An Integrated Communication Skills Package for Undergraduate Chemists

Abstract

An integrated communication skills package has been designed and implemented at the University of Strathclyde. This package is strategically embedded in the undergraduate curriculum, in terms of subject and timing, with a progression of activities that develop communication skills over the course of three years. The aims of the package are to develop team skills, negotiation, and collaborative work in different contexts, to improve literacy skills in relation to chemistry, and to improve oral presentation skills. There are three units in this package. Unit 1 is a second-year Team Business Game, Unit 2 is a third-year Poster Presentation Exercise, and Unit 3 is a fourth-year Oral Presentation Skills course.Positive feedback and evaluations were provided by students, graduates, academic staff in the department, and industrial contacts and employers. The funding council (Scottish Higher Education Funding Council), in the report on the Teaching Quality Assessment visit, identified this communication skills package as one of the Department's strengths in teaching. These positive evaluations suggest that the package is an effective means of developing the communication skills of students in chemistry.