Module Identifier
PHM4310
Module Title
COMMUNICATING PHYSICS
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Dr Daniel Brown
Semester
Semester 1
Co-Requisite
None.
Mutually Exclusive
None.
Pre-Requisite
Normal entry into year 4 physics degree scheme.

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminars / Tutorials
Workload Breakdown
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment ORAL REPORT (15 MINUTES INCLUDING QUESTIONS)  25%
Semester Assessment MAGAZINE ARTICLE (5 PAGES)  30%
Semester Assessment PEER REVIEW EXERCISE  15%
Semester Assessment WEB/WIKI PAGE OR POSTER PRESENTATION  30%
Supplementary Assessment AS DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENTAL EXAMINATION BOARD.  100%

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to.
1. Undertake self-study and research different topics in physics.

2. Present their study in a variety of written and oral forms.

3. Critically analyse a piece of work written by someone else.

4. Appraise and revise a scientific report or article.

Aims

The aim of this module is to develop the ability of the student to effectively communicate concepts and ideas in physics using a range of different communication mediums, including oral presentation, written work and internet technologies. The material to be communicated will be developed through student self-study. The communication mechanisms will be comparable to those used at a research level, but will have applications to industrial and educational communication.

Brief description

The student will develop their research and communication skills by completing 3 communication assessments along with a peer review exercise. For each assessment, a selection of topics will be provided by the faculty for the student to choose from. This topic must then be researched through self-study and communicated through the appropriate medium.

Content

The assessments will be selected from the following possibilities
1. An oral report on a journal paper and background reading related to that paper. The selection of papers to be provided by the Institute.
2. A magazine article aimed at an general scientific audience compatible with e.g., New Scientist, Physics World or Astronomy Now. A list of topics to be provided by the Institute.
3. A peer review exercise based on the magazine article.
4. Construction of a web or wiki page on the life and works of a famous physicist.
5. A poster presentation. Topics to be provided by the Institute.
Students would do assessments 1, 2, 3, and either 4 or 5.

For the peer review exercise, unmarked articles would be circulated around the class with instructions to provide a referees report comparable to an actual journal referees report. Authors would have the opportunity to amend their article and provide a response to the referee. Both the pre- and post-refereed articles would be submitted, along with referees reports and the authors response to the referee.
All research for the assessments would be by self-study, although staff will provide initial guidance for each topic.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number
Communication The aim of this module is to develop students oral and written communication skills, and assessments are designed to test this. Students be assessed on their ability to communicate ideas to both the lay-person and the expert. They will be directly assessed on their ability to do this.
Improving own Learning and Performance Student should improve their performance through experience from one assessment to the next. The peer review exercise will also allow students to improve performance by detailed feedback in the report of their work, and exposure to different peoples working practices by refereeing the work of other students.
Information Technology Communication assessments will make use of IT technologies from desktop publishing and presentation software, through to web technologies such as wiki pages.
Personal Development and Career planning
Problem solving
Research skills Each of the communication assessments will be on a topic to be researched independently by the student. Assessment will be done on the students ability to communicate the results of their research.
Subject Specific Skills
Team work

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7