Learning Objectives for Science Writing / Communication
There are a number of different categories of science writing/communication (such as academic and journalistic), and different skills are required for a certain proficiency in each. As a result, you may wish to design courses and their components to incorporate specific learning objectives, many of which appear in category-specific lists in this resource.
To distinguish between the different types of objectives, we have divided these up by category and then by their location within Bloom’s taxonomy1, 2. Thinking about dividing learning objectives into Bloom's categories can help you design a course so as to align your teaching with assessments and to boost student metacognition. There are now discipline-specific tools to help you do this (e.g. the Blooming Biology Tool3).
If you are designing a new course, or thinking about re-designing an existing one, it can help to design it back to front by starting with the learning objectives and then considering which content to integrate to best help students to apply their knowledge and develop associated skills4. This can be difficult at first, but there are guides that help with this learning objective-centric design5.
We have developed learning objectives for a number of different science writing and science communication categories, including academic science communication and journalistic science communication aimed at lay audiences. Science communication now frequently takes place on Youtube, Facebook and via other social media platforms6. Sometimes there is no intermediary between the original author and his/her audience (e.g. blog posts) 7. As a result, designing learning objectives that expose students to these forms of science communication are likely to appeal to students and help them develop science communication skills that will be very useful.
As with all of our resources, we would love to hear your feedback, and would also like to hear about your own experiences in drawing up learning objectives for science writing and/or science communication courses. Perhaps you have objectives that you think we should incorporate? Please contact us here with your feedback.
General science communication:
Knowledge
Identify, and restate in your own words, the thesis statement in a piece of writing
Define the different types of plagiarism and avoid plagiarism
Identify different audiences of scientific information
Recognize when it is appropriate to use the different types of scientific literature such as primary literature, reviews, and textbooks
Know that there are many different, commonly used citation styles, and that these can be managed with a citation manager such as RefWorks
Understand
Discuss reasons scientists communicate (or should communicate) their work
Discuss the role of governments, industry, and other stakeholders in communicating science
Explain how scientific research is published (including the peer review process, open-access journals, and the embargo system)
Identify some common misconceptions of science
Explain what is at stake if scientific research/information is communicated poorly
Apply
Apply writing best practices regarding: clarity, succinct writing, topic sentences and paragraph structure, passive vs. active voice, metaphors, jargon
Avoid committing the different types of plagiarism in science writing
Locate relevant information in scientific publications
Apply different citation styles using citation manager software such as RefWorks
Analyze
Explain what is done well (and what isn’t) in examples of different styles of science writing
Evaluate
Give feedback on peers' writing
Decide what aspects of peer feedback to incorporate into your writing
Evaluate sources of scientific information possible origins of scientific misconceptions and how they might be addressed
Create
Organize scientific information from a variety of sources to produce different written work (research papers, essays, journalistic articles, blog posts etc.)
Academic science communication
Knowledge
Label the components of a scientific paper (IMRAD: intro, methods, results, and discussion)
Decide when it is appropriate to use the different types of scientific literature such as primary literature, reviews and textbooks
Identify the elements of an argument, claim and the interpretation of evidence that supports the claim
Identify thesis and development statements
Understand
Explain how scientific research is published (including the peer review process, open-access journals, and the embargo system)
Apply
Use online research tools (e.g. databases, e-journals, Google Scholar, Web of Science) to collect relevant information (e.g. scholarly articles, websites, blog posts) on a particular topic
Cite different types of scientific literature appropriately
Use an outline to organize a scientific argument with a claim and supporting evidence
Evaluate
Read scientific literature and assess the quality of the claims and evidence used to support them
Defend the validity of an argument by evaluating evidence in a variety of genres, including popular media, websites and scientific journals
Create
Write a scientific paper using the IMRAD structure
Write an argumentative essay using claims and evidence supported by scientific literature
Journalistic science communication, multimedia integration, and using digital tools
Knowledge
Define the characteristics of newsworthiness
Identify use of the inverted pyramid structure in journalistic writing
Identify the characteristics of a good opening paragraph (lead) --who, what, where, when, why, how
Recognize the role of the public affairs or communications offices in communicating science
Understand
Recognize the needs and limitations of people working in the media
Recognize, as scientists, that complexity must be sacrificed for clarity in some cases
Explain why it is important to use quotations more frequently than in academic science communication
Apply
Apply the inverted pyramid structure when writing press releases or journalistic articles
Use appropriate, interesting quotations when writing in journalistic style
Evaluate
Critically discuss the historical “two cultures” of science and journalism
Critically discuss how science communication is changing (online news, social media, citizen journalism, blogging, etc.) and how this affects the work of journalists, press officers, and other members of the media
Critically discuss how science communication is changing (online news, social media, citizen journalism, blogging, etc.) and how this affects the work of scientists
Critically examine best practice examples of science podcasts and videos
Create
Write a lead for an article about science that is intended for a non-expert audience
Write a blog post about scientific research in journalistic style (max 500 words) for a non-expert audience
Construct a production plan for a multimedia project that reports on a current piece of scientific research
Conduct an on-camera interview with a researcher
Create detailed scripts, including narration and shot lists, for a short video and podcast based on an interview with a researcher
Produce a short podcast about a current piece of scientific research
Produce a short video about a current piece of scientific research
Contribute posts and comments to the course blog
Scientific presentations, and visual materials:
Knowledge
Identify the appropriate amount – and type – of content
Understand
Identify key points from a presentation
Describe the most common practices for visually reporting statistical and other scientific information
Apply
Apply oral presentation best practices: eye contact, pace, gesture, content, visual aids, rehearsing
When appropriate, incorporate presentation techniques such as humour, metaphor, comparisons, and analogies
Incorporate graphics and multimedia elements into presentations
Represent data in logical and clear tables and graphs
Analyze
Analyze risk communication in the context of scientific data and non-expert audiences
Evaluate
Ask and answer questions after viewing presentations
Evaluate visual representations of scientific information
Evaluate the reporting of statistical ideas
Create
Deliver an oral presentation using no visual aids (a speech) that is clear, audible, well rehearsed, and suitable for the audience
Deliver an oral presentation using visual aids (a speech) that is clear, audible, well rehearsed, and suitable for the audience
Deliver a presentation using software (such as PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi) that is clear, audible, well rehearsed, and suitable for the audience
References
1: Bloom BS (editor), Engelhart MD, Furst EJ, Hill WH, Krathwohl DR. Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay. 1956.
2: Krathwohl DR. A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: an overview. Theory into Practice. 2002; 41(4):212-218.
3: Crowe A, Dirks C, Wenderoth MP. Biology in Bloom: Implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy to Enhance Student Learning in Biology. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2008; 7(4):368-381.
4: Dolan EL, Collins JP. We must teach more effectively: here are four ways to get started. Mol Biol Cell. 2015; 26(12):2151-2155.
5: Allen D, Tanner K. Putting the horse back in front of the cart: using visions and decisions about high-quality learning experiences to drive course design. CBE Life Sci Educ 6:85-89.
6: Brossard D. New media landscapes and the science information consumer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2013; 110(3):14094-14101.
7: Colson V. Science blogs as competing channels for the dissemination of science news. Journ. 12(7):889-902.
