212-105 Science and Communication

Credit Points

Coordinator

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

On successful completion you should be aware of the scientific process and its place in environmental studies and management. You will gain an appreciation of, and experience in the application of information technology to searching, retrieval and manipulation of literature databases and communication between environmental, research and industry groups using the Internet. You will gain practical experience in the preparation of scientific literature reviews, conference papers, world wide web pages, and delivery of multimedia-assisted presentations. The content covers: the philosophy of science, conflicts and paradigm shifts, the scientific process, the role of the peer-reviewed publication, preparation of scientific papers, electronic scholarly journals and publications, review of the literature, library facilities including OPACs, ERLs and EDD, DBMS for personal bibliographies, automated generation of bibliographies with different formats, searching the Internet, public speaking; preparation and use of multimedia resources to enhance presentations, electronic networks for communication, writing for conferences, WWW and media and future trends in communication.

Assessment

A 2-hour end-of-semester written examination and practical assignments including a scientific literature review, a 10-minute seminar using multimedia aids and a conference paper all published on the World Wide Web.

Prescribed Texts

• Kuhn, T S, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1970.
• Mackay, H, Why don't people listen? Solving the Communication Problem. Pan, Sydney 1994.