Winter 2021 (TuTh)
Complete assigned course materials before class begins.
Course Calendar
| Week | Assigned Course Material | Assignments Due |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1.1 | ● Xie, Y. (2014). “Is U.S. Science in Decline?” | Due: ● Read: Syllabus ● Overview of Course Design |
| Week 1.2 | ● Brownell, S. et al. (2013). “Science Communication to the General Public…” | Due: ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #1 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 2.1 | ● Braha, J. (2017). “Science communication at scientific societies” ● Verge Science. (2018). “How deaf researchers are reinventing science communication” | |
| Week 2.2 | ● Spicer, S. (2017). “The nuts and bolts of evaluating…” | Due: ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #2 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 3.1 | ● Larru, B & Offit, P. (2014). “Communicating vaccine science to the public” ● Saitz, R. & Schwitzer, G. (2020). “Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic” | |
| Week 3.2 | ● Anderson, J. (2020). “Communicating Science” | Due: ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #3 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 4.1 | ● Ottinger, G. (2010). “Buckets of Resistance…” ● Zota, A. & Bienkowski, B. (2020). “Agents of Change” ● Trejo, B.(2020) “Health research and its problem with the ‘R’ word” | |
| Week 4.2 | ● Carolan, M. (2006). “Science, Expertise, and the Democratization of the Decision-Making Process” | Due: ● Midterm: SciComm Online Workshop Proposal due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #4 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 5.1 | ● Guest Speaker Dr. Keolu Fox ● Fox, K. & Prescod-Weinstein, C. (2019). “The Fight for Mauna Kea Is a Fight Against Colonial Science” ● Fox, K. (2020). “The Illusion of Inclusion – the ‘All of Us’ Research Program and Indigenous Peoples’ DNA” | |
| Week 5.2 | ● Schell, C. et al. (2020). “The ecological and evolutionary consequences…” | Due: ● Reflection #1 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 6.1 | ● Peeples, L. (2019). “What the Data Say About Police Shootings” ● Bumpus, N. (2020). “Too many senior white academics still resist recognizing racism” ● Subbaraman, N. (2020). “Grieving and frustrated: Black scientists call out racism in the wake of police killings.” | |
| Week 6.2 | ● Choose Your Own Material or Jasanoff, S. (2012). “Reason in practice” (pp. 1-10, 13, 15, 19-20) from Science and Public Reason | |
| Week 7.1 | ● Flanigan, C. (2018). Zoe: a living sea sculpture / science. ● Blendis, S. (2020). “Socio-ecological artist designs new coral reefs using virtual reality.” ● Choose Your Own Material or Jünger, J & Fähnrich, B. (2020). “Does really no one care? […] Twitter” (pp.387-393 and 400-403) | |
| Week 7.2 | ● Amarasekara, I. & Grant, W. (2019) (pp. 68-72, 76-79, 81) “Exploring the YouTube scicomm gender gap” | Due: ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #5 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST |
| Week 8.1 | ● Valdes, T. (2020). “Sustainability Ambassadors: Spearheading Student Engagement in Climate Change Education” | |
| Week 8.2 | ● Pezzoli, K. & Leiter, R. (2017). “Creating Healthy and Just Bioregions” | Due: ● Asynchronous Lecture Response #6 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 9.1 | ● Puritty, C. (2017). “Without inclusion, diversity initiatives may not be enough” ● VanNoy, B. (2020). “‘No research on us without us’” | |
| Week 9.2 | ● Bussell, M. et al. (2017). “UC pursues rooted research…” ● Gripper, A. (2020). “We don’t farm because it’s trendy…” | Due: ● Reflection #2 due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas |
| Week 10.1 | Due: ● Rough Draft of Final due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas | |
| Week 10.2 | Due: ● Peer Reviews of Rough Draft due @ 11:59 p.m. PST via Canvas ● All late assignments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST to receive credit. | |
| Finals | Due: ● Final Project due @ 2:29 p.m. PST via Canvas; see Canvas for instructions |
COMM 114T: Science Communication
Winter 2021
COMM 114T
Live Synchronous Lecture: Tuesday 11AM-12:20 PM
Recorded Asynchronous Lecture: Thursday 11AM-12:20 PM
Course Description
Examine science communication (SciComm) as a profession and unique form of storytelling. Identify who does SciComm, how, why, and with what impacts. Highlight SciComm’s role in democracy, power, public reason, technological trajectories, the sustainability transition, and shifting university-community relations. Prerequisites: COMM 10.
Course Objectives
This course involves 3 main objectives:
- Identify the benefits and challenges of communicating science to “the public”
- Analyze various forms of SciComm via critical and interdisciplinary lenses
- Create inclusive science-based messages that consider and encourage public engagement
Emergent Outcomes
At its core, this course encourages students to join the conversation about SciComm by outlining their personal objectives. Self-reflection is instrumental to this process. What do you hope to “get” out of this course? How do you want this course to connect with your own life and experiences with science? Do you want this course to engage with your career and/or life aspirations, or are you more interested in fulfilling a major requirement? Emergent outcomes shift away from a professor’s pedagogical expectations and encourage students to participate in the development of activities and assessments. Students are responsible for knowing the Quarterly Timeline with Deadlines, which includes drop/add info.
Course Requirements & Assignments
| 15% | Discussion (synchronous & asynchronous) | 15 points |
| 15% | Asynchronous Responses: 6 total via Canvas | 15 points |
| 15% | Midterm: SciComm Online Workshop Proposal due via Canvas on Thursday, Jan. 28 @ 11:59pm PST | 15 points |
| 20% | Reflections: 2 total due via Canvas | 20 points |
| 10% | Rough Draft of Final: due via Canvas Tues., March 9 @ 11:59pm PST | 10 points |
| 10% | Peer Reviews: 2 total due via Canvas Thurs., March 11 @ 11:59pm PST | 10 points |
| 15% | Final Draft of Final due via Canvas Thurs., March 18 @ 2:29pm PST | 15 points |
| Extra Credit Opportunities: CAPE survey response rate & Solo Cleanup | 5 points (total for both) | |
| 100% | TOTAL | 100 points without extra credit |
E-Learning
This course will be using an online learning management system (LMS) to manage content and grades. Please note: Canvas is best viewed in Google Chrome. Zoom will be used to conduct synchronous lectures, which will be recorded and made available to students asynchronously. The Course Finder page (coursefinder.ucsd.edu) will display your Canvas courses. Therefore, it is recommended that you use the Course Finder page to access your classes. Select the login button and enter your Active Directory credentials. If you have not used Canvas before, refer to the student help guides and videos, which are located on the left-side menu’s help section (the question mark icon). Should you need any technical assistance with Canvas, please alert your instructor and send an email to servicedesk@ucsd.edu. In the header of the email, please write “Canvas”. Make sure to include your name, course title, and contact information in the email body. A representative will get back to you within 48 hours (Monday through Friday). The Assignments tool contains course assignments. The Discussions tool permits student to converse online with colleagues and the instructor about assigned materials. You are expected to check the Announcements, Discussion, Media Gallery, and Pages tools frequently to stay abreast with course happenings and assignment information.
Discussion (Synchronous & Asynchronous)
Discussion accounts for 15% of your final course grade.
- Tuesdays we will meet synchronously (live).
- Thursdays there will be asynchronous recordings of course lectures with required responses.
I understand that life is rapidly changing due to the pandemic. Students, faculty, and staff face incredible challenges, and synchronous remote learning under these conditions is very challenging. If you have an ongoing or sudden serious medical concern or family emergency, please communicate with me when possible. To the best of our technological abilities, discussion will occur synchronously (live) and asynchronously (pre-recorded/online). Discussions specifically address course content and/or assigned course materials. Recorded versions of both synchronous and asynchronous lectures will be published in the Canvas Media Gallery. If, at any point throughout the quarter, you are concerned about your Discussion grade, please participate in all asynchronous discussions to protect yourself. If you are not routinely attending and participating in (that is, verbally or digitally contributing to) synchronous lecture, consider completing all asynchronous work by the assigned deadline. I will not provide feedback on asynchronous discussions, but I do want to give students an opportunity to: 1) participate remotely; 2) assess how their colleagues are processing course prompts; 3) and realize their emergent outcomes.
Asynchronous Lecture Responses
Everyone is required to view asynchronous lectures, which will be published every Thursday in the Media Gallery unless otherwise noted. Via Canvas, students will submit a 350- to 500-word response addressing a total of six lectures. To receive full credit, students must submit each response via Canvas each assigned Friday by 11:59 p.m. PST. Responses submitted past the deadline will receive 85% credit until Friday, Week 10 @ 11:59 p.m. PST. Students will not receive feedback on their responses. Rather, we will discuss aspects of the content in subsequent synchronous lectures.
Midterm
The Midterm is worth 15 points and 15 percent of your final course grade. Students will submit a proposal for a SciComm Online Workshop. A prompt with detailed instructions will be provided in Canvas approximately a week before the due date.
Reflections
In Canvas, you will type and submit two (2) total Reflections with guided prompts, which account for 20% of your total course grade. Each response is worth 10% of the total Reflections grade. Specific instructions with due dates will be published in Canvas. For full credit, submit a response that meets the criteria by each assigned deadline. Responses that meet the criteria submitted past the deadline will receive 85% credit until 5pm, Friday, Week 10. Responses that do not meet the criteria will be marked Incomplete, and you will be asked to revise your work to receive 85% credit. A successful 100% completion of the reflection generally includes:
- an in-depth level of engagement with the prompt and/or assigned course material
- a minimum 400 words per response
- paraphrased ideas (your own words) when necessary
- parenthetical (source) citations – a Works Cited is not needed
- organized sentences, syntax/sentence structure & knowledge of writing conventions
Rough Draft of Final | 2 Peer Reviews | Final Draft of Final
For the Final, students will create inclusive, science-based messages that consider and encourage public engagement. The Final is worth 15% of the course grade. Via Canvas, during Week 10 students also are expected to submit a rough draft of their Final (10% of course grade) and complete two peer reviews (10% of course grade) of other students’ rough drafts. Please see Canvas for instructions and due dates.
Copyright of Course Materials at UC San Diego
Dr. iatarola’s lectures, syllabi, and course materials, including PowerPoint presentations, quizzes, surveys, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by U.S. copyright law and University policy. Dr. iatarola is the exclusive owner of the copyright in those materials she creates. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use. You may also share those materials with another student who is enrolled in or auditing this course. You may not reproduce, distribute or display (post/upload) lecture notes or recordings or course materials in any other way — whether or not a fee is charged — without her express prior written consent. You also may not allow others to do so. If you do so, you may be subject to student conduct proceedings under the UC San Diego Student Code of Conduct.
Course Resources, Policies, and Grading Information
Platform
This course will be using an online learning management system (LMS) to manage content and grades. Canvas is best viewed in Google Chrome. Zoom may unexpectedly be used to conduct (a)synchronous lectures, which will be recorded and made available to students. Should you need any technical assistance with Canvas, please alert your instructor and send an email to servicedesk@ucsd.edu. In the header of the email, please write “Canvas”. Make sure to include your name, course title, and contact information in the email body. A representative will get back to you within 48 hours (Monday through Friday). Each Canvas assignment displays the due date.
Required Readings, Videos, and Course Supplies
This Canvas course contains PDFs and links for most materials. You will need to use your UCSD VPN login credentials on your authenticated device to access UCSD course materials that require VPN for access. Given the impact of COVID-19 on students’ educational experience and access to resources, a personal laptop, tablet, or smartphone with reliable Internet access will help facilitate emergent outcomes. UCSD students are eligible for the Loaner Laptop Program.
Principles of Community & Anti-Racist Pedagogy
This course calls on all of us to cultivate a classroom environment built on mutual respect and anti-racist pedagogy. This means honoring (y)our responsibility to ensure the safety and comfort for all peers and instructors so we can collectively confront racial and environmental injustices. It is to recognize (y)our biases and make space to listen to and learn from peers and instructors who hold identities and experiences different from (y)our own.
Sexual Harassment
All incidents of sexual harassment or gender harassment should be reported by the complainant to either a person in a supervisory capacity or the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.
Name and Gender Pronouns
Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me early in the quarter so that I may make appropriate changes to our records.
Disability and Accessibility
I am dedicated to making this course accessible to enrolled students despite these challenging circumstances. If something is inaccessible to you due to disability reasons, life’s obstacles, or COVID-19 impacts, please communicate with me so that I can help you succeed in this course. I will work with you to ensure that you can participate fully in the course. If you require accommodations or services for disabilities, please communicate with me immediately, register with the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD), and complete the necessary steps in the OSD Student Portal to obtain a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter. This letter is required for eligibility for requests. The statement for COVID-19 accommodations has been updated on the OSD website: https://osd.ucsd.edu/resources/covid-19.html. Students who have specific concerns are encouraged to email their Disability Specialist or the general OSD email account at osd@ucsd.edu. To obtain services from OSD, you must apply to that office directly. For more information: check the OSD website; call: 858.534.4382 (Voice) or 858.534.9709 (TTY) — reserved for people who are deaf or hard of hearing; or email: osd@ucsd.edu
Academic Integrity
Appendix 2: UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship:
Student work is run through Turnitin. “To uphold academic integrity, students shall:
Complete and submit academic work that is their own and that is an honest and fair representation of their knowledge and abilities at the time of submission.
Know and follow the standards of the class and the institution.
Thus, no student shall engage in an activity that undermines academic integrity or facilitates academic integrity violations by others. This means:
- No student shall procure, provide, or accept any material that contains questions or answers to any examination or assignment unless the student’s possession of the material has been authorized by the instructor.
- No student shall complete, in part or in total, any academic work (e.g., examination, assignment, paper) or obtain academic credit (e.g., attendance, participation) for another person.
- No student shall allow any academic work or academic credit to be completed or obtained, in part or in whole, for themselves by another person.
- No student shall plagiarize or copy the work of others and submit it as their own work.
- No student shall employ aids in undertaking course work or in completing any exam or assignment that are not authorized by the instructor.
- No student shall alter graded class assignments or examinations and then resubmit them for regrading without the instructor’s permission.
- No student shall submit substantially the same material more than once without prior authorization from the instructor, such as a paper that was written and submitted in another class.”
Letters of Recommendation
Tenured faculty are in a more equitable position than lecturers to advocate for your success in letters of recommendation (LORs). As a lecturer, occasionally I produce a very limited number of letters during the academic year, provided that:
- the student has completed at least one course with me
- the student provides an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) and/or a resume
- the student produces and shares written context (e.g., a statement of purpose for graduate school or written synopsis of career plans) that highlights what they are aiming to accomplish and why they are applying for the opportunity
- the student includes basic information in writing about the opportunity
- the student checks in occasionally and converses with me at least 2 months in advance about plans that may require a LOR
- the student submits a request with a signed waiver (available upon request) at least six weeks before the deadline(s).
If you are applying to graduate school, Dr. iatarola will write no more than two (2) total letters for you. Requests must be submitted simultaneously. The recommendation process is time-consuming and extends beyond submitting a generic letter that speaks to your character or aspirations. For a thorough breakdown of what this LOR process entails, visit Requesting Letters of Recommendation.
Course Assessment and Grading
For students who elect to receive a letter grade for this course and for more information about UCSD’s grading system, please visit About Grades on TritonLink. In this course:
A – You have excelled in ALL THE REQUIREMENTS for this class, producing excellent work, which includes exceptional written assignments that incorporate an exemplary understanding of the readings and/or concepts for the class when necessary.
B – You have performed WELL OVER THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for this course by producing good written work, which includes good written assignments that demonstrate a competent understanding of the readings and concepts for the class when necessary.
C – You HAVE MET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for this class, producing satisfactory written work, which includes acceptable written assignments that demonstrate a basic understanding of the readings and concepts of this class when necessary.
D – You HAVE NOT MET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for this class, producing poor written projects that reveal problems in understanding basic concepts of this class.
F- You DID NOT COMPLETE COURSEWORK THAT MET THE MINIMUM requirements for this class.
Subject to Change Policy
Information and due dates contained in the course syllabus and Canvas, other than the grade policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate. If you have an ongoing or sudden serious medical concern or family emergency, please communicate with me when possible.
References
See the Course Calendar for the Schedule of Assigned Materials
Amarasekara, Inoka, Grant, Will J. “Exploring the YouTube science communication gender gap: A sentiment analysis.” Public Understanding of Science. Vol. 28(1): 68-84. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963662518786654. Accessed December 19, 2020.
Anderson, Jocelyn. (2020). “Communicating Science.” UC Davis Magazine. Fall/Winter 2020-21. https://magazine.ucdavis.edu/communicating-science/. Accessed December 10, 2020.
Berlin, Heather A. (2016). “Communicating Science: Lessons from Film.” Trends in Immunology.
Blendis, Stefanie. (2020). “Socio-ecological artist designs new coral reefs using virtual reality.” CNN. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/socio-ecological-artist-designs-new-coral-reefs-using-virtual-reality/ar-BB18q7F0#image=1. Accessed November 10, 2020.
Braha, Jeanne. (2017). “Science communication at scientific societies.” Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 70: 85-89.
Brownell, Sara, Jordan Price and Lawrence Steinman. (2013). “Science Communication to the General Public: Why We Need to Teach Undergraduate and Graduate Students this Skill as Part of Their Formal Scientific Training.” The Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education. 12(1): E6-E10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3852879/. Accessed December 8, 2020.
Bumpus, Namandjé. (2020). “Too many senior white academics still resist recognizing racism.” Nature. Vol. 583: 661. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02203-w. Accessed December 9, 2020.
Bussell, Mirle R., Bliesner, James, and Pezzoli, Keith. (2017). “UC pursues rooted research with a nonprofit, links the many benefits of community gardens.” California Agriculture. http://dx.doi.org/10.3733/ca.2017a0029. Accessed December 18, 2020.
Carolan, Michael S. (2006). “Science, Expertise, and the Democratization of the Decision-Making Process.” Society and Natural Resources. Vol. 19: 661-668. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241658004_Science_Expertise_and_the_Democratization_of_the_Decision-Making_Process. Accessed December 19, 2020.
Flanigan, Colleen. (2018). Zoe: a living a sea sculpture. https://zoecoral.livingseasculpture.com/science/. Accessed December 18, 2020.
Flanigan, Colleen. (2004). Living Sea Sculpture. https://colleenflanigan.com/lss1.html. Accessed December 18, 2020.
Flanigan, Colleen. “Coral Restoration: Cultivating Mutual Symbiosis.” TEDxMonterey via YouTube. https://youtu.be/mj0Ymr2DzUY. Accessed December 20, 2020.
Fox, Keolu and Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda. (2019). “The Fight for Mauna Kea Is a Fight Against Colonial Science.” The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mauna-kea-tmt-colonial-science/. Accessed December 17, 2020.
Fox, Keolu. (2020). “The Illusion of Inclusion – The ‘All of Us’ Research Program and Indigenous Peoples’ DNA.” The New England Journal of Medicine. 383: 411-413. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1915987.
Gripper, Ashley. “We don’t farm because it’s trendy; we farm as resistance, for healing and sovereignty.” Environmental Health News. https://www.ehn.org/black-farming-food-sovereignty-2645479216.html. Accessed June 20, 2020.
Jasanoff, Sheila. (2012). “Reason and practice” from Science and Public Reason. New York, NY: Routledge. 1-22.
Jünger, Jakob and Fähnrich, Birte. (2020). “Does really no one care? Analyzing the public engagement of communication scientists on Twitter.” new media & society. 22(3): 387-408.
Larru, Beatriz and Offit, Paul. (2014). “Communicating vaccine science to the public.” Journal of Infection. Vol. 69(1): S2-S4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2014.07.009. Accessed December 22, 2020.
Ottinger, Gwen. (2010). “Buckets of Resistance: Standards and the Effectiveness of Citizen Science.” Science, Technology, & Human Values. Vol. 35, No. 2: 244-270.
Peeples, Lynne. (2019). “What the data say about police shootings.” Nature. Vol. 573: 24-26. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02601-9. Accessed September 1, 2020.
Pezzoli, Keith and Leiter, Robert A. (2016). “Creating Healthy and Just Bioregions.” Reviews on Environmental Health. Vol. 31(1): 103-109. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5554710/. Accessed December 29, 2020.
Puritty, Chandler, et al. (2017). “Without inclusion, diversity initiatives may not be enough: Focus on minority experiences in STEM, not just numbers.” Science. Vol. 357(6356): 1101-1102.
Saitz, Richard and Schwitzer, Gary. (2020). “Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic.” American Medical Association. Vol. 324(5): 443-444. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768397. Accessed December 1, 2020.
Schell, Christopher J., Dyson, Karen, Fuentes, Tracy L., Simone Des Roches, et al. (2020). “The ecological and evolutionary consequences of systemic racism in urban environments.” Science.
Spicer, Suzanne. (2017). “The nuts and bolts of evaluating science communication activities.” Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 70: 17-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.08.026. Accessed December 22, 2020.
Srinivas, Krishna R. (2017). “Why Public Engagement Matters in Science.” Trends in Biotechnology. Vol. 35(4): 281-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.02.004. Accessed December 18. 2020.
Subbaraman, Nidhi. (2020). “Grieving and Frustrated: Black Scientists Call Out Racism in the Wake of Police Killings.” Nature. Vol. 582: 155-156. 10.1038/d41586-020-01705-x. Accessed December 1, 2020.
Trejo, Brenda. (2020). “Health research and its problem with the ‘R’ word.” Environmental Health News. https://www.ehn.org/racism-and-public-health-2647565616.html. Accessed December 28, 2020.
Valdes, Tyler. (2020). Sustainability Ambassadors: Spearheading Student Engagement in Climate Change Education. UC San Diego Capstone Paper. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0t73d8dh. Accessed October 20, 2020.
VanNoy, Brianna. (2020). “‘No research on us without us’: Prioritizing inclusion in environmental health.” Environmental Health News. https://www.ehn.org/racial-diversity-in-environmental-health-2645883026.html. Accessed December 22, 2020.
Verge Science. (2018). “How deaf researchers are reinventing science communication.” https://youtu.be/GsBCHknyqH8. Accessed December 22, 2020.
Xie, Yu. (2014). “Is U.S. Science in Decline?” Issues in Science and Technology. 30(3). https://issues.org/yu_xie/. Accessed December 14, 2020.
Zota, Ami and Bienkowski, Brian. (2020). “Agents of Change: New fellows seek to reimagine science communication.” Environmental Health News. https://www.ehn.org/agents-of-change-in-environmental-health-new-fellows-2648609863.html
