Overview
Effective communication is essential in science, but do you ever wonder whether articles written about science in the news are thorough, unambiguous and objective?
This Evaluating Contemporary Science module from The Open University UK will enable you to explore contemporary areas in science, examining the ‘science behind the news’, and offering some choice in the areas that you will individually investigate.
Key skills you will develop include searching current research, critiquing and evaluation methods, risk analysis, decision making and the communication of science. You will also explore different methods of collaborative working in a digital environment – the module is delivered entirely online, with no printed materials.
In everyday life we often meet advances in science, usually through reports in the media. The way science is reported is important as it can influence decisions and behaviour.
For example, the suggested link between the MMR vaccine and autism in the late 1990s illustrates how stories can develop far beyond the original scientific report and consequently influence the behaviour of the public. Therefore, you will appreciate that effective communication is essential for scientists. You will begin this module by exploring how science is peer reviewed and published before becoming news.
You will learn
By studying this module you will learn to:- work independently with cutting edge scientific research
- develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and skills required to deal with scientific information
- present scientific information in various media.
Programme Structure
Throughout your module studies, you’ll get help and support from your assigned module tutor.
They’ll help you by:
- Marking your assignments (TMAs) and providing detailed feedback for you to improve.
- Guiding you to additional learning resources.
- Providing individual guidance, whether that’s for general study skills or specific module content.
- Facilitating online discussions between your fellow students, in the dedicated module and tutor group forums.
Key information
Duration
- Part-time
- 8 months
Start dates & application deadlines
- StartingApplication deadline not specified.
Language
Credits
Delivered
Disciplines
Biology Public Health Natural Sciences View 110 other Short Courses in Public Health in United KingdomWhat students do after studying
Academic requirements
We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.
English requirements
We are not aware of any English requirements for this programme.
Other requirements
General requirements
- To register for this module you must have successfully completed at least 60 credits of science at OU level 1 and 60 credits of science at OU level 2. This will ensure that you have some of the knowledge and skills required to develop further in this module. To further check your readiness for the module please work though the resource: Are you ready for S350?
Tuition Fee
-
International
1868 GBP/fullTuition FeeBased on the tuition of 1868 GBP for the full programme during 8 months. -
National
1868 GBP/fullTuition FeeBased on the tuition of 1868 GBP for the full programme during 8 months.