Undergraduate - UnitSCI2010 - Scientific practice and communication

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day) Gippsland First semester 2015 (Off-campus) Malaysia First semester 2015 (Day) Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day) Malaysia Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Associate Professor Roslyn Gleadow (Clayton); Dr Richard Burke (Clayton); Dr. Joash Tan Ban Lee (Malaysia)

Synopsis

Science and technology are the basis of modern life yet most people do not understand how discoveries are made or commercialised. In SCI2010 you will examine the core elements of modern science by looking back at the people, cultures, events and discoveries that allowed science to emerge and contributed to the establishment of key concepts such as empiricism, scepticism and rationalism. This unit will equip you with skills to assess the validity of scientific information, to distinguish between real science, bad science and pseudoscience. The value of science in solving real world issues, and improving the human condition are discussed using current examples. Students will benefit from critical evaluation of a wide variety of literature, ranging from peer-reviewed scientific publications to web sites promulgating pseudoscientific remedies. These skills will help your analysis and communication of science and other disciplines. You will complete assignments that will help improve your written and verbal communication to a range of audiences including politicians, managers, the general public and your fellow educated specialists. You will uncover and strengthen your own personal and professional ethical standpoint on current issues such as vaccines, the funding of research by multi-national corporations and plagiarism. Together the topics covered in SCI2010 give you a solid foundation on which to forge a professional career whether it is directly related to science or not.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Outline the central components of scientific thinking and their historical origins;
Distinguish science from pseudoscience and bad science;
Acquire, critically analyse and communicate complex scientific ideas and information;
Present scientific information using different media including formal and informal writing, spoken presentations and visual media;
Discuss the purposes of, and methods behind, effective science communication and identify how approaches can be adapted for different audiences;
Develop a research question within a given set of topics and address it using the primary scientific literature;
List the ways in which science is regulated and assess their effectiveness in promoting ethical professional practice;
Identify different destinations for science graduates and the list generic and technical skills that will help them gain employment.

Assessment

Workshop participation and activities: 15%
Spoken presentation(s): 5%
Written assignment(s): 40%
Examination (2 hours): 40%

Workload requirements

Two hours of lectures and one 2-hour workshop per week, or equivalent

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Roslyn Gleadow - Semester One; Dr Richard Burke - Semester Two

Prerequisites

Two semesters of first year university

Prohibitions

SCI2015