Aims of the course:
- to familiarise students with a range of perspectives on the value and purposes of science writing
- to explore a range of styles and techniques for writing about science, with a focus on writing narrative non-fiction books and essays.
- to develop students' skills as effective and engaging science writers
Course content overview:
- This course introduces the craft of writing about science for non-specialist readerships, also known as popular science writing.
- Students will learn how to read, analyse and critique the work of other science writers, to develop their own skills in effectively communicating science to non-specialist publics.
- Students will each develop an idea and draft text for a long piece of narrative non-fiction writing of their choice, most likely a chapter for book or a long feature.
- Students will practise their own science writing, with short writing exercises alongside their own work to produce a long feature or a chapter for a book.
- Feedback from tutors will be available throughout the course.
- Students will learn how to get their writing published.
Target audience:
- Students who aren't necessarily practicing scientists or trained in science, but who are interested in communicating science to the general public
- Students who are academics at any stage of their careers and are keen to write effectively about their science for a wide audience, beyond their peers
- Students who are keen to write popular science books or long features for journals and magazines
Schedule:
Orientation Week: 25-31 May 2020
Teaching Weeks: 1 June-5 July 2020
Feedback Week: 6-12 July 2020
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
