Science Communication workshop done!

A couple of weeks ago, I attended my first intensive module for my Masters Programme for Science Communication. It lasted two weeks, every day from 9 am to 4 pm. It was held at the Singapore Science Center, and our guest lecturers flew all the way from Australia to conduct the module and workshop (depending on who is attending the module and for what purposes).

It was quite tiring, having to sit in for the lessons every day, but at the same time rewarding, as I actually learned a lot about science communication on a deeper level now. Being a module at a Masters level. The topics and concepts covered during the two-week intensive period were sometimes technical and abstract. Many contemporary issues were discussed with regards to Science Communication, such as what Science Communication really means to us as educators, scientists and even the general public. We also learned the evolution of Science Communication as an expanding and increasingly more important field of science to be taken seriously.

In between the topics to ponder on, we also got the opportunity to learn from the very best in conducting science demonstrations and the innovative ways one can use when conducting science demonstrations to the general public or a specific audience. The hands-on experience was invaluable, as it really opened our eyes to a myriad of ways we can approach in teaching certain basic science concepts using demonstrations. The most striking aspect of science demonstration for me was the popular misconceptions in science when conducting certain classic demonstrations. It brings potential pitfalls in using science demonstration as a tool to teach science and it taught us to be keenly aware in how we should perform certain demonstration without introducing misunderstanding or cultivating certain misconceptions about the science along the way.

Overall, I had fun with the module. Now comes the challenging part, which is to complete a series of writing assignments that are going to take some time to complete it. It will constitute about 70% of the final grade (30% being participation marks and a group presentation that we did on the final day of the workshop).

The submission deadline is the last day of July, which gives me about a month to complete those assignments.