This paper is taught through extended lecture/tutorial sessions. It also has a Moodle page (http://elearn.waikato.ac.nz) where you will be able to access pdfs of lecture notes and powerpoints, lecture recordings, and assessment materials. There are also discussion forums where you can both ask and answer questions.

(a) The internal assessment/examination ratio is 1:0.

(b) Assessment components:

Item 1: Audio commentary on a science experiment – Communicating quality information using spoken word. Students will provide an engaging 3 minute audio commentary of a science experiment they have done as part of their degree study. 20%. Individually assessed.

Item 2: Video on "in the news now" topic - communicating topical information. Students will produce a short video (around 1-2 minutes in length) on a topical science story. 20%. Can be individual or as a pair or as a small group.

Item 3: Blog post – Each student will write a blog post on a scientific topic. The blog article should be approximately 500 words and include external links, references/citations, and graphics/videos where appropriate. Individually assessed. 15%

Item 4: Responses to blog posts – Students will write two meaningful responses to two blog posts (one response per post) written by other classmates. At the end of the course, each student’s collection of responses to posts made by others will be marked summatively as one body of work. Individually assessed. 5%. Individually assessed.

Item 5 Poster presentations - Students will consider an example of scientific risk, and present it in the form of a scientific poster. 20%. Individually assessed.

Item 6. Final Communication Piece Students will prepare a final piece of communication, in whatever format they deem appropriate, on a topic that is given to them. This assessment will allow the students to consider and apply all the knowledge and skills they have learned through SCIEN300. 20%. Individually assessed.

(c) Assessments are normally due in at 9 am Mondays. This allows the lecturer to mark them (or most of them) and get feedback to the class before the next session on a Tuesday.

The total workload expected for this paper is 150 hours. There are 36 hours of contact time scheduled for lectures and tutorials. The remaining hours are to be managed by the student to complete the assessment items. Students are expected to attend all sessions.

This paper provides a valuable experience for undergraduate science students who intend to enter the workforce after completion of their undergraduate qualification. The skills learnt in this paper are of particular relevance to jobs that require communication of scientific concepts, data and information to others who do not have a strong science background.