Course Syllabus

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:  WRITING AND SPEAKING IN THE SCIENCES

 EEB 525, Fall Term 2017, 3 credit hours 

 Professor:   George Kling, Room 1041 Natural Sciences Building, gwk@umich.edu

Location:  Lecture  Wednesday 9-10,   Discussion  Monday 2-4,  both in 3315 Mason Hall

Text:  The required text for the course is Strunk and White (2000) The Elements of Style, 4th Edition.

             Date    Day                 Lecture Topic                                                                               

Sep

6

W

Introduction; Reading and Synthesizing Science Literature

 

11

M

Formulating a Research Question, The Strategy of a Proposal    

 

13

W

    Discussion and Peer-review of Proposal/Paper Outlines

 

18

M

Proposal/Paper Abstracts – a Blend of Roadmap, Purpose, and Promise 

 

20

W

    Discussion and Peer-review of Abstracts

 

25

M

Writing and Coordinating the Introduction and Proposed Research 

 

27

W

    The Psychology of Composition – Why are we Better Editors than

       Writers?

Oct 

2

M

Linking Proposal Components

 

4

W

    Discussion and Peer-review of Draft Proposals and Papers

 

9

M

Evaluation and Critical, Constructive Proposal and Paper Review

 

11

W

    The Polishing Process – Continued Efforts on Proposals/Papers

 

16

M

FALL BREAK – NO CLASS 

 

18

W

    The  Structure and Flow of Paragraphs

 

23

M

 Written Communication in Public Outreach 

 

25

W

    Writing for the Public, Stakeholders, Managers, and the Popular Press

 

30

M

The Strategy of a Scientific Presentation – Structure, Outline, and

    Message

Nov 

1

W

    Recognizing the Elements of Effective Verbal and Visual

       Communication  

 

6

M

Speaking in Informal Discussions

 

8

W

    The Prelim Oral versus the Job Interview versus the Town Hall

        Meeting versus the Street Corner Debate

 

13

M

The Microphone and Camera – Friends and Fiends of the Broadcast

    Media

 

15

W

     Role-playing, Staying on Message, and the Pitfalls of Radio, TV, and

         YouTube

 

20

M

The Curriculum Vitae, Letters of Recommendation, and other aspects of

    “Evaluation” in being a Professional

 

22

W

  THANKSGIVING – NO CLASS 

 

27

M

    Role Playing in Professional Evaluation

 

29

W

    Final Presentations and Peer-review Feedback

Dec

4

M

    Final Presentations and Peer-review Feedback

 

6

W

    Final Presentations and Peer-review Feedback

 

11

M

    Course Synthesis

 

 

* Grading for the course will be approximately as follows:

Written Drafts and Proposal                 50%

Oral Presentation                                  25%

Peer Review and Class Participation   25%

COURSE Abstract.  Success in all professional endeavors requires clear, effective, and persuasive communication in both written and verbal forms.  This course helps students identify key components of writing and speaking in terms of proper grammar, syntax, and organization, and focuses on the application of these components in academic and specifically in science communication.  The course is designed to be practical for graduate students at the stage of developing research ideas and writing proposals or papers and presenting seminars, and begins the term with a brief review of methods to read and synthesize the science literature effectively in support of novel research questions or hypotheses.  For the next several weeks students will develop their proposals or papers as we discuss topics of structure, argumentation, audience, and tone (different for a proposal than for a published paper).  Editing and peer-review both in and out of class will be used to build skills in recognizing logical, convincing writing.  The remainder of the course (~2/5th ) will focus on verbal communication of science in three formats:  (1) formal seminars or conference presentations, where students will present a formal talk to the class at the end of the semester, (2) informal small group discussions such as job interviews, stakeholder meetings, or oral prelim exams, and (3) outreach to the public or managers such as in lectures, town hall meetings, or media broadcasts.  Students will role-play in class on both sides of the interview process in order to better understand the nuance of answering questions yet staying on message.  The course has one 1-hr lecture period and one 2-hr discussion period per week; the text for the class is Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.  Admission preference will be given to EEB Ph.D. students in their second year or above.

Course Summary:

Course Summary
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