Communication Experiments

Communication Experiments and Reading Responses

Typically, a portion of class will be dedicated to discussing the homework readings and upcoming assignments. The rest of the class period will comprise of guided individual and group “communication experiments.”

All of your experiments should be recorded in a notebook, which may be either a paper notebook or an electronic document. I recommend adhering to either a hard copy or electronic format throughout the term, as you will occasionally be asked to submit your in-class writing (paper or electronic) at various points throughout the term. In addition, you will frequently be asked to bring written responses to assigned homework readings. I will announce the writing prompts in class, and your written responses should be recorded in your notebook (paper or electronic) and brought with you to the following class.

Sessions 1–9

Sessions 10–22

Note: There were no Communication Experiments for Sessions 1, 5, 6, and 8.

Session 2

Draw what you read

Each group of students is presented with a unique written description (see “Description examples for in-class drawing activity (PDF)”).
Each group reads their assigned text aloud, and working together, draws the object/scene(s) using the details available from the text.
Each group presents their artwork to the class and shares the following reflections:
1. What specific details helped your team?
2. What descriptions were confusing?
3. What details were absent that would have helped your team even more?

How can we describe what we see?

Visit a building that has large images on the walls.
As a class, we move from image to image, and the students attempt to describe what they see. Working together, catalogue the different types of descriptions used, which typically include the following:
- Colors
- Shapes
- Textures
- Metaphors
- Comparisons
- Naming Conventions

Session 3

The power of description

The class visits a green space on campus.
Working in small groups, students produced written descriptions of the green space from one of the following assigned perspectives:
- A developer surveying this space for the construction of a new building
- An environmental activist seeking to preserve green spaces on campus
- This is where you and your new partner had your first kiss
- This is where you and your former partner broke up
- A groundskeeper who manages this space and cuts the grass every three days
After ~10 minutes of exploring the space and writing down ideas, each group shares a cohesive description with the class. (Note: their descriptions do not explicitly mention their assigned perspective.)
The audience attempts to guess the perspective and purpose of the description, after which the authors explain the rationale behind their rhetorical choices. (For example, the group of students who wrote from the perspective of a professional surveyor might emphasize the precise physical dimensions of the space and its possible uses as a site for a new academic building. Conversely, the group of students who assume the perspective of an environmental activist might focus on the beauty of the trees and people studying on the grass.)
After reading their work aloud, we discuss how an author’s rhetorical choices – carefully selected adjectives, naming conventions, emphasis, organization, and scope – can influence how an audience views and understands a place, event, object, or scientific development.

Session 4

‘In the Frame’ description

In pairs, students exchange their previously written ‘In the Frame’ descriptions.
Each partner attempts to draw the described object/scene, and then presents their artwork to the author.
Students discuss the reading and drawing process:
- Looking at the drawing from the author’s point of view:
  - What is there that matches your written description?
  - What is missing or different from your written description?
  - Why do you think these details were missed or changed by your audience?
- Looking at the drawing from the reader/artist’s point of view:
  - What written details really helped you create this picture?
  - What details were absent or confusing in the written description that would have helped you re-create this image?

Session 7

Reverse-engineering metaphors anad similes

Explore how and why an author might have created these specific metaphors and similes:
- “Cells are like children”
- “Microbes are the trainers of the immune system”
- “The unconscious mind is a wilderness”
Why did the authors choose these specific elements—children, trainers, wilderness—to convey these scientific concepts?
What is the impact of these comparative explanations on the audience?

Session 9

Reducing complexity

In small groups students choose a complex sentence to translate into an accessible and concise sentence for a public audience.
The sentence choices include:
- People who reside in transparent domiciles should not cast geological specimens.
- Never calculate the possible number of juvenile poultry until the usual period of incubation has been accomplished.
- Cooked muscle tissue from a castrated bull.
- Research shows that people are more motivated to help in-group members than out-group members.
- Where there is gaseous evidence of flammable matter, there is an indicated insinuation of incendiary pyrotechnic.
- Gain possession of the twenty-four hour unit.
- Such preparations shall be made as will completely obscure buildings occupied during an air raid for any period of time from visibility by reason of internal or external illumination.
- The warm-blooded, feathered, egg-laying vertebrate animal that is among the first invariably comes in the possession of a small, legless crawling invertebrate animal.
- Ornithological specimens of identical plumage tend to congregate in close proximity.
- Do not emit painful sounds of Canis lupus.
- All entities that coruscate with effulgence are not ipso facto aureous.
- Juicy, edible fruits with leathery, aromatic rinds grown on thorny shrubs or trees.
Each group comes up to the chalkboard to introduce themselves to the class, present their revised sentence, and share their process of translation.

Note: There were no Communication Experiments for Sessions 12–16, 18, 20–21, and 23–27.

Session 10

Defining deceptively simple terms

Each group of students receives a piece of paper with one of the following words:
- HARD/HARDIER
- NOISE
- EXPERIENCE
Group members write down their individual definitions of the term, and then share their definitions with each other.
They turn the page over and read the author’s definition of the term (see “Authors defining deceptively simple terms”).
Students discuss whether the specificity and accessibility of the definition ensures that all readers will understand what the term means in the context of the article or book.
Each group presents their deceptively simple term to the class, the range of initial definitions/understandings within their group, the author’s definition, and why they think the author’s definition is effective or ineffective.
Students review their own drafts for deceptively simple words and attempt to generate more precise alternatives and/or explanations.

Session 11

Translating units

The class is presented with a unit of measurement, and, working in groups, students answer the following:
1. What does this unit abbreviation mean, and what does it measure (e.g. Distance? Time? Weight?)
2. Compare the unit to another unit of measurement (e.g. square feet to acres)
3. Compare the measurement to an animate or inanimate object that would be familiar and accessible to the public reader.
4. Share an interesting factoid(s) related to your measurement that might interest your audience.
For example: “6mph”
1. 6 mph means “6 miles per hour,” so mph is a unit to measure speed
2. 6 mph = 31,680 feet per hour = ~9.7 kilometers per hour (km/h)
3. The average walking speed of most humans is ~3 mph, so to help visualize the speed of 6 mph, you can imagine everyone around you walking twice as fast all the time.
4. Olympic runner Usain Bolt was recorded at a top speed of 27.3 mph. Cheetahs are capable of running at 68–75 mph.
Units given to the class:
- 300,000 lbs
- 1nm
- 57,600 square feet
- mach 1
- 800 ppb
- 40 gallons

Session 17

Learning from a typewriter?

Session 19

Turning a topic into a research question

Students take the initial topics from the “Formulating a Research Question” section and generate as many different central questions as they can for each topic.

Session 22

Describing color with precise language

Working in small groups, students choose a single color tile from the swatches pictured here. Each group must describe the specific color using metaphor, imagery, and precise description, without explicitly comparing their specific color to the other color tiles on the swatch.

Each group reads their descriptions aloud, and their classmates attempt to guess which tile has been described.

Color Swatches and Image Libguide (PDF)

Browse Course Material

Course Info

Instructor

Departments

As Taught In

Level

Topics

Learning Resource Types

Science Writing and New Media: Communicating Science to the Public