Undergraduate Course: Geoscience Outreach and Engagement (EASC10087)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will allow students to develop expertise in science outreach ("engagement"), and/or knowledge transfer; learn key transferable skills such as time and project management, working in a professional capacity, liaising with external clients; as well as developing key communication skills for non-academic audiences. Students will work with external partners ("clients") in, for example, schools, exhibitions, museums, outdoor visitor centres, science centres, community groups and other organisations, to design, develop and (where possible) deliver resources and materials for science engagement. These may include classroom teaching resources, leaflets, web resources, smart phone/tablet applications, events, web-blogs, presentations or materials for museums, visitor centres, communities, members of the public or young learners. The theme and content may be anywhere within the scope of interest of the School of GeoSciences. Opportunities exist to undertake projects that contribute to the development of Earth and environmental science (and related) teaching resources that support the new Scottish school curriculum (Curriculum for Excellence). Recent experience and feedback strongly indicate that successful completion of the course has proved an important element in enhancing future employment prospects.
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| Course description |
Semester 1
Week 2 Course Introduction Session (Wednesday 30 September, 14-16:00)
Week 3 Time and Project Management
Week 4 Science Communication at Our Dynamic Earth
Week 5 Ethics and Intellectual Property Rights
Week 6 Curriculum for Excellence
Week 7 Interdisciplinary Learning, classroom practice & demonstrations
Week 8 Design Workshop
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course has a cap of twelve students. However, a waiting list is operated by the Course Secretary. |
| Additional Costs | No |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Flexible |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Other Study Hours 100,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
86 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Additional Hours: on placement
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam: 0%, Course Work: 100 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
5% Interim project report
10% Conference presentation
Final Hand-in:
5% Personal reflection document
5% Project flyer
15% Diary/log with project management timeline
20% Technical report
40% Final product
Thursday 26 November: Interim Project Report
Thursday 25 February: Geoscience Outreach Conference (oral presentations)
Monday 2 May: Final Hand-in
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| Feedback |
Group Tutorials: students will have group tutorials, approximately two per semester, based on their target audience/client interests.
Individual Meetings: Each student will have at least two individual meetings per semester with their GO supervisory team. Students can also arrange individual supervisory meetings with their GO team at any time for advice, support, feedback etc.
December mini-report: student will receive detailed written feedback on the progress of their project based on their assessed December hand-in and also on project development and student progress throughout the first semester.
Spring Presentation: Students will receive detailed written feedback on their assessed Spring Presentation.
Summer hand-ins: Students will receive detailed oral feedback on their final project submissions at the end of semester 2 upon request.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Students who take this course will demonstrate a high level of autonomy and initiative at a professional level. They will be required to engage with clients to define and agree a workable job specification, and design and deliver it in the form of a resource and/or material.
- Students are expected to demonstrate some originality and creativity in dealing with professional level issues and develop communication skills at graduate science level. They will be expected to work as professional geoscience graduates in environments of mixed skill bases, ages and learning abilities.
- They will learn how to critically review and consolidate knowledge from a subject/ discipline in order to produce an original resource. This project will require students to use a range of principal and specialised geoscience skills and some generic transferable skills (see below) depending on the specific demands of the projects.
- They will learn how to critically review and consolidate knowledge from a subject/ discipline in order to produce an original resource.
- This project will require students to use a range of principal and specialised geoscience skills and some generic transferable skills (see below) depending on the specific demands of the projects.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
*Communicating science knowledge and understanding in unfamiliar contexts and to unfamiliar audiences
*Working with external clients in unfamiliar environments (e.g. school classrooms, visitor centres, museums)
*Project and time management
*Creative project design skills
*Interpersonal skills
*Enterprise and sustainability
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Please note, the first session of this course will take place on Wednesday 24th September at 1400, venue to be confirmed. |
| Keywords | Science engagement and communication; science education; clients; project management |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jennifer Tait
Tel:
Email: Jenny.Tait@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Casey Hollway
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: Casey.Hollway@ed.ac.uk |
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