Simple vs. simplistic - 4/16 | SciDev.Net training

Science communication skills for journalists

Introduction to the "Science communication for journalists" course

Welcome to the course

The basics of research

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/10
What is research? - 2/10
Here is an example: - 3/10
Uses of research - 4/10 (0:25)
Types of research - 5/10
Basic vs. applied research: - 6/10
Experimental vs non-experimental research: - 7/10
Qualitative vs quantitative: - 8/10
Descriptive vs correlational vs explanatory: - 9/10
In summary - 10/10
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to find the news in a research paper

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/8
Introduction - 2/8
Differences between scientific papers and journalists’ articles 3/8
How a scientific paper is structured - 4/8
Understanding the title - 5/8
The gem at the bottom - 6/8
What next? - 7/8
In summary - 8/8
Post module assessment
Module completed!

What makes a good science story?

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/11
Think about this - 2/11
2017 European Science Writer of the Year - 3/11
A good science story is relatable - 4/11
A good science story is clear and easy to understand - 5/11
A good science story has information and views from multiple sources - 6/11
Enterprise: A good science story goes beyond official information - 7/11
A good science story gives people a deeper understanding of the issue - 8/11
Interpretation of a science story - 9/11
Activity - 10/11
In summary - 11/11
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to simplify scientific facts

Pre-module assessment
Learning objective - 1/16
Let’s begin with an exercise - 2/16
Why you need to write in simple language - 3/16
Simple vs. simplistic - 4/16
So, how do you simplify the science? - 5/16
Ensure you understand the information - 6/16
Avoid or translate technical jargon (part 1) - 7/16
Avoid or translate technical jargon (part 2) - 8/16
Exercise - 9/16
Make meaningful comparisons - 10/16
Use relevant examples - 11/16
Good use of images and audio - 12/16
Keep it lean - 13/16
Use statistics sparingly - 14/16
Exercise - 15/16
In summary - 16/16
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to make the compelling pitch that an editor can’t resist

Pre-module assessment
Learning Objective - 1/12
Recap: What makes news? - 2/12
Making your story compelling - 3/12
Humanise the science - 4/12
Ride on trending topics - 5/12
Address people’s most pressing needs, problems and aspirations - 6/12
Generate amazing facts - 7/12
Pitching to an editor - 8/12
Pitching guidelines and templates (part 1) - 9/12
Pitching guidelines and templates (part 2) - 10/12
Exercise - 11/12
In summary - 12/12
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to find and work with a credible scientist

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/10
Introduction - 2/10
Why do you need a scientist anyway? - 3/10
So, who is a credible scientist? - 4/10
Attribution - 5/10
How to find a credible scientist to use as a source - 6/10
Managing contacts - 7/10
How to work with a scientist - part 1 - 8/10
How to work with a scientist - part 2 - 9/10
Summary - 10/10
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to find a story from a scientific conference

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/12
Exercise - 2/12
Planning and creating a conference calendar - part 1 - 3/12
Planning and creating a conference calendar - part 2 - 4/12
In the conference room - 5/12
Further reporting - 6/12
At the exhibition - 7/12
Poster sessions - 8/12
Writing the story - 9/12
Resource materials - 10/12
After the conference - 11/12
Summary - 12/12
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Reporting on reports to get great stories

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/11
Examples of cover pages of reports - 2/11 (0:45)
Introduction - 3/11
Structure of reports - 4/11
Cover page - 5/11
Table of contents - 6/11
Executive summary - 7/11
Main body - 8/11
Annexes - 9/11
Beyond the report - 10/11
In summary - 11/11
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Interviewing Scientists: Asking the right questions to get a great science story

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/7
Introduction - 2/7
The basics of interviewing - 3/7
What’s different about interviewing scientists? - 4/7
Asking about research findings - 5/7
Exercise - 6/7
In summary - 7/7
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to find the story in a statistical table

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/7
Let’s begin with a story - 2/7
Different ways we use statistics - 3/7
Understanding tables - 4/7
Finding the story - 5/7
Building the story - 6/7
In summary - 7/7
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to simplify numbers and statistics

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/11
Use as few numbers as possible per sentence - 2/11
Limit the number of digits and decimal places - 3/11
Use familiar fractions - 4/11
Use infographics - 5/11
Making an infographic using Microsoft Powerpoint (part 1) - 6/11
Making an infographic using Microsoft Powerpoint (part 2) - 7/11
Making an infographic using Microsoft Powerpoint (part 3) - 8/11
Making an infographic using Microsoft Powerpoint (part 4) - 9/11
Make meaningful comparisons - 10/11
Summary: How to simplify statistics - 11/11
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Using academic search engines and research databases to find newsworthy research

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/11
Warm-up - 2/11
Scenario: Affirmative action for female teachers - 3/11
Why you can’t just Google - 4/11
Search techniques - 5/11
Activities - part 1 - 6/11
Activities - part 2 - 7/11
Google vs Google Scholar - 8/11
Google Scholar vs research databases - 9/11
Subscription vs free databases - 10/11
In Summary - 11/11
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

From clinical trials to confidence intervals: how to interpret research results

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/12
Introduction - 2/12
Understanding the results - 3/12
Sampling - 4/12
Sampling error - 5/12
p-value - 6/12
Setting the level of significance - 7/12
Understanding confidence intervals - 8/12
Moving from the results section to headlines - part 1 - 9/12
Moving from the results section to headlines - part 2 - 10/12
Other risk areas to watch out for - 11/12
Summary - 12/12
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to detect suspicious research findings and claims

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/12
Introduction - 2/12
Epidemic of false claims - 3/12
Scientific fraud - 4/12
Doubtful HIV vaccine claim - 5/12
Why does it matter? - 6/12
Warning signals - 7/12
Who funded the study? - 8/12
Personal gain - 9/12
A few more warning signs - 10/12
Four things you can do when you smell a rat - 11/12
Summary - 12/12
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Structuring a science story

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/12
Warm-up - 2/12
What is the point? - 3/12
Inverted pyramid - 4/12
Inverted pyramid - Lede/lead/intro - 5/12
Inverted pyramid - Supporting information - 6/12
Inverted pyramid - Direct quote and additional information - 7/12
Wall Street Journal structure - 8/12
Wall Street Journal structure - Lede - 9/12
Wall Street Journal structure - Nut graf and main body - 10/12
In summary - 12/12
Wall Street Journal Structure - Conclusion - 11/12
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Telling human interest science stories

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/11
Introducing human interest science stories - 2/11
What do you think? - part 1 - 3/11
What do you think? - part 2 - 4/11
Does science journalism need human interest stories? - 5/11
A human interest story is not a full life profile - 6/11
Whose story do you tell? - 7/11
Is it newsworthy? - 8/11
Timing matters - 9/11
Summary - 10/11
Post-module assessment
Module completed! - 11/11

Identifying and using the golden quote to colour a science story

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/7
Features of a good quote - 2/7
Find a direct quote - 3/7
What if there is no catchy statement? - 4/7
From technical jargon to golden quote - 5/7
The unsuitable quote - 6/7
Summary - 7/7
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Investigative tools and techniques to give you a great science story

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/7
Investigative journalism defined - 2/7
How to identify what to investigate - 3/7
How to carry out an investigation - part 1 - 4/7
How to carry out an investigation - part 2 - 5/7
What next after investigation? - 6/7
In summary - 7/7
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Data mining and visualisation

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/10
Definition of terms - 2/10
Data mining - 3/10
Where do science journalists source data from? - 4/10
What next after data mining? - 5/10
Data visualisation - 6/10
How to select chart types - 7/10
How to create infographics - 8/10
Golden tips in using data visualisation - 9/10
In summary - 10/10
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

Ethics of using research evidence

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/6
Pre-module warm-up - 2/6
Principles of Journalism Ethics - 3/6
Key ethical concerns in using research evidence - part 1 - 4/6
Key ethical concerns in using research evidence - part 2 - 5/6
In Summary - 6/6
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to cover scientific controversies

Pre-module assessment
Learning objectives - 1/13
What is scientific controversy? - 2/13
Forms of controversy in science - 3/13
Potential risks of controversies in science - 4/13
Covering controversial issues - 5/13
Is the story important? - 6/13
Don’t magnify uncertainty - 7/13
False balance - 8/13
Be inquisitive - 9/13
Controversy rooted in a research publication - 10/13
Separating science from politics - 11/13
Do not take sides - 12/13
In summary - 13/13
Post-module assessment
Module completed!

How to find and use a story grant

Pre-module assessment
Learning objective - 1/13
Why grants? - 2/13
How to find story grants - part 1 - 3/13
How to find story grants - part 2 - 4/13
What makes a good grant proposal? - 5/13
Clarity - 6/13
Define the problem and present your solution - 7/13
Read the terms and conditions of the grant well - 8/13
Mark the deadline - 9/13
Additional markers of a good grant proposal - 10/13
Before submitting a pitch - 11/13
How to use a story grant - 12/13
In summary - 13/13
Post-module assessment
Module completed!
Course completed!

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Simple vs. simplistic - 4/16

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