Communication of Science and Technology
Wissenschafts- und Technikkommunikation
6 CPevery semesterENFÜS
Contents
Course coverage: • Key issues in communication of science & technology; • Identify and knowing your audiences (mental models, risk perception, heuristics and biases, …); • Getting your audience’s attention (Types of framing); • Communicating risk and uncertainty; • Formats for communication of science & technology. Students will also be given opportunities to receive feedback and improve their own written and oral skills. They will also work in small teams on team projects to further their skills for communicating about sustainability issues. These projects will focus on communicating about a given scientific topic to a particular audience using spoken, visual, written or web-based communication.
Learning outcomes
Students will know about different techniques, tools and formats for communication of science & technology. They will develop skills to break down complex issues at the nexus of science, technology and society to communicate science/technical information in a clear, understandable and engaging way to different stakeholders. On completion of the module, students will be able to: • Articulate the key issues and challenges in communicating about science & technology; • Understand the nature of different audiences for better stakeholder engagement; • Demonstrate awareness of and ability to use a variety of different techniques and media for targeted audience; • Improve their skills in communication of scientific/technical information in both written and oral forms; • work as part of a team to develop effective measures for communication of science & technology; • Provide constructive feedback to other students on their communication skills.
Assessment
• Individual E-Assessment – 60 min (40%) • Group project - Part 1: Science Communication Material e.g., poster, video, etc. (30%) • Group project - Part 2: Group presentation– 15min oral presentation (30%)
Literature (5)
- Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED). 2009. The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public. New York.
- Nisbet, M.C., Scheufele, D.A. 2009. What’s next for science communication? Promising directions and lingering distractions. American Journal of Botany, 96(10): 1767-1778.
- Bubela, T., Nisbet, M., Borchelt, R. et al. 2009. Science communication reconsidered. Nature Biotechnology, 27, 514–518.
- Nelkin, D. 1989. Communicating technological risk: The social construction of risk perception. Annual Review Public Health, 10, 95-113.
- Tversky, A., Kahneman, D. 1974. Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, New Series, 185(4157), 1124-1131.
Source: BTU's module description · retrieved 28 Sep 2026Original