Module Information

Module Identifier
IC37820
Module Title
Effective Academic and Professional Communication 2
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Also available in
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Audience-oriented communications event  Oral communication event with supporting documents (2400 words or equivalent per participant)  60%
Semester Assessment Report  1600 Words  40%
Supplementary Assessment Audience-oriented communications event  Oral communication event with supporting documents (2400 words or equivalent per participant)  60%
Supplementary Assessment Report  1600 Words  40%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Analyse key problems in chosen and negotiated academic issues.

Present an argument in varying formats in writing and speaking.

Identify strategies for individual and team roles within academic tasks and projects.

Critically appraise and evaluate written and spoken communication (self, peer, academic, professional).

Identify relationships between project content and strategies for critical and persuasive presentation of project ideas.

Brief description

This module covers a wide range of academic communication issues. This module involves students in team-based work through which they consider aspects of writing, discussion and presentation skills through student negotiated self-managed projects. Teaching and learning is mediated through planning and discussion of the project topics towards the development of project web-sites. Web text is compared with other formats for academic and professional writing to consider different styles and audiences. During the module students will be engaged in team led seminars and discussions that will take place both in the classroom and by video conference. As a result of critical discussions, further work is done on a comparison of written and oral styles of communication towards group presentation of projects. Individual students are required to work on a critical and analytical written report about individual aspects of project topic, language and communication.

Content

Week 1: Project concepts, topic analysis techniques, project proposals.
Week 2: Teamwork, group dynamics, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, video conference 1.
Week 3: Basics of web design 1 & 2.
Week 4: Project aims, audience analysis, analysing content for suitability of purpose, video conference 2.
Week 5: Structures and planning for team led seminars, outline for reports, differences between speaking and writing, writing abstracts for projects, seminar discussions and presentations.
Week 6: Team led seminars (assessed), video conference 3.
Week 7: Writing for the web, web design 3.
Week 8: Writing for the web 2, framing language.
Week 9: Aspects of oral presentations 1 & 2, peer review of report writing styles to match assessment criteria.
Week 10: Assessed presentations, student focus group on peer feedback, continuing project work for personal and professional development.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number This is only included via organization of web-based material. It is not an explicit focus.
Communication Takes place in all tasks. Language development is facilitated and focused through the tasks and students are encouraged to adopt autonomous strategies for individual and peer learning.
Improving own Learning and Performance Through reflecting on their own performance, the group's performance and how their own learning and performance affects the group's performance, students identify an agenda for self-improvement.
Information Technology Web development, PowerPoint development, Video conferencing, occasional use of video film for documentary based interviews as support for presentations, management of IT resources towards transferability of skills to all academic contexts.
Personal Development and Career planning The module includes a wide range of communication skills that are used in professional life, including video conferencing, managing discussions, presentations, presentations documents.
Problem solving Through all communication tasks that take place in class towards facilitation of independent strategies for team work and individual roles outside class. To be accountable to and for the group.
Research skills Independent and team based planning for topic nomination, proposal, initial planning, team meetings, reading, analyzing and setting criteria for project structure, use of technology in learning and communication, ability to plan, write and present for a variety of academic purposes that lead to transferability of skills to future professional contexts.
Subject Specific Skills Linguistic and rhetorical analysis and application in academic and professional communication.
Team work Takes place in all tasks. Assessment of teamwork is a central component of the module. Students are assessed through criteria for cooperative and collaborative learning ensuring that students are responsible to and for the group and keep accurate, mutually agreed records of levels of involvement. This is cross referenced with presentations and individual written assignments.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6