZ, M. Cómo se fabrican las noticias. Barcelona: Paidós, 1995. (Papeles de Comunicación, 9).

•-       NELKIN, D. Selling science: how the press covers science and technology. Nueva York: W. H. Freeman & Company, 1995. (Spanish edition: La ciencia en el escaparate. Fundesco, 1990).

•-       PERDUE, L. Pandemia. Barcelona: Viamagna Ediciones, 2009 [ISBN: 978-84-92688-44-9].

•-       SCANLON, E. (ed.). Communicating Science: contents and channels. London/New York: Routledge/The Open University, 1999.

•-       SCANLON, E. (ed.). Communicating Science: professional contexts. London/ New York: Routledge/The Open University, 1999.

•-       TÚÑEZ, M. Producir noticias. Cómo se fabrica la realidad periodística. Santiago de Compostela: Tórculo Edicións, 1999.

•-       TURNEY, J. Frankenstein's Footsteps (Science, Genetics and Popular Culture). Yale University Press, 1998.

•-       WATTS, S. Epidemias y poder. Historia, enfermedad, imperialismo. Barcelona: Editorial Andrés Bello, 2000. [ISBN: 84-95407-15-9]. 

 

 

Recommended periodicals

•-       Public Understanding of Science. www.sagepub.co.uk/ejournals/ejournals.htm.

•-       Science Communication. www.sagepub.co.uk/ejournals/ejournals.htm.

•-       Journal of Science Communication. http://jcom.sissa.it.

 

 

Teaching resources

•-       Guía temática de science communication, produced by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra Library. http://www.upf.edu/bibtic/bio/biocc.html.

Identification of the teaching activity

Science Communication is an optional subject within the Bachelor's degree in Human Biology, whose teaching load is 4 ECTS credits. It is taught in the third term of the third year of the degree.