| Unit name | Resilient Communicator |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BIOLM0045 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Bell |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Why is this unit important?
The climate and biodiversity emergencies and associated eco-anxiety, pressures of working in teams and to deadlines, often toxic world of social media, and accidental or strategic attacks on science and scientists can all test the resolve of the modern science communicator. There is growing recognition that good mental health is an essential component of a productive, rewarding, valuable and enjoyable career, and building resilience tools to tackle the internal and external challenges of work, family, friendship and society cannot be overlooked. All too often wellbeing is assumed, or repaired outside of the workplace, but in this unit, we challenge this paradigm, developing tools to manage eco-anxiety and eco-grief alongside key professional skills, while exploring the value of art and music for communicating difficult scientific themes.
You will study with academics within the School that have extensive training and experience in wellbeing, and also work with external professionals which may include life coaches, artists and musicians to deepen your exploration of science communication. You will be supported to identify your own strengths, weaknesses, challenges and influences, and build a personalised toolkit to support your personal development. Furthermore, you will practice these tools on your classmates and beyond the cohort to learn how to support your peers and colleagues, helping you to build resilience and strength at a wider societal level.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This compulsory unit is deliberately inward-facing, with activities tailored to help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, building a bespoke personalised toolkit to help you overcome personal obstacles and deal with adversity. The skills you develop will benefit you across the whole programme, and you will be encouraged to communicate your individual and group experiences with the wider School and University, sharing best practice and innovative approaches that can build community-level wellbeing and resilience. This unit is unusual in developing wellbeing, leadership and life skills as core elements of your training, helping you to become effective, conscious and resilient communicators for the future.
An overview of content
This unit is divided into three blocks, which each provide valuable training in skills that build resilience in science communication:
In this unit, you will work a various of professionals which may include scientists, life coaches, artists and or musicians develop your own toolkit for wellbeing, productivity and success. At the very start of the programme, you will participate on a life skills retreat to explore your own strengths and weaknesses, to establish your optimum strategies for working individually, in a team and as a leader, and to develop a sense of trust and collaboration within your cohort. You will explore ways to work, think and collaborate effectively, including in times of adversity. This unit includes an examination of eco-anxiety and eco-grief, both from our own experiences and in society more generally, and explores ways to build hope and meaningful change in ourselves and those around us. This unit also adopts a transdisciplinary lens for exploring artistic methods of effective science communication and evaluating the impact of artist pieces on an audience.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
At the end of this unit, you will know yourself better, having explored, challenged, tested and trained yourself in a range of individual and group situations. You will examine your own strengths and weaknesses to identify best practices for individual, teamwork and leadership roles. As a result, this unit will equip you to manoeuvre effectively in a rapidly changing landscape, with skills and knowledge that support your own wellbeing management, resilience and critical reflection. These highly transferrable life skills will make you an valuable appointment, trainer, mentor and friend in whatever careers and lifestyles you choose. This unit will foster engagement with personal experience, compassionate connection and the challenging of existing thought patterns to enable future actions which align with personal and shared values. You will have had an opportunity to create a unique art piece and evaluate its effectiveness on an audience.
Learning Outcomes
Throughout this unit your learning will take place through a combination of teaching methods. During the TB1 retreat and within formative workshops throughout TB4 you will work closely with others in informal group settings with guided tasks which will enable you to explore your strengths and weaknesses, developing a bespoke toolkit that will help you to work and live productively, effectively and with a sense of wellbeing. Within TB2 you will attend workshops which discuss how art and music can be linked with effective science communication. Often scientific fact alone can be challenging to communicate. Likewise, science-based conversations can be initially off putting, making it difficult to reach members of society with no formal training or innate draw towards science. You will explore how art and music can help to break these barriers, and create environments where two-way conversations can enrich communication. Following on from this you will conduct research around a chosen climate change issue/topic, and design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery of novel communication piece to the target audience. Through this process you also learn more about own strengths and weaknesses as you challenge yourself. You will practice self-reflection through verbal and written reports, each time building greater resilience as a science communicator.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare for your summative tasks (formative):
During the first three weeks of the entire programme, this Resilient Communicator unit will help you to develop life skills that you can practice throughout the year. During a one-week retreat, you will work with academics and life coaches to explore your motivations and aspirations, and strengths and weaknesses in different working environments. During this retreat, you will practice reflecting on different activities through oral and written exercises, giving each other feedback on the techniques and qualities of your reflections. You will then write a reflective piece on your experiences, which will be formatively assessed by academic staff who will provide individual written and collective verbal feedback. This reflective writing is a central skill for the programme, and will feature in the subsequent summative assessments in this unit and the Science in Society unit, as well as your Science Communication Project.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
In the second half of this unit, you will research, design, deliver and appraise a science communication activity that incorporates art and/or music to address issues relating to eco-anxiety and eco-grief, and that supports participants in building their understanding of the relevant science while also supporting wellbeing. You will receive support and inspiration from established contributors to this unit and external experts working already in this transdisciplinary space. Prior to the event you will submit an artist statement about your art piece and following the event, you will write up and submit a report for summative assessment, presenting the scientific background to the activity that you designed, explaining the art and/or music techniques that you incorporated in the activity, giving a full critical analysis of the audiences you targeted (and those who participated), and providing a reflective assessment of your personal development and experiences gained.
| Weighting | Summative Assessment Information | Intended Learning Outcomes assessed |
| 20% | Artist Statement | 3 |
| 40% | Showcase Report | 3, 4 |
| 40% | Showcase Reflection | 1, 2 |
When assessment does not go to plan
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence or have accepted Exceptional Circumstances you will normally be required to complete and alternative assessment (e.g. for assessments missed in TB1 reassessment work will be completed in the following re-assessment period). Study Support Plans which detail information about alternative assessment requirements for individuals' students will be taken into consideration.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BIOLM0045).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
