Principles & Practice of Science Communication OpenCourseWare: A Free Undergraduate Class on Science Communication by MIT

Published Apr 14, 2009

RSS Feed

'Principles & Practice of Science Communication' is free OpenCourseWare. The original course was given at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The course endeavors to assists students in the development of scientific communication skills through analysis and assignments. The original class was a course option in several Bachelor of Science degree programs in MIT's Science, Technology and Society department.

Principles & Practice of Science Communication: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Undergraduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
No Yes No

Principles & Practice of Science: Course Description

Explore science communication development from a historical perspective by analyzing case studies in the free MIT OpenCourseWare, 'Principles & Practice of Science Communication.' Study science and its relationship with authors, the public and media sources in this lecture-seminar course taught by Professor John Durant. The original course centered on science communications and summarized the ways in which science is a very specialized form of knowledge that is consistently covered by print and broadcast media forms. Science communication is studied throughout the course with the course emphasizing how science goes well beyond the laboratory. Theory and practice are combined as course participants learn how science communication works and how information is communicated to the average audience. The class analyzes how communication affects scientists, policy makers and agencies along with how communication of scientific experiments and research is important to citizens on whose lives it makes an impact. The original class was an elective option in several Bachelor of Science degrees in the Science, Technology and the Society program.

This free OpenCourseWare includes a summary of the original course's weekly lectures, a course reading list with several downloadable readings and an assignment and project list. To view these course study materials, visit the science communication course page.

Featured School Choices: